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 - From Star Office 5.2 to Open Office to Star Office 7.0The reviews here are interesting and the negative ones all sound like they are written by the same illiterate person. On a daily basis at work in my Tech Writing shop we use FrameMaker 7.0, Word 2000, Excel, and Powerpoint. As senior writer, I also use OpenOffice 1.01. Did you know that when Word says a file is corrupt and cannot repair or open it, OpenOffice and StarOffice will usually open that file and save it in Word format? For that alone it's worth having OpenOffice or StarOffice on your computer. At home we have WordPerfect 7 (very fast), and 8 (Linux), WordPerfect Office Suite 10, Word 97, Lotus Suite 2000 (my old file cracker), Open Office 1.01, and a copy of Star-Office on my Linux partition I keep available just in case. I'm ordering Star-Office 7 for home and will remove some of the others--Open Office, WordPerfect 7, Word 97, and Lotus, at least. One of the most amusing things in the reviews here is the bogus disclaimer that Word works. Our company switched to FrameMaker for its technical documents for the very reason that Word does not work. The ways in which it does not work are legion and legendary. Did you know, for example, that there is a website http://groups.google.com/groups?num=25&hl=en&group=microsoft.public.word.numbering&start=25&group=microsoft.public.word.numbering which has 18,000 threads on Word numbering problems alone? StarOffice numbers pages and paragraphs correctly, even in complicated documents. It opens and closes MS Word documents with very few problems. No software does a perfect job of that, but only a fool would expect it too. (Heavens, MSWord 2003 cannot save a document in WordPerfect format newer than WP 5.2.) StarOffice can. It can also save in XML which FrameMaker likes alot. Unless you or your bosses are rigid and opposed to a less expensive solution, StarOffice 7.0 offers a change in software that can save you money, time, effort, and frustration. And you won't be penalized for not upgrading at every opportunity. Not sure? Download OpenOffice for free or order their free CD + $5.00 S&H. If you like that and want software with support from a well established company, buy StarOffice and get the extras--spellchecker and thesaurus, database, select fonts including Windows metrically equivalent fonts and Asian language fonts, select filters, including WordPerfect, additional templates, and extensive clipart gallery. StarOffice offers updates/upgrades on CD, user documentation, 24x7 web based support, help desk support, training, and professional help services for migration and deployment. So, if all those extras are important to you, buy StarOffice 7.0 here, get rid of MS Office, and enjoy your work for a change. Rating:  - What's SUN trying to prove?I think $69 is even too much for a software that an undergratuate student can even put together for a project. Not intuitive or functional in any sense I would use either MS Office or WordPerfect Suite. Don't waste your money this software will be free soon. Another failed attempt @ Microsoft, way to go SUN :-) Rating: - Most features for documentationStarOffice suite allows us to do all that Microsoft Office allowed but only at a fraction of cost. After paying hundreds and hundreds dollars to Microsoft, we needed a cheaper solution for our office needs, so we bought this. StarOffice menus are almost the same as MS Office and the migration was not painful. I use the Export to PDF and Flash features all the time. The drawing application is very powerful and can generate impressive 3D graphics. Rating:  - Don't get it if you want it all / if you care for compatib.The product is fine for people who don't really need all the sophisticated features of MSOffice. I tried to use it as an alternative for Excel and Powerpoint, but there were big! problems with compatibility when I tried to exchange files with my colleagues and friends. Only the most plain Excel sheets and presentations can be exchanged without losing some style information or document intelligence. MS Word files can be handled quite well, but there will be always something missing, esp if you make use of some specific features (e.g. automatic inclusion of chapter caption in the header, macros, .. there is a lot of that). And very very often there will be some objects that lost their right position. The product is o.k., esp. considering the price. But don't get it, if you want it / need it all! Rating: - Java and numerous other problems!Well, for starters you have to have Java and Microsoft no longer has Java. So after searching to find it and installing it, BIG mistake. The buttons are very hard to read and it is slooowww loading! Now for the other problems, it does NOT convert data correctly from MS Excel, it changes and what it cannot convert it is left with question marks. What happened to my data! Horrible, is the only word that can describe this product. I wasted my money on this, I went and purchased MS Office 2003 and have been completely satified, because it works!
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