macnn
08/04/2008, 12:25pm, EDT
Monday, August 4th
Sun posts StarOffice 9 beta for Mac
Sun Microsystems has released a beta version of StarOffice 9, the first edition of its office suite to natively support the Mac. StarOffice includes presentation, spreadsheet and word processing software, as well as programs for drawing, databases and HTML editing. The v9 upgrade includes better Microsoft Office filters, support for OOXML files, and a new PDF import option with improved export options to match.
Sun has further included a calendar extension for Thunderbird called Lightning, and a number of other new components, including blog and wiki tools, a presentation console for Impress, and a report builder for databases.
The Mac version of StarOffice runs on Mac OS X 10.4 or later, and requires 500MB of hard drive space along with a 1024x768 display. The download is free, but the beta is currently set to expire on August 17th. The final version of v9 is due to be available in the fall.
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13 Days?!
Why even bother offering a beta of a productivity suite that is going to expire in 13 days? By the time some people hear about it there will only be a few days left.
On a side note, why have the devs working on StarOffice & OpenOffice been dragging their feet for years on a well made OS X native version? Thousands of us hate MS Office, but it seems no one is willing to take them on with something better.
Yup
A 13 day trial period makes little sense.
The devs can drag their feet all they want since they ask nothing in return.
NeoOffice
NeoOffice is a reasonably polished and fully native version of Open Office. Bringing various benefits such as native font handling etc.
Not dragging, really
Aside from the aforementioned NeoOffice (which is quite actively developed), the native version of OpenOffice itself is coming along nicely. Both are free, unlike StarOffice.
Re: dragging
On a side note, why have the devs working on StarOffice & OpenOffice been dragging their feet for years on a well made OS X native version? Thousands of us hate MS Office, but it seems no one is willing to take them on with something better.
Well, it's open source, so why don't you get at it then.
I always love the people complaining about how long it takes for people to build free software, most of which are probably working on their own time.
30 Day beta
The beta period is from July 17 to August 17 so that is 30 days. Macnn is just slow to print the beta news.
open office
Open office is much better than neooffice. It just doesn't seem to be as slow and painful to use (although it would be nice if one of these groups could actually decide "Hey, let's make a good UI that people can use" rather than "Hey, let's make a UI just like Office's UI, so people will feel 'comfortable'").
Open office
Even the X11 version of OpenOffice spanks NeoOffice in terms of usability. There's now a native Aqua version and it seems quite usable (I've been using the X11 version for a year or so with no problems).
If you want a more than basic office suite then OpenOffice is a bargain (free!) and a genuine alternative to MS.