OFFICE SUITES-VARIOUS TYPES

INTRODUCTION

In computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office software suite is a collection of programs intended to be used by knowledge workers. Also known as "productivity suites," they are a set of basic business programs designed with a uniform user interface and common functions such as spell checking. The primary programs are word processing, spreadsheet, presentation graphics, database and e-mail, although each suite has its own mix, and a variety of other programs and utilities may also be included. It's no secret that Microsoft dominates the office suite market, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to go. Zoho, Star office, Apple, IBM, and others offer alternatives at a fraction of the price of Microsoft office.

STAR OFFICE:
Many dreams of a Microsoft-free world are squashed because it is so hard to find other programs that share standards and compatibility same as Microsoft office. This gap is filled by Star Office Star Office truly is a comprehensive productivity suite ready to stand in for Microsoft Office. Star Office was originally developed by Star Division which was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999. Sun was itself acquired in 2009 by Oracle Corporation. Star Office includes word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail, drawing and presentation applications. There have been many different versions of Star office with star office 9 being the latest one.

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SYSTEM REQIREMENTS: Microsoft Windows: Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT (Service Pack 6), Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2), Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Pentium compatible PC, 1 GB RAM, 200 MB free space on hard drive Linux : Linux kernel version 2.2.13, Glibc2 version 2.2.0, 1 GB RAM, Pentium compatible PC, 250 MB free space on hard drive Solaris Operating System :Solaris 8 Operating System (SPARC or x86 platform edition), 1 GB RAM, 250 MB free space on hard drive Mac OS X Operating System : A recent Mac OS X operating system, 1 GB RAM, 250 MB free space on hard disc

STAR OFFICE 9-KEY FEATURES

Star office 9 is the latest version from the star office stable. It was launched in 2008.

With Star Office 9 it is much easier to share files and data with other users.
Star Office is fully compatible with Microsoft Office files, so one can read, edit and save Word, Excel, Power point etc files in Star Office. Almost all features of MS office are available in this product. In fact familiarity is the biggest advantage of Star office. Its cost is much less than Microsoft Office. (Rs.1800-Rs. 2000 aprox. Single license version). It is for this reason that many leading banks like HDFC Bank, business process outsourcing firms like ICICI One Source, new economy companies like Apnaloan, corporations like J K Corp, government organizations like Karnataka Public Works Department, Department of ITKarnataka, select government schools and colleges and also defense organizations have adopted Star Office. In a scenario where enterprises are looking to bring down costs and increase productivity, Star Office has emerged to be a viable option. In the last few months, Star Office has gained substantial penetration into the Indian markets across segments like corporations, home users and government. By using Star Office, enterprises have realized that they can cut down on licenses to two-third of their present costs. In fact by making the change to Star Office from Microsoft Office, HDFC bank is estimated to have saved a minimum of Rs.4.46 crore (Rs 44.6 million), apart from the savings on corporate licensing fees.

STAR OFFICE 9-KEY FEATURES

With StarOffice9, calendar extension called Lightning to go with the Mozilla Thunderbird client is also being provided. Together they are called a Personal Information Manager (PIM) and form a strong Outlook alternative. Star Office has integrated word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database tools, so one doesnt lose out on any features by switching to Star Office. Star Office 9 also offers PDF Import so one can edit PDF files as well. Star Office 9 software provides advanced HTML creation, easy HTML code handling and URL links built into Star Office software . Star Office software utilizes the concept "everything in one place" so all tools to perform a related task are grouped together, making them easier to find. Star Office 9 software offers comparable general formatting features to Office 2007. There is full support from Oracle technical service team.

STAR OFFICE 9-KEY FEATURES

Word Processing: Star Office 9 software offer similar word processing functionality to MS office 2007. Star Office software strength is in handling long documents. SPREADSHEET: Star Office software offers the spreadsheet functionality very similar to Excel. Both are highly programmable applications, with hundreds of built-in functions. Star Office software's language independent APIs make adding more functionally very easy. PRESENTATION: Star Office 9 software offers similar features as PowerPoint 2007. In addition Star Office software offers more advance drawing functionality allowing users greater control and flexibility for creating custom images. DATABASE: Star Office 9 software provides a powerful database front end. Autopilots helping you at the creation of database tables, forms, reports and queries. One can use the powerful HSQL file format to save forms, reports and queries with the data in a single file. Microsoft Office provides the Access database with the Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate versions of the Office suite only. EXTRAS: Star Office 9 software offers a large selection of templates and samples with the product. The Star Office software gallery makes it easy to view, select and insert images and animations into users' documents. DESKTOP VIEW: Star Office 9 software integrates into the system seamlessly. Each module can be launched separately but these individual modules can also exchange documents types from each other. ACCESSIBILITY: Star Office 9 software uses the Accessibility bridge from the Java(TM) platform. This interface is supported by a number of Accessibility tools.

STAR OFFICECOMPARISON WITH MS OFFICE

PARAMETERS OS SUPPORT FILE FORMATS MICROSOFT 2007 STAR OFFICE 9 Windows XP and Vista (Office 2008 for Windows, Linux, and Solaris Mac TBA) Microsoft DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, Microsoft DOC, XLS, PPT; ODF; exports PPT, PPTX; free add-in for PDF exports PDFs Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel star writer starcalc

WORD PROCESSOR SPREAD SHEET

PRESENTATIONS
E-MAIL DATABASE

Microsoft Power-Point
Microsoft Outlook Access (Pro version)

Star Impress
StarOffice.com Adabas D

DRAWING

N/A

Star Draw

Conclusion: Thus, with affordable and reliable productivity software such as Star Office available on the
market, its not clear why office software isnt more diverse as a category. For users curious to move away from the Microsoft office and save some money in the meantime, Star Office is recommend. Star Office has a comprehensive set of productivity software that is fully compatible with the programs one is already using at home, work or school.