StarOffice 8 May Be MS Office Killer

UltimaGuy wrote to mention an eWeek article that seemed topical, given the recent discussions about the OpenDocument format. They're running a piece discussing StarOffice 8's killer position as an alternative to Office. From the article: "However, whether StarOffice 8 can succeed as a wholesale or partial replacement for Microsoft Office will depend on the organization thinking about making the switch. Several improvements in StarOffice 8 are aimed directly at improving compatibility with Microsoft Office-formatted documents, but converting complex documents between the two suites' formats will in some cases require tweaking to preserve document appearance. In addition, while StarOffice 8 can be extended through macros and scripting, much like Microsoft Office can, these extensions won't migrate to Microsoft Office without being rewritten. However, StarOffice ships with a Macro Migration wizard that will aid in the migration of Microsoft Visual Basic macros to the StarOffice Basic macro language. There's also a Document Analysis wizard that helps determine where trouble spots might lie in the transition to a StarOffice format."

No way man!

[Average_Joe_Sixpack]

MS XML will keep MS Office on top for years to come!

Re:That's Nice And All

[Cat_Byte]

But in my experience, %99.9 of things labeled a Foo Killer never even come close to killing foo.

Foo is dead. Just ask FreeBSD.

Retrain... nonsense

[OSXCPA]

I've used every version of word since 5.0, WordPerfect 5.x and 6.x and now OpenOffice, plus others.

It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes of looking at the menus - which are almost identical for most end-user functionality anyway - to grok OpenOffice.

Inertia keeps MS Office in place - the vast majority of the functionality of Word, for example, is either unused or not-understood anyway. I am asked *weekly* how to insert tables, align text, etc., by people who have never used anything else but Word for their entire professional careers. Say 'mail merge' and you get blank stares from most users, IME.

Yah, it has fine functionality - my only substantive gripes with Word are the price and the opacity of the .doc file format. I use OO at home, but I don't expect my Corporate Overlords to bother switching. Ever. They would have to think too much about something they regard as beneath their notice - that, and the admin staff would likely scream bloody murder. They'll allow a retraining on 'new features' of Word, but if you try to explain that 'gee, this would be a perfect time to try a new/better/free/different/similar alternative to Word, since the file formats a re new...' you'll get absolutely nowhere - they 'know' word, and that is powerful motive for maintaining the status quo

Okay, I'm confused ...

[ggvaidya]

So: FreeBSD is going to kill Linux, Linux is going to kill Sun, Sun is going to kill Microsoft, Microsoft is going to f-ing kill Google, and Google is going to ... kill evil?

My, America *is* a violent place these days, isn't it? :P

Microsoft is Dead

[Jeff Hornby]

You know this reminds me of a cartoon one of my philosophy profs showed me in university:

There's a church with some grafitti on it reading:

God is Dead
        -Nietzsche

and a gravestone reading:

Nietzsche is dead
        -God

Oddly, I'm not sure I believe StarOffice is going to kill MS-Office any time soon.

Google will...

[Infonaut]

Kill Bill.

Re:Yep..

[LifesABeach]

Actual conversation:

A Friend is wearing a tee shirt that says "Buy Only Microsoft Products".

I look at him with a big grin and say, "Do you have a copy of openOffice?"

Friend looks at me now with an evil grin; All teeth showing.

I then say, "Would you like a copy?"

I don't he likes me anymore.

Re:What is an MS Killer?

[Anonymous Coward]

It takes chinks in the armor. Google is a chink. Firefox is a chink. AIM is a chink. Linux is a chink. And StarOffice wants to be one too.

There is no need for racial slurs, we get your point!

Re:Yep..

[Neoncow]

However its a bit harsh using a non released version of the ms office software to try and argue that switching is currently a good thing.

Microsoft has no scruples using their unreleasesd software as an argument to stay.

Re:MS Office isn't a bad value (really)

[Anonymous Coward]

I've seen Office 2003 for around $100 at Staples for a three-home user license

just goes to show how MS and their prices are completely out of touch with the common citizen. how many of us have three homes to take advantage of such a license??

Re:Okay, I'm confused ...

[ndogg]

FreeBSD is going to kill Linux
Yes, but only as a zombie because, as Netcraft has confirmed, FreeBSD is dead.