RE: Sun/StarDivision StarOffice software suite

[Janet Valade <janetv -at- systech -dot- com>]

	<<Are any of you using the newly free-of-charge StarOffice 5.1
software
	suite?
	I'm thinking of giving it a try but would like some advice or
warnings
	before I download and install it.>>

	I am very impressed. I haven't had time to work with it much, just a
little poking around. The more I look at it, the better I like it. It's much
better integrated than Office. Well, I haven't seen Office 2000 yet. You can
access your desk top and start menu from inside StarOffice. It has a built
in browser and a HOME button that brings up the home page you have specified
in your default browser. In StarOffice, I can click new-->mail, type a
message, and click send, and away it goes. It's full of little neat things.
For instance, in the print dialog box, page shows the current page number in
the text box where you can accept or modify it. It's handy and eliminates
the need for the "current page" button. I haven't yet found any things that
Word has that StarOffice lacks. It has a macro language, although I have
heard that it is a little different.

	I brought my 300 page manual Word file into StarOffice. It came
right in, very fast. Everything was right except the footers. My footers
contain style refs and page numbers. The correct text was all there, but the
spacing was a little off.

	The download is major. It is 65 Megs. It is broken up into 7 files,
8-10 Megs each. I have a cable modem and it still took some time. Possibly
the server is pretty busy. You can pay $9.99 and get a CD.

	Janet

Janet Valade
Technical Writer
Systech Corporation, San Diego, CA
mailto:janetv -at- systech -dot- com