RE: FLASH: OT Post (Star Office v MS Office)

[Frederico]

It doesn't seem as though you want any feedback that supports a 

transition away  from the bloated, overpriced, over-powered MS Office, 

but, in case anyone else is listening, I'll make a few points.


 Choosing your office documentation management suite should be based on 

your needs, and that of your clients, not your peers.


Do you accept numerous outside documents with such frequency that you 

must be able to read them in Word/Excel/PP/Outlook? 


If not, you likely need not be concerned with having more than one or two 

copies of MS Office on hand when such a translation is needed (and 

assuming Star Office fails on its promise to translate MSO docs without 

further assistance). Depending on the weight of your firm, you may also 

be able to dictate the format in which you will accept documents, too.


Do you publish numerous documents to the outside world that must be 

readable by MS Office? Of the purported 95% of businesses allegedly using 

Office, I'd be amazed if any of them refused to also use the free Acrobat 

Reader, wherin you could better control formatting and appearance (and 

modifications) with PDFs (which can be generated from any application for 

 =< $20 per station license).


If all (or most) of your document creation and management is internal, or 

is printed for final users, why not choose an application that better 

meets your needs? From what I read between your lines, your CEO feels 

that cost is clearly an issue. Do you really produce documents in need of 

all the power-features of MS Office with such frequency that every 

workstation needs it? Do these documents generate such revenue as to 

justify the support costs of the most-costly suite flying? 


As a consultant myself, I see hundreds of offices that need little more 

than Notepad and an email client for 80% of their staff, yet they drop 

hundreds of dollars per station for tools they don't need. 


I'm not saying you should dump MS Office altogether, indeed, parts of it 

simply rock in terms of what it can do for those who need it; I would 

just suggest you evaluate the needs of each of your work stations; look 

more into the translation abilities of both suites (and others), and make 

an educated decision based on your overall needs; not one of simply 

staying in step with the rest of the world, merely for the sake of 

staying in step with the rest of the world.


FWIW, I looked at some early version demos of Star Office, and for a 

young release, it has a lot going for it. Its interface makes a lot of 

sense for a lot of average users, thus you can safely presume a minimal 

retraining period. I think it will only get better with future versions, 

and the more who "buy" it, the more likely it will be improved upon.


HTH




Frederico


~If you don't face up to your problems, 

               you get a big plastic cow in your room.~


                           --Doug


Win2000 -- for better or worse -- is on its way. . .




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