Today, I had the opportunity to speak with Iyer Venkatesan, Product line manager for StarOffice at Sun Microsystems. He spoke to me at length about StarOffice 8, which will be released tomorrow. Read on for a summary of the interview, and be sure to check out the review at Newsforge as well.
Note: Due to technology complications, I was unable to record this conversation for verbatim transcription. As such, all answers are paraphrased and should not be quoted in external sources.
Iyer was very eager to share the news about tomorrow’s release of StarOffice 8. Based on the OpenOffice.org 2.0 codebase, StarOffice provides 5 major points of note.
Firstly, StarOffice 8 is a signficant upgrade, especially with MS Office compatibility and usability side. StarOffice can now read write Office formats much more readbily than in previous versions. Usability-wise, there is a greater familiarity for users migrating from Microsoft Office. There is a low cost of “retraining” and and a higher “ease of learning” due to a dramatically changed interface. Unlike OpenOffice.org, StarOffice can now convert most Office macros, tables, headers, and footers. Macro conversion, it appears, was one of the most requested features by current StarOffice users. The majority of macros can now be converted and are supported. In addition, StarOffice can now open Microsoft Office 2003 password protected files, which until now, has only been supported in Office itself.
Iyer pointed out that research showed that the import filter in StarOffice seemed to be good enough, but that when a document was opened, edited, and then returned, what the Sun team refers to as a “roundtrip,” more compatbility issues came to the surface. Extra detail was paid to this process this time around.
Secondly, The user interface has been majorly revamped. Users of the beta versions of OpenOffice.org will now be very familiar with the new interface, however, since the previous version of StarOffice was built on OpenOffice.org 1.x, the UI presentation is very different and allows users to be much productive. Impress, for example, is now very similar to Powerpoint in it’s pane-like view. Menus are context sensitive, and the floating toolbars geared at providing task-specific help appear to assist in document creation.
The third major bullet point we highlighted was StarOffice 8 beung the 1st commercial to be compliant with the new OASIS standard. OpenOffice.org and KOffice are two other suites that do already, or will soon, ship with OpenDocument XML as the default file format. With the OpenDocument standard, users can now store content that can “outlast” any program. Because it is a standard, it’s guaranteed to be manipulable without restriction or impeding license at any point in the future.
Fourth, we focused on differences from OpenOffice.org 2.0. Of course, macro migration is an important commercial features. There is a configuration manager which assists administrators in managing users and setups. As in previous versions, there is a spell check library, additional clipart, additional fonts, and more. StarOffice also comes with 60 days support.
Another interesting point is Sun’s new distribution model for StarOffice. New distribution methods will push boxed StarOffice into retail stores and a greater number of online channels. All of this suggests that the push for StarOffice 8 is much larger than previous ventures, as the product has now matured into a much more robust suite.
After the initial discussion, I had an oppotunity to ask a few questions. Please remember that the answers are all paraphrased.
OSNews: What are the OEM opportunties associated with StarOffice? Are you targetting the Dells and HPs of the industry?
Certainly, we are aiming for OEMs as well as existing commercial settings. So far, we’ve had much greater success in Europe, Japan, and other areas of Asia than in the USA. We are currently looking into the so-called “whitebox” space.
OSNews: What about OpenDocument is more compelling than StarOffice 6 and 7’s SXW formats which were also XML based?
The main plus is compliance. As seen in Massachusettes, across Europe, and in many other areas, standards are becoming more important. Previously, the StarOffice file format was authored and controlled by Sun. With OpenDocument, there is no one vendor that controls its destiny.
OSNews: Can OpenDocument do anything than StarOffice files can’t, or vice versa?
No. Certainly, the formats are virtually interchangeable. StarOffice 8 can read and write StarOffice 7 files, and a plugin that is either forthcoming or already released will allow StarOffice 7 to write OpenDocument files. The conversion from one to the other is largely trivial, but goes a long way to satisfying the goal of application independence.
OSNews: Does Sun see the popularity of OpenOffice.org as a threat to its own StarOffice business?
No, OpenOffice.org is not a threat, but rather a nice complement. Some want OpenOffice.org, some prefer pure open source software, some want a productivity suite and simply don’t want to pay for it. Others want support, additional features, and the conversion compatibility improvements that StarOffice offers. We recognize that there is a market for both. We also believe that OpenOffice.org users are likely to prefer StarOffice at work.
OSNews: Many free software supports are upset that parts of OO.o depend on Java, which is not currently considered “free software” by the current definition. Has Sun spent anytime addressing this, or is extracting Java dependence – a Sun technology, I’d note – not considered a priority?
Certainly, today, StarOffice requires a JRE to function properly. I know Sun has taken steps to make Java more open source friendly. But somebody on the OpenOffice.org team with specific knowledge about Java plans would have to address that more specifically.
OSNews: One of the largest complaints about StarOffice/OO.o is the load time. Recent articles have suggested that without kernel level access, there is only “so much” that can be done to improve load time? Is this true? If not, what is StarOffice doing to improve load time, and is it any different that what we currently see with OpenOffice.org?
StarOffice load time should not be much different than what you currently see with OpenOffice.org 2. Load time will continue to improve, however, and has with each successive version of StarOffice. There will likely be 3-4 or more updates to StarOffice 8 over the course of its lifetime, and during that span, we expect to see load time continue to improve.
OSNews: Why is OpenOffice.org not able to ship alongside StarOffice 8? Will it contain features, bug fixes, or stability enhancements not found in StarOffice?
The OpenOffice.org 2 release is based on a schedule set forth by the OpenOffice.org community. The Sun release process is different, but you will see no major differences from one product to another in those regards. The OpenOffice.org OOCon conference is this week. I would expect to see some announcement there about a release date for OpenOffice.org 2.
OSNews: Do you believe that the OASIS format will eventually be adopted by Microsoft, if only in the form of a custom filter? And if not, will StarOffice be able to eventually support Microsoft’s “Office 12” XML, whose XSDs were recently published?
Of course, I can only speculate on this point, but I would suspect that Microsoft will eventually have to support OASIS, if only in an import/export fashion. The world market has already dictated that there will be a migration towards standards.
StarOffice will eventually read/write Office 12. It’s way too early to really discuss this in detail, to be fair. We know that new products take about 2 years to really permeate the landscape, and “Office 12” is still well over a year away. When the formats are finalized, StarOffice will support them – the first specs are out and we’ve already seen them. However, right now, we’re most concerned with best supporting existing documents through Microsoft Office 2003.
OSNews: Thanks for your time!
Thank you.
Why am I going to pay $99 for a product which is already free (OO.org), just to get 60 days free support? Both of them are the same products, plus, if I already have Microsoft Office 95 and up installed, there is no need to migrate to either OO.org or Star Office.
I already have Microsoft Office 95 and up installed, there is no need to migrate to either OO.org or Star Office.
C’mon, that’s just silly. First off, Office 95 formats aren’t even compatible with 97+.
Secondly, I think it’s clear that it’s the commercial sector that StarOffice is geared towards – and that OpenOffice.org is aimed at a home user with computer experience.
Then again, I’m pretty sure you’re just trolling.
why can we not vote you down ?
why do your posts come in at level 5 ?
Why are you trying to mod him down? Could it be because you are a KNOWN TROLL with a negative comment average???
I wasnt trying to mod him down, I was looking at his comments scores. they are all 5
and you call me a troll ?
how dare you etc etc etc hahaha
and last I looked I was not negative… but you were… TROLL !
yeah, and Thom too.
It’s one of the few perks of being OSNews staff.
Why am I going to pay $99 for a product which is already free (OO.org)
You may not, but your employer would. You’d be amazed at the number of places that won’t let you install something downloaded for free, but would buy the same thing in a shrinkwraped package.
Does this render poorly for everyone? I am running Firefox 1.5 Beta on Win 2000 (I’m at work, or I’d be using Linux).
I use StarOffice and I’m a home user. It IS the same code as OpenOffice, but the “extras” are worth it…and it’s easy to keep updated with patches throughout the life cycle. StarOffice 7 was a pleasure, so I have no problem shelling out a nominal amount for this fine office suite. Combine the provided clip-art and other things with templates (and add OpenClipArt too, if you like) there is plenty here that OpenOffice doesn’t provide out of the box.
Now with the Open Document Format, things are even better. So, there are some people willing to spend a little for a piece of software…and the comment about Office 95 is pretty stupid. Some people DUMPED MS Office altogether because of the irritations and problems with it.
Been using OOo2 (1.9.129) and if SO isn’t any better they’ll soon get customers running back to MS.
It’s just full of glitches. Small things, but irritating.
Been using OOo2 (1.9.129) and if SO isn’t any better they’ll soon get customers running back to MS.
It’s just full of glitches. Small things, but irritating.
It’s a beta in case you didn’t know. That is why when you launch the program, it says “OpenOffice.org 2.0 Beta”. In-case you weren’t aware, betas are released so people can find bugs and report them to the vendor. So, since that is the point of a beta, here’s a thought, submit a bug report and maybe, just maybe, those bugs might get fixed!!! :-O What a thought eh?
So, since that is the point of a beta, here’s a thought, submit a bug report and maybe, just maybe, those bugs might get fixed!!! :-O What a thought eh?
Yeah, sure. In some 5 years, maybe, if OOo is still around. I have some 4 years old issues reported that still are not fixed.
If i get irritated enough. Just because SUN released SO as open source doesn’t mean I’m employed in thier testing department working for zero salary…
Yeah…I’ve seen some bugs and I have been using it since 1.9.79 or so…but all of the bugs that I have seen have disappeared in my current 1.9.125, but do you really think people will “run” back to Microsoft? Just curious why you say that. My wife has been using this since StarOffice 7 and she is now using OpenOffice 1.9 until we get StarOffice 8 and she likes it BETTER and she has been using MS Office for years prior to that.
Assuming pepole are checking out OO just for the sake of it. I think theyll find no compelling reason to stick with it. And the behavior is sufficiently dissimilar to MSO to get a feeling of bugginess
This is what I’ve found yet:
1. Slow rendering and rendering glitches (could be attributed to X/gtk and drivers though…)
2. Autofill in calc doesn’t work as Excel. In excel if you autofill a single value it’s repeated.
3. Pivot tables are called Data Pilot. Not a bug, but still an issue if the user thinks the feature is missing.
4. Enabling and Disabling of autofilter is confusing and buggy.
5. It’s possible to remove the autofilter widgets by selecting a nonmatching query and not having a header row.
6. Data Pilot has a inferior query abillities.
There are more, but as you notice it’s just a rather limited part of the whole suite I’ve had experience with jet. If the rest of it is similar…
OO.org 2.0 is beta testing, so of course it’ll have issues. Have you filled out a bug report so that your concerns may be resolved by release time?
I wasn’t bashing OOo I simply state that I hope SO is better.
Perhaps the OSNews staff should buy StarOffice for writing their articles. I’m sure its spellchecker can suggest the correct word with which to replace “compatility” in the third sentence of this article.
Really, what is so hard about writing articles in a spell-checked application? Even Gedit can do that! OSNews is turning into Slashdot.
And StarOffice 8 is based on that, then what does that make StarOffice? And people accuse MS of releasing products that are still beta
I use Open Office at home and I just want to thank say thank you to Sun. They get bashed a lot so I thought I’d give them an atta-boy when I had the chance.
“Autofill in calc doesn’t work as Excel. In excel if you autofill a single value it’s repeated. ”
So it works correctly then. In excel, autofilling a cell formatted as text that has a number stored, increases the number by one, and autofilling a cell formatted as number repeats the cell. What’s the ***ing logic in that?
It’s probably isn’t logical at all. But MS Excel feels like a better mind reader than OOo.
If they ever got together around promoting OpenOffice, it’d be ‘say bye bye’ time for Microsoft.
If they ever got together around promoting OpenOffice, it’d be ‘say bye bye’ time for Microsoft.
Not quite, for the simple reason some people out there don’t trust non-Microsoft software.
Notwithstanding their overwhelming usage of Google, a non-Microsoft product.
Notwithstanding their overwhelming usage of Google, a non-Microsoft product.
Yes, because the Google search engine is a piece of software you install on your computer, much like OpenOffice.org and MS Office. [/sarcasm]
I have had a very good experience working with Office 2k3 and I am definitely looking forward to Office 12 to come out. It looks pretty intriguing to me. Right now I am using 1.9.125 and so far it has crashed on me only twice and I have filed the bug reports. But other than those crashes I have had no probs none whatsoever especially using Writer and swapping back and forth between Word and ODT formats. I think its a great suite but nowhere near as polished or as fast as MSOffice.
It is still not posible to run 64-bit OOo or SO on 64-bit Linux distro’s. 64-bit only works on Solaris.
But SO/OOo are still the best office suites available.
Free software(aka Open source software) is not about giving software away for free.
Software development costs money. Somebody has to pay the programmers.
Sun employs alot of people to work on open office. If they didn’t make money from selling Sun Office then openoffice would probably not be in the functional state that it is.
Although I think the licencing of Sun office is unethical.
– Jessta
> Although I think the licencing of Sun office is unethical.
Errrm, ¿you mean the GPL?
Actually Free Software isn’t known as Open Source software at all.
Open Source is about the techincal and economical superiority in the development model. This is what ESR oulines in the Cathedral and the Bazaar.
Free Software is about the moral and ethical right to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. This is why FSF created the GPL and GNU to promote it. Notice dependency there, GNU was created to promote GPL not the other way around.
Two completely diffrent beasts.
If i get irritated enough. Just because SUN released SO as open source doesn’t mean I’m employed in thier testing department working for zero salary…
———-Well if it bothers you so much, use something else. No one is holding a gun to your head to use betas of any software.
have anyone checked OO or SO memory consumption. It is impossible to run on older computers. It takes forever to load also. Now dont push me to buy more memory because it is cheap! I can run MSO with same memory very efficiently.
my big question is will you risk an important presentation or report of being not formated well or glitches(minor to linux geeks) in front of your boss or a valuable meeting or conference
or
you would rely on MSO for such important presentations.???
“And StarOffice 8 is based on that, then what does that make StarOffice? And people accuse MS of releasing products that are still beta
”
Actually, the exact opposite is true. The fact that StarOffice 8 finally shipped is very, very good news for OO users. Because both OpenOffice and StarOffice are owned and developed by Sun, Sun has a policy of releasing StarOffice first. Then in a few weeks or a month, Sun moves OpenOffice into stable and makes an OpenOffice release. What this means is that OpenOffice 2 stable will be released any day now.
I can run MSO with same memory very efficiently
I think that’s because Windows has already pre-loaded much of the stuff needed for MSO and SO/OOo being multi-platform has to supply its own.
But I agree it’d be nice to see a smaller memory consumption in SO/OOo
An interresting thing would be to run MSO though Wine in linux and measure how much RAM MSO acctually uses.
my big question is will you risk an important presentation or report of being not formated well or glitches(minor to linux geeks) in front of your boss or a valuable meeting or conference or you would rely on MSO for such important presentations.???
Why would a presentation made in SO/OOo not be well formatted in front of your boss?
If it’s made in MSO and presented in SO/OOo there might be minor layout differences, but surely you don’t run a presentation of someone elses MSO document unrehersed (and unadjusted), do you?
– Peder