Consumers now have far more choice in terms of their office productivity software with the announcement that Sun Microsystems' StarOffice Suite is available from Incredible Connection outlets around the country.
The StarOffice 7 Office Suite is the world's leading office productivity suite on Linux and the Solaris OS, and the leading alternative office suite on Windows.
It is affordable, easy to use, and is based on open standards which means that for the first time in a market that has to date been monopolised by a single player, the consumer has a choice of productivity software.
The StarOffice suite includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing and database capabilities. Its familiar interface enables quick productivity and results for the business user, as well as elegant output for the consumer. Additionally, StarOffice 7 Office Suite enables export to PDF and Macromedia Flash formats.
According to Nick Christodoulou, marketing manager at Sun Microsystems' channel development partner Horizon, the availability of an alternative productivity suite at a significantly lower price means quality software is now within reach of more users than ever before.
"While StarOffice has been available for some years, it has never been regarded as 'mainstream' - with the result that its reach has been limited to those in the technology industry. Now that it is available at Incredible Connection, the country's most recognised consumer technology outlet, we expect that the low cost and high performance of StarOffice will create enormous excitement among consumers," he says.
Christodoulou adds that there are no interoperability issues with other productivity suites: consumers using different software can open/read documents from any other productivity suite. This eliminates any potential barrier to StarOffice's widespread adoption.
"In addition, consumers have the flexibility of an open source environment - where they are not tied in to endless licensing agreements," he says.
While sales of the suite are expected to be modest initially, Christodoulou maintains that rising economic pressure will compel consumers to seek alternative software solutions which are more affordable and offer the same level of functionality.
Horizon has embarked on a number of programmes to promote the benefits of the open source alternatives. "We also believe that training is key. We are therefore working closely with our channel partners to equip them with the knowledge to drive the StarOffice suite into the market," he says.
Christodoulou adds that negotiations are under way to introduce StarOffice to several other large South African retailers.
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