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Sun Serves Up a Software Challenge

Can Sun's new Web-based software suite compete with Microsoft Office?

By Nancy Weil, IDG News   

On Tuesday Sun Microsystems announced the upcoming release of StarPortal, a Web-based software suite targeted as a competitor to Microsoft's Office. Based on technology acquired when Sun bought Star Division, the software will be available in an "early-access" version later this year.

Sun is scheduled to detail the announcement at a press conference Tuesday in New York along with plans to push its network-services model as part of an initiative related to the acquisition. Information about the initiative was provided in a written statement from Sun Tuesday morning.

Sun says the "early-access" version of StarPortal will offer Web-ready office productivity software with word processing, presentation graphics, spreadsheet, and other office functions. The software will be accessible via any Web browser and also will be offered for portable devices at some point, Sun says.

Sun also is offering the current StarOffice desktop software as a free download. StarOffice 5.1 runs on the Linux, Windows, Solaris, and OS/2 operating systems. It will import various software file formats, including those from PowerPoint, Excel and Microsoft Word.

Users of Microsoft Office and other similar software will not need much training, if any, to use StarOffice, according to Sun, and will have immediate access to Office files, which they will be able to modify and export.

StarOffice CDs are priced at $9.95; the software also can be ordered with printed documentation and support for $39.95. Additional support services will be announced later, Sun says.

Sun is in talks with Internet service providers, Internet outsourcing providers, network hosting providers, and vendors of enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, and sales force automation software to promote acceptance of its network services model through StarPortal.

Sun is promoting a network services business model in which companies let service providers handle such tasks as managing networks, servers and applications.

The company also says it is working on a plan to let software developers integrate StarPortal into their applications. The company also will provide the software source code under licensing terms.