The New Model for Home and
Office Productivity
By Scott McNealy
You might describe today's announcement as one
small step for office software, one giant leap for the
Web.
That's because starting today, the rules have
changed, and there's no going back.
Under the old rules, you had to buy software in a
shrink-wrapped box, install the application, fiddle
with a bunch of install routines, and most likely
reboot your system. And once you got used to the
application, it would be time for an upgrade. More
money, more reconfiguring, more rebooting, and
ongoing compatibility issues.
Under the new rules, software is part of a network
service. Leave the installation, the maintenance, and
the complexity to the professionals. Oh, and by the
way, it's free, as a part of a service.
We've seen this happen with e-mail, chat,
calendaring, and faxing -- basic services that have
already moved to the Web. Just a few years ago,
you might have purchased software to complete
these tasks. Now, you click on AT&T, AOL, and
Earthlink, or any number of portal sites and get the
application as part of the service.
We've seen the same Internet distribution of
supply-chain management, procurement, and
complex business software. Companies such as
Oracle, SAP, and i2 are delivering these
applications over the Web.
The last holdout, it seems, has been office
productivity software. Until now. With the acquistion
of a company called Star Division, Sun is going to
".com" office productivity applications so they can
be offered over the Internet.
Sun's StarOffice productivity suite includes a word
processor, spreadsheet, presentation program,
graphics tools, e-mail, calendar, database interface,
and more. If you have used Microsoft Office in the
past, you'll feel right at home. StarOffice runs on the
Linux, SolarisTM Operating Environment, OS/2, and
Windows platforms -- and it can open (and save to)
any of the common Microsoft Office file formats,
such as Powerpoint, Excel, and Word.
StarOffice is available for free download. And we
are publishing the specifications and providing
source code under Sun's Community Source
Licensing program.
But that's only the beginning. Coming soon to a
browser near you will be StarPortal, a Web-enabled
version that will allow you to access all this
productivity software anywhere, anytime, on any
virtually any device, including JavaTM
technology-enabled cell phones, PDAs, and TV
set-top boxes. And it will sync up your changes the
next time you log in with any number of very capable
service providers -- for a very low cost, too.
Probably free.
So why is Sun doing this? Well, quite frankly, we're
about the only company that can. Network
computing is in our DNA and we're always searching
for ways to fuel this industry. It goes back all the
way to NFS, and of course the Java and JiniTM
technologies.
We're always looking for ways to provide the
customer with choice. That's what drives
competition. And competition is what drives
innovation. The innovation here is in "dot-comming"
office productivity software. So you can get your job
done.
So, take a memo and pass it on. The rules have
changed, for the better. |
