Re: Sun's Java Office Plans
jhjg,
Sounds like Deja Vu all over again. Remember Corel tried this and abruptly gave up. But this time around I'm sure Sun is going to use latest incarnation of Java to create their Office products. It's the Java version that has been much discussed upstream on this thread.
Maybe it will work better this time around? I know I still get frustrated using my web browser everytime a Java app is hit. You have to sit there and stare at the screen for awhile before you can do anything while the web page uses up resources downloading and opening the app.
You would think with Office type applications, this Java processiong problem would be magnified (albeit it's done on the server this time around). Maybe performance will just depend on how well the program is written?
Anyway, I did find it somewhat ironic that this Tuesday announcement comes so soon after this one:
Message 11036071
MikeM(From Florida)
PS Mike B. I didn't mean to bring it up again, but that Java thingy keeps popping up. <VBG>
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Sun plans purchase of Star Division Hopes to compete with Microsoft Office applications
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Sun Microsystems next week will buy Star Division, a German application software provider, to go head to head against Microsoft in the personal computer software market, according to a person close to the company and analysts.
Sun plans to announce the acquisition at a press conference in New York on Tuesday. Star Division makes a family of software products similar to Microsoft's popular Office suite of products. The products include a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software.
The acquisition will give Sun "about the closest thing to real competition to Microsoft Office," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with Giga Information Group in Santa Clara, Calif., who said he's heard the deal is set to be announced. "It's almost a clone of Microsoft Office with a couple of advantages."
Officials at a Star office in Freemont, Calif. did not return a phone call seeking comment. Officials at Palo Alto-based Sun declined to comment The company said Thursday that it plans to unveil the "next piece" of its Internet strategy in New York on Tuesday.
The deal, which will enhance Sun's Internet strategy, follows the company's acquisition of Forte Software Inc. on Aug. 23 for about $540 million in stock. It was unclear how much Sun will pay for Star Division because analysts did not have a good idea how many people the private company employs or what its revenues are.
Star Division?s ace is that unlike Office, Star Division runs on Unix, Linux, IBM's OS/2 and other operating systems. It could tap a market unavailable to Microsoft. |
