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Sun Denies StarOffice on Mac OS X

Posted by pudge on from the eh-who-needs-it dept.

mattworld1 writes, "MacCentral is reporting that while development of OpenOffice for Mac OS X will continue, Sun is denying that a version of StarOffice is in the works. This is unfortunate, as it would be nice for Mac OS X users to have a good alternative to the expensive Microsoft Office." Apparently it's not all bad news, as VValdo writes, "The recent announcement of a collaboration from Apple/Sun on a Java-based version of StarOffice for Mac OS X shocked and angered many of the OpenOffice developers who had been left totally in the dark. After two days of intense programming on a proof of concept, they announced a first look at Open Office in Aqua." Neat!

8 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What would be great by MattHaffner · · Score: 3, Funny
    It would also allow Apple to tell MS to shove that carrot they dangle over Apple where the sun don't shine.
    You mean where Sun does shine? :P

    Of course the way Apple's operating these days, it would be Aquified, renamed iOffice, bundled (but require 10.2 of course), and be free for a year or so. After that, they would announce that you can now only save your documents to your iDisk, which of course costs $100/yr now.

    Sigh...

    mh, long-time, but now severely cynical Mac-head...
  2. Hrmmm... by captredballs · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe they are denying this news because in truth SUN AND APPLE ARE MERGING!!!

    Wouldn't that make a great little conspiracy story? Come on, think about it. Sun has positioned themselves such that they need desktop software and Apple SHOULD be looking to G4/5 alternatives, particulary 64 bit options if they want to maintain any customers in the movie industry. The sparc wouldn't be a poor choice, since it seems like its roadmap goes farther than the vanilla powerpc chips.

    Okay, it would be pretty un-applish to want to port Aqua to solaris rather than darwin, but you never know. Or the apple/sun conglomerate could maintain 3 difference unixes (don't forget that Sun has a linux distro coming out). It should would strengthen both companies pitch to the business sector since the whole office could come from one vendor (server, clients and office software). You can even picture what the new logo would be: a purple apple with sunbeams gracing one side, casting a shadow northward... no, farther north... yeah, past Oregon.. yeah, that far northward.

    Come on silicon valley! Mount a RISC offensive against Redmond!

    --

    I suppose I'm not too threatening, presently, but wait till I start Nautilus
    1. Re:Hrmmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      that can't happen. I mean apple is using a BSD unix base, while Solaris is now SysV. I mean merging those two would be unholy... and would probably resmeble linux

    2. Re:Hrmmm... by powerlinekid · · Score: 5, Funny

      No no you got it all wrong. First IBM is going to buy Sun because we all know in our lifetimes its going to happen. Next IBM is going to move its new "Sun Division" away from sparc and to IBM's 64 bit powerPC. Now IBM will merge with Apple, move AQUA on a linux base instead of BSD or Solaris slap it on these 64 bit powerpcs with it's IBM Star Office and drive Microsoft straight back into the hole it crawled out of. Now its kind of scarry that it would take 3 companies to kill MS, but if someones gonna do it it might as well be IBM because they started this mess in the first place.

      --

      can't sleep slashdot will eat me
  3. Re:ThinkFree Office by zangdesign · · Score: 3, Funny

    Java-based AND slow? This is a recommendation?

    --
    To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
  4. Sun plans Apple takeover! by weefle · · Score: 5, Funny
    Yeah, this rumor has floated around countless times, almost as many as the one about how Apple's about to just go bankrupt and call it quits. But somebody passed it around to me about six years ago with the funniest spin:

    Yeah, did you hear? Sun's going to buy Apple! Yeah, and do you know what they're gonna call themselves after the merger?

    Snapple!

    1. Re:Sun plans Apple takeover! by captredballs · · Score: 2, Funny

      Listen Dude. That was somebody else's rumor. THIS ONE is mine. Did they have the OpenOffice spin? No. Was MacOS UNIX then? No, it wasn't. Was the powerpc chip too slow to keep up with intel back then? Ooops! I guess that's always been the case.

      My Sun/Apple "rumor" is way cooler than any of those other out of date rumors.

      The Snapple thing IS funny, though. I give props to the rumors before mine. I'm truly standing on the shoulder's of giants.

      --

      I suppose I'm not too threatening, presently, but wait till I start Nautilus
  5. Re:Appleworks by daddymac · · Score: 3, Funny

    it is quite fast, stable, and plays well with the other apps--word.
    To my mama?
    --
    If something I said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, I meant the other one.