This is not a real solid opinion, since I have used neither. I have
used Star Office 5.x when it was free, and have used a lot OpenOffice,
I used it today in fact in Linux. I have also used it in Windows, and
there is little difference.
However, I do know that later versions of Star Office (I think around
SO 6.0 or so) contain additional proprietary functions, and Star
Office is a licensed program for which you pay money. The first
versions of S.O. included a proprietary database which is not included
in Open Office -- which is free. I believe by memory there are also
proprietary fonts with Star Office, for the same reason not included
in a free program, OpenOffice
OpenOffice was after the split said to be the free and open source
version, with the open source community helping write and debug the
program. And, after there was a stable version of OpenOffice they said
the proprietary(that is, licensed stuff added to the basic program,
and which you must pay for, and which is a criminal act to use without
complying with purchase/licensing requirements) added, sold for a
reasonable price as Star Office, and licensed just like any other
commercial program.
OpenOffice, besides lacking the proprietary stuff which is the reason
one has to pay for Star Office, is also completely free, and you can
make legally as many copies and toss them out airplane windows to the
assembled masses.
If Star Office 8.0 is the pay version of OpenOffice 2.0, which I have
not yet had opportunity to download, there is a good chance the same
thing is true. Stable OO with proprietary stuff added, otherwise
identical in most functions except the optional proprietary stuff
added.
I am having trouble making sense here. To summarize, the commerical
pay-version has always been said to be essentially the free version
with those few non-free functions added. If you donīt need those extra
functions, such as the database and fancy fonts, then you should not
be able to tell the difference. |
