SAN FRANCISCO--Sun Microsystems' StarOffice software package--a competitor of Microsoft Office--is moving more toward the mainstream with the coming release of version 6, Sun Chief Operating Officer Ed Zander said Wednesday.
StarOffice, which Sun acquired in 1999, has thus far failed to grow much beyond the fringes of the computing world. Sun hopes to change that with the next version by securing customers in big business and outside the United States, Zander said.
The tough task is to get the product to customers. Zander said that testimony from Gateway executives at the Microsoft antitrust trial has revealed that Microsoft's licensing agreements make it difficult for them not to use Windows XP (news - web sites). And to get widespread distribution of desktop software, "you've got to get AOL, or a Compaq, HP, IBM or Dell," Zander said.
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