Finding suitable software alternatives

Vishnu K. Mahmud, Contributor, Jakarta, vmahmud@yahoo.com

On Tuesday, July 29, the Indonesian Intellectual Property law will come into effect, making it illegal to purchase or utilize pirated software products.

It is said that finding illegal software, movies or music in stores will become more difficult. There are even rumors, within the Jakarta information technology community, that software companies may start letter campaigns or corporate "raids" to ensure compliance.

Businesses will no longer be able to operate using bootlegged computer applications and must either obtain a license or find other software alternatives.

Depending on where computers are purchased the license of the operating system is often included in the price. This only leaves the additional costs of productivity software (word processing, etc).

Once there was the choice of using Microsoft Office, Word Perfect, WordStar and others. Now, with the opposition wiped out, the retail price for the Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition productivity suite -- that is used by everyone -- stands at a whopping US$350, according to Amazon.com.

It is vital for businesses to have the same software so that their documents are compatible. Especially since the Word format has become the defacto standard for digital documentation. But can companies with dozens of office computers afford the costs? Are there any alternatives to the current giant of the market?

Actually, there is an abundance of options.

They range from basic programs to complete application suites. Some are small and simple, while others are bulky and require a manual, most have the ability to open and edit the Word format. Here are a few alternatives:

Star Office 6.0 from Sun Microsystems (www.sun.com/staroffice) has a comprehensive set of features that are practically the same as Microsoft Office. Running on Windows and Linux operating systems, Star Office provides applications for word processing, spreadsheet calculation, database manipulation and creating presentations.

Retailing at just over $75, businesses, depending on their size, may be able to negotiate a package deal of $50 and up per computer. There are no licensing fees for educational institutions and the discs can either be downloaded directly to the computer (about 120 megabytes) or purchased.

Star Office is considered to be one of the leaders of alternative office suites. Priced at much less then its competitors (nearly an 80 percent savings), Sun also provides web support, help desk assistance and migration services for businesses who wish to switch systems. As a leader in the global software world, Sun is a name to be reckoned with.

Another choice is Gobe Software's (www.gobe.com) and GobeProductive Suite version 3.0. Although it may not have as many features as Microsoft Office (or Star Office for that matter), it offers value for home users and small businesses. Fast and robust, GobeProductive offers everything but a database program. Priced at $49.95, users must buy the CD-set as downloads are not possible.

For something completely different, 602Pro PC Suite from 602Software (www.software602.com), in the Czech Republic, is an integrated office suite compatible with Microsoft's Office documents. The productivity suite includes a word processor (602Text), spreadsheet (602Tab), image editor (602 Photo), and photo album (602 Album).

You can download a free version from the website (602 PC Suite - about 17 megabytes) and see if it suits your business. However, some of the features usually built-in to other applications cost a little extra, such as Text-to-Speech, Document-To-PDF Conversion and the Thesaurus and Hyphenation.

602Pro PC Suite Plus is $29.95 but there are other licensing options available. Unlimited users (a site license) costs $399.95, which would cover everyone in the office! Although the suite does not have a database or presentation applications, 602Software does have an array of reasonably priced programs such as secure e-mail servers (602Pro LAN Suite) and document solutions (602Pro eDock Server).

Finally, there is Open Office (www.openoffice.org), the open source alternative to Star Office. This productivity suite offers practically everything Star Office does, with a nice twist -- it is completely free.

Available for multiple operating systems, users can download the program (about 65 megabytes) for Windows. Despite the fact that Star Office is based on Open Office it lacks a few enhanced features, and support is only provided through message board forums.

However, its certainly worth trying. Open Office is a very powerful productivity suite that costs absolutely nothing.

There are more office software alternatives and the four mentioned above are just the more popular ones. However, it is important to remember that they may not be 100 percent compatible with everyone's needs.

While these alternative programs can open up and save Word files or Excel tables, sometimes documents with many features (such as excessive tables, macros, program specific codes, etc) may end up having formatting problems.

Companies should be aware of their computer processes and be aware of the substitutes that can be used with these programs. Of course, employees who are used to operating a specific software application may have to update their skills.

But spending hundreds of millions of company rupiah for software -- despite the fact more reasonable alternatives are available -- takes a whole lot more effort. That really would put a dampener on things, and leave no room in the budget for a year- end bonus.