Finding suitable software alternatives

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.