:Reuters: Sun Micro free software offer may spur market shift
Reuters: Sun Micro free software offer may spur market shift Sep 1, 1999, 02 :28 UTC (2 Talkback[s]) (7348 reads) (Other stories by Nicole Volpe)
"Sun Microsystems Inc.'s move to offer free Internet versions of office
programs, such as word processing and spreadsheets, could chip away at
Microsoft Corp.'s dominance of the desktop software market, analysts said
on Tuesday."
"Sun's move could trigger a sea change in the software industry, with
more applications and data being based on the Internet, and managed by
Internet service providers, or ISPs..."
"Still, company executives pointed to the competitive advantages of the
free StarOffice software, which has a look and feel that is similar to
Microsoft's Office suite. Microsoft Office currently costs from $400 to
$700.
"Do I think a lot of Microsoft Office users will switch? I think so,"
said Marco Boerries, Star Division's chief executive..."
