Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[hawkerp]

Sony dumps Microsoft for StarOffice

http://zdnet.com.com/2102-1104-976239.html

Sun Microsystems announced a deal Wednesday to install Sun's StarOffice software on some European Sony PCs, marking another defection from dominant Microsoft products.

By the end of the year, Sony will include version 6.0 of StarOffice on most consumer desktop PCs sold in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, according to Sun. Microsoft's Works package is currently used on most of those PCs.

The deal makes Sony the first top-tier PC maker to use StarOffice and marks another dent in Microsoft's dominance of office applications, a market led by Works and its more expensive business-oriented sibling, Microsoft Office.

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Review of free OpenOffice suite:

http://www.zdnet.com/filters/printerfriendly/0,6061,2899202-92,00.html

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IC execs whisper of recovery:

http://www.eet.com/printableArticle?doc_id=OEG20021129S0014

"What we've seen for the past couple of quarters is real business being transacted. Purchasing orders are being placed every day and purchasing people are talking to our salespeople," said Wilfred Corrigan, chairman and chief executive officer at LSI Logic Corp. "The one thing that is lacking is forward visibility. You'll hear this from virtually every one of our customers even though business is happening on a daily basis."

Chip makers may soon reach a point where they can start talking with their customers again without playing the supplicant. But right now there's scant evidence that price-conscious customers are ready to sit down at the negotiating table -- not when their own future is so uncertain and not when there are still so many vendors that aim to please.

"Today they call you up and say: 'I want some USB chips and could you deliver them tomorrow, please? Oh, and by the way, I want my price to drop 20 percent from the last quarter or I'm going to call your competitor,' " Rodgers said.