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Ximian, Inc. today announced it will bundle the Sun StarOffice 6.0 productivity suite across a range of its desktop and software management products and services for Linux.

Customers buying the boxed version of Ximian Desktop Professional Edition or subscribing to the premium Red Carpet Express software updating service will receive StarOffice 6.0 with their purchases. Workgroups and organizations purchasing the Red Carpet CorporateConnect service for centralized software management can also install StarOffice 6.0 on each of their supported systems.

Now offered as part of the larger Ximian solution, StarOffice 6.0 provides improved productivity for individual and corporate users. Specifically, StarOffice enables users to create, open, modify, save and resend native Word, Excel and PowerPoint files and seamlessly integrates with Ximian Desktop, including one-click attachment handling in the Ximian Evolution email client, which speeds the opening of Microsoft Office files sent as email enclosures to Linux users.

"StarOffice 6.0 is an excellent companion to the Ximian Desktop for Linux users," said Mike Rogers, vice president and general manager for Desktop and StarOffice products at Sun Microsystems. "Customers in mixed computing environments are increasingly looking for a cost-effective desktop productivity alternative that is complete, easy to use, and compatible with their Microsoft Office file formats. StarOffice and Ximian Desktop together can provide that choice to customers."

"Ximian is dedicated to advancing the adoption of the Linux desktop, especially for corporate customers increasingly looking to Linux," said David Patrick, CEO and president of Ximian. "Combining Ximian GNOME, Ximian Evolution, Red Carpet and StarOffice 6.0 with our Ximian Desktop offerings provides our customers with unmatched usability, productivity, file compatibility, email management and software updating. The range of packages and price points gives end users and organizations choices for how to best purchase and deploy the software for their needs."

All products are available for purchase directly from Ximian at www.ximian.com or by phone at 866-4XIMIAN (outside the United States, 617-375-3856).

StarOffice 6.0 is bundled with various Ximian offerings, including:

• Ximian Desktop Professional Edition, priced at $59.95, including 90 days of web-based technical support.
• Red Carpet Express, with subscriptions priced at $9.95 a month or for $99.95 for a year.
• Red Carpet CorporateConnect, which includes a license for StarOffice 6.0 included with each paid seat, priced at $150 per year per seat.

Related Stories:
CNET News: Sun Puts $76 Price Tag on Office Rival (May 15, 2002)
Forbes.com: Sunspots(May 10, 2002)
Computerworld.NZ: Users Beginning to Consider StarOffice(May 07, 2002)
ZDNet: Sun's StarOffice: Challenging Microsoft's Office Suite(May 03, 2002)