StarOffice 8 reviewed

Filed under: Windows, Linux, Office, Commercial

StarOffice 8 reviewed

by Marc Perton Sep 30th 2005

Now that StarOffice 8 has been released, the reviews are starting to come out, and eWeek has given the program — which is essentially a commercial version of OpenOffice.org (or is OpenOffice.org a free version of StarOffice?) — the thumbs-up. According to the review, "this StarOffice release stands as the best Office alternative we've tested as of yet, minor format inconsistencies can complicate migrations" from Microsoft Office. Which means that, if you've standardized on MSO, you're probably better off staying with it, unless you're prepared for a few glitches along the way. If, on the other hand, you're setting up a business and want something that will give you most of what MSO offers (other than, Outlook, of course) at a much lower price, SO is definitely worth considering. And, of course, if you're in a mixed-platform office, there's no better option, given that SO runs on Windows, Linux and Solaris (forget about the Mac; you'll have to settle for NeoOffice, a semi-native version of OpenOffice.org).

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Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

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