Once you've downloaded all 65MB of it from the Sun Web site, StarOffice is free of charge. Sun's plan is to encourage companies to standardise on the suite and charge only for technical support and customisation services, all in the hope of selling them up to a Web-based upgrade called StarPortal in the future.

The big surprise is that StarOffice simply doesn't feel like free software: it's as powerful as any commercial suite costing hundreds of pounds. It's a bit different in the way it runs too, as the suite launches inside its own unique desktop, either in a window or in full-screen mode. You can still access your local and network data in this new desktop, just as you might in Explorer, but it allows enhanced integration with the StarOffice modules.

The core set of applications includes word processor, spreadsheet, database and presentation program, all of which are Microsoft Office 97 file-compatible. We were most impressed by the seamless HTML import and export between the word processor and integrated Web browser, which was so clean as to be imperceptible. The Web browser is much faster and seemingly more reliable than Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, although you can use any browser you like. On the other hand, StarOffice's e-mail utility is rather ordinary.

The spreadsheet and database interfaces feature drag-and-drop as in Microsoft Office, plus unique functions such as the rotating text within cells. A nice touch is the little charting program which runs independently from the main spreadsheet, and there's a stunning drawing module which works with precision vector graphics and OpenGL-accelerated 3D primitives - if you know what we mean... The presentation package is powerful yet easy to use, with 50 transition effects and full multimedia support. It can also be used for creating business graphics such as org charts.

To summarise, StarOffice is fast and highly integrated - more so than any other suite on test.