Sun has informed downloaders of StarOffice 6.0 beta software that their program will expire March 31, 2002 if they don't download and install a free patch. It is currently unclear how long the patch will extend the use of the StarOffice 6.0 beta, but the extension will presumably be set to expire shortly after the fully released version of StarOffice 6.0 hits the market.

Following the full release of StarOffice, users will have the option to either purchase the released version of StarOffice 6.0 or migrate to OpenOffice.org's free OpenOffice download. OpenOffice, which is largely based on the same source code as StarOffice, has similar functionality, but contains substitutes for certain commercially licensed components used within StarOffice and may also lack some functionality.

 
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