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SUN MICROSYSTEMS AND MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ANNOUNCE STAROFFICE DONATIONDonation Will Provide Millions of Students in Universities and K12 Schools in China with the Upcoming Release of Sun's StarOffice 6.0
BEIJING -- March 26, 2002 -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced a donation to the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the People's Republic of China that will make StarOffice[tm] 6.0 (branded StarSuite[tm] in Asian markets) an office suite of choice in schools throughout China. Today's donation will provide unlimited access to one of the world's largest open productivity suites based on open source development. The technology will be available to be replicated and distributed to the students, teachers and administrators of the educational institutions governed by the ministry. Sun and the MOE will work closely on the development of a competitive software industry in China that produces top-quality software for domestic and global markets. The discussions today are a major expansion of the existing relationship between Sun and the MOE. "In the quest for learning and understanding, there is really no greater tool than technology," said Kim Jones, vice president of global education and research, Sun Microsystems. "With this contribution of software, Sun and China's Ministry of Education will work closely with students, educators and researchers to enhance their ability to compete in a global economy, while opening the door to greater productivity and achievements throughout the Republic." Sun and China's Ministry of Education Long-Standing Commitment to Supporting Education in ChinaSun has made significant strides in its work with the MOE, having enabled the government organization to set up 10 nationwide Distance Learning Centers to provide eLearning services to all students in China. This will allow education institutes to share resources, to link students, professors and researchers around the nation and to allow anyone to access the research and education resources through the Internet. As part of this initiative, which was announced during last year's Education and Research Conference in Beijing, Sun also made a $1.6 million donation of its state-of-the-art networking systems to these centers. Sun and MOE Press Conference DetailsThe official donation ceremony and press conference will take place at 2 p.m. on March 27, 2002 in Function Room 10, 3F at the Beijing International Conference Center. Kim Jones of Sun will be presenting a gold master CD of StarOffice 6.0 (branded StarSuite[tm] in Asian markets) to China's Vice Minister of Education, Professor Zhao Qin Ping, and will be discussing the ongoing commitment from Sun to drive technology advancements in China through its work with the Ministry of Education. StarOffice SoftwareThe upcoming version of StarOffice 6.0 will be available in May 2002. StarOffice software offers a full-featured, multi-platform office suite with word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, Web-publishing, charting, formula-editing and database applications that offer everyone from large organizations, to governments, to small business, to individuals, a cost effective multi-platform alternative to proprietary office suites. StarOffice supports Linux, Solaris and Windows platforms. Star Office is available in Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Japanese (kanji) and Korean, in addition to the major Western languages. Sun Microsystems in EducationSun is a leading provider of open network computing solutions to colleges and universities around the world, powering academic, research and high performance computing systems, campus administration, digital libraries and student instructions systems. In addition, Sun is committed to connecting the world's students to the Internet, beginning with primary and secondary schools and extending to all levels of higher education. For more information: www.sun.com/edu. About Sun Microsystems, Inc.Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer[tm]" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to take their businesses to the nth. Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com
Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, StarOffice, StarSuite and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.PR Contacts for Press and Analysts:
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