Main advantages over other tar implementations:
fifo - keeps the tape streaming.
pattern matcher - for a convenient user interface
sophisticated diff - user tailorable interface for comparing tar
archives against file trees
no namelen limitation - Pathnames up to 1024 Bytes may be archived.
deals with all 3 times - stores/restores all 3 times of a file
does not clobber files - more recent copies on disk will not be
clobbered from tape
automatic byte swap - star automatically detects swapped archives
automatic format detect - automatically detects archive formats:
Old tar, gnu tar, ansi tar, star.
fully ansi compatible - Star is fully ANSI/Posix 1003.1 compatible.