OpenOffice

[miketoro]

Do any of you guys use OpenOffice?

Is it as good as Word and Excel?

I spend a lot of time in both.

[rkawakami]

For a free alternative to Microsoft Office, it's not too bad. I'm sure that there are things which you can't do with OpenOffice but for the common everyday tasks of writing up a document or doing some financial analysis, it works. I have it installed on some of my systems but generally prefer to use MS Office if that's available.

Be aware, however, that some compatibility issues between Writer and Word can crop up with complex formatting in a document. This can make it difficult to share a document between those two programs as they might render the same page in different ways. Here's a couple of articles which explains some of these things:

http://www.brighthub.com/computing/linu ... 24261.aspx
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13880_3-9864262-68.html
http://www.linux.com/archive/articles/46599
http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget ... 30,00.html (requires registration)

[mattbiernat]

to me its like choosing between Firefox and IE. While IE works for some reason i prefer FF.

[miketoro]

to me its like choosing between Firefox and IE. While IE works for some reason i prefer FF.

This is the pull I'm feeling ... Though some of those compatibility issues trouble me ... I'm giving OpenOffice a try now. I very much like the look and layout of Writer ...

[archer6]

I've been using both since a few years ago when I began using Linux. While many people like to complain about what OpenOffice can't do, I look at it from the opposite side and find a lot of positives. Besides the massive price difference for those who do not get MS Office free through work, the only reason I must continue to use it is because of its huge installed user base. Oh sure there are some distinct advantages but I could easily live with it if I was not interfacing with such a large group of Office users. The latest version of OpenOffice is quite good.
.
Cheers...

[ZaZ]

OO has the occasional quirk. If you're a heavy Office user then perhaps it's worth the cost. I think most people like myself who occasionally type up a document or do a spreadsheet, there's no reason to spend the money for Office.

[Radioguy]

I like it, but I notice updates and addons are fewer, and less frequently updated. FF extension compatibilities are more quickly recognized and fixed compared to updates for OO. Also, the update site is more poorly organized than MS' Office page.

[basketb]

OO has the occasional quirk. If you're a heavy Office user then perhaps it's worth the cost. I think most people like myself who occasionally type up a document or do a spreadsheet, there's no reason to spend the money for Office.

+1

[archer6]

I like it, but I notice updates and addons are fewer, and less frequently updated. FF extension compatibilities are more quickly recognized and fixed compared to updates for OO. Also, the update site is more poorly organized than MS' Office page.

I certainly agree, and find your point well taken. However I believe that MS makes excessive profits when selling a full version of office for between $350, and $450. For that price they "should" have the best site, most updates etc. A fairer price to the average consumer would be around $199 or so. A price at which I happen to _know_ MS would still retain a handsome profit margin.

OpenOffice is an excellent substitute for those who do not need all of the functionality and interoperability of the MS product. And since it's free if they get less support, or a less well organized site, well that is easily overlooked, when the product is free.

[killer]

Have you ever been tempted to buy MS products that have a valid licence but cost under $10 US (£7 GBP) (6.5 Euros)?

These offers are available worldwide. I believe it is a distributed licence thingy. A company buys the right to sell so many licences with hardware. You buy a useless old piece of 1990s hardware and get a free copy of MS Office 2007 for the price of a portion of fish and chips.

All very dodgy, or perfectly legal?

Your thoughts please.

[dsvochak]

killer wrote:

MS products that have a valid licence but cost under $10 US (£7 GBP) (6.5 Euros)?

Short answer, no. Or at least not very likely.

While archer6 may have quoted retail prices correctly, sources like eBay offer MS products with valid licenses at a substantially lower price. But not $10 US for a product with a valid license. Someone once said deals which seem to good to be true probably aren't.

In answer to the question, "very dodgy".

[Radioguy]

I certainly agree, and find your point well taken. However I believe that MS makes excessive profits when selling a full version of office for between $350, and $450. For that price they "should" have the best site, most updates etc. A fairer price to the average consumer would be around $199 or so. A price at which I happen to _know_ MS would still retain a handsome profit margin.

OpenOffice is an excellent substitute for those who do not need all of the functionality and interoperability of the MS product. And since it's free if they get less support, or a less well organized site, well that is easily overlooked, when the product is free.

Yes, I do understand that, and did so, before I posted, but my point was not entirely referring to Sun.

While a Mozilla product, FF (in use) is a much augmented piece of software. That augmentation is created, and maintained, by a great many. In contrast, OO does not seem to have such a devoted developer fanbase as FF or Linux does. I don't cite that as a slight against OO, I actually find it quite surprising for such a well-rounded package. I could only attribute it to that profit margin you refer to. MS must be spending it very well in their efforts to keep Sun from reaching their goal.

[archer6]

Yes, I do understand that, and did so, before I posted, but my point was not entirely referring to Sun.

While a Mozilla product, FF (in use) is a much augmented piece of software. That augmentation is created, and maintained, by a great many. In contrast, OO does not seem to have such a devoted developer fanbase as FF or Linux does. I don't cite that as a slight against OO, I actually find it quite surprising for such a well-rounded package. I could only attribute it to that profit margin you refer to. MS must be spending it very well in their efforts to keep Sun from reaching their goal.

Well said, I agree.

[archer6]

Have you ever been tempted to buy MS products that have a valid licence but cost under $10 US (£7 GBP) (6.5 Euros)?

Not a chance, not for a second. Period.

I don't work for free, nor do I discount my work.

And while I may take advantage of certain (legal) discounts from the manufacturer of the product, or their authorized reseller, that's as far as I go. Despite some of the drawbacks of our free enterprise system here in the USA, I wouldn't have it any other way. The market sets the prices and it works.

Cheers...

[Temetka]

Back when it used to be StarOffice it wasn't so good. Even the first few versions of OpenOffice(or NeoOffice for Mac's) weren't so good.

However I have used the last 2 versions of OO and find them to be very good for their price. While I do own legitimate copies of Office 2003 and 2007, if I did not I would certainly be using OpenOffice. I do recommend it to people all the time, or if not, then I recommend Office 2007 Home and Student because it includes 3 licenses.

[asiafish]

The need to work with complex formatting (legal pleadings) rules it out completely.

[t140568]

I've been using OpenOffice now for a few years, though, not extensively. It does what I need it to for free and doesn't give me any problems. For that, I like it.

[archer6]

I've been using OpenOffice now for a few years, though, not extensively. It does what I need it to for free and doesn't give me any problems. For that, I like it.

Well Said! You've given a perfect example of the value that OpenOffice brings for those that do not need MS Office. Or for those that work in a cross platform environment and prefer to use a lighter less resource demanding suite of software.
.
Cheers...

[Radioguy]

The need to work with complex formatting (legal pleadings) rules it out completely.

Are you referring to the pleading templates they have? If not, there are a few on the OO site.

[asiafish]

Templates are fine if you don't need to share with anyone. I often send them back and forth with other lawyers which requires that everyone be using the same application. Many of the people I exchange then with are state or federal prosecutors who have no control over the software they use.

For that reason, it is 90% Word and 10% WordPerfect, and I am forced to have both. No state or federal prosecutors or even other defense counsel that I know of use OO, meaning that I also cannot use OO.

[Treefrogfarmer]

Hmmmm. I wonder what PJ (Pamela Jones) of Groklaw would have to say about the complexities of pleadings handled by OO. She seems to have handled the burden quite well throughout the SCO Vs. IBM saga of the past few years. She is a quite ardent partisan of OO and FLOSS in general.
Cheers
Bob

[asiafish]

She must have someone willing to reformat every pleading that comes into her office to work with, or she doesn't collaborate. OO breaks pleading format from Word or WordPerfect, both of which also break each other's formatting.

I'm certainly not willing to put in the time and effort to try and make it work. Its cheaper to buy the real thing than spend the time to find a workaround.

[miketoro]

I've been using Open Office 3 for about two months now and have been very happy with it. I spend most of my work day in Writer (Word) and a good bit of time in Calc (Excel). Then I installed Office 2007. A friend wanted a flier and Publisher seemed the only real choice. I installed the whole package -- a first time, as I've only used Office XP in the past.

The difference in speed -- the snappiness -- between Office 2007 and Open Office 3 is frankly, amazing. I don't think it's overstatement to say Office 2007 is three times faster on my T43. Crazy.

[cparker]

I have and use both, OO and ms office 2007, 2003, and 2000. I have to agree that MS office, particularly the older versions, are very fast and snappy. When combined with Windows 2000, office 2000 is almost instanteneous. It even runs fast on a TP 560 with w98SE and 24mb ram. OO, in contrast, seems to take maybe 4 or 5 times longer to load. But once loaded it seems to be usable for common writing/spreadsheet tasks. I've been using it on my t30 even though I could install MS office 2007 on it. Also put OO on a netbook I also own (Samsung nc10). So far it's fine for just writing stuff and minor spreadsheet work. It's kind of refreshing to use actually. I would be careful to make sure you have a good amount of ram in your machine, though. That way you can just leave a window with a blank document on it as well as another with a blank spreadsheet on it, and everything will be fast enough. I put 2 gb or ram on both machines, although probably 1 gb would work with xp provided you didn't open too many windows. With 512 mb and xp and OO you would probably be pretty frustrated.

And I believe you can always get the student/teacher version of Office 2007 that allows 3 installations for less than 100 dollars or so. It is limited, but will have Word and Excel, and maybe Powerpoint (I'm not sure). It's not the Academic version that requires documentation that you are enrolled at a qualifying school.

Another alternative for just writing is to use Jarte, a WordPad derivative. It's essentially Wordpad with some enhancements, including a spell checker. It's very fast and lightweight and free.

[visionviper]

And I believe you can always get the student/teacher version of Office 2007 that allows 3 installations for less than 100 dollars or so. It is limited, but will have Word and Excel, and maybe Powerpoint (I'm not sure). It's not the Academic version that requires documentation that you are enrolled at a qualifying school.

Academic versions are had for $60 or less (depending on which version you choose).

While I prefer Microsoft Office and I can get it for such a low cost (currently I can buy Enterprise 2007 for $50) I simply do not use it enough to pay for it. That is why I use OpenOffice - for the rare occasions that I do need and office suite I have something that will do the job.

[tylerwylie]

I used to use OpenOffice, getting your hand around LaTex helps a lot with formatting, though I've not had to use an Office type program for some time now. For occasional word processing I suggest Abiword though, lots of features and free! You can even run it off your USB stick.