More on OpenOffice.org
Posted by Harry McCracken | Monday, May 10, 2004 1:01 PM PT
I've been continuing to use
OpenOffice.org as my primary office suite--working mostly in its word processor and spreadsheet. And I've got a few more comments on how I've fared.
The Good:
- It's free!
- It's amazingly capable for a suite that's free!
- If you know Microsoft Office, you can figure out OpenOffice.org; there's a learning curve, but it's not intimidating in the least.
- I've been exchanging documents with Microsoft Office--using coworkers as usual--and so far everything's gone smoothly. (They may not even know I've switched.)
- Did I mention that it's free?
The Bad:
- Overall, OpenOffice.org feels less refined than Microsoft Office--it's a little like an excellent clone of an Office version from a generation or two back. I'm missing certain Office conveniences--Word's on-the-fly typo correction, for instance, and the fact that you can undo hyperlinks by right-clicking. Word's revision toolbar is slicker than OpenOffice's change-tracking system, too. And if there's a way to get a word count for part of a document rather than the whole thing, I haven't found it.
- I haven't performed any benchmarks on the package, but it feels a tad slow in certain places--such as if you scroll through a document by clicking on a scroll bar's up or down arrow.
- It's not a replacement for each and every "Microsoft Office" application, since it lacks programs such as a database and an e-mail client. Of course, not everybody uses databases, and free e-mail clients are plentiful.
Would I deep-six Microsoft Office for OpenOffice.org? Not if I'd already paid my toll to Microsoft, but if I was setting up a small office on a budget and needed a suite, I'd certainly contemplate trying this suite on for size. More on it, and other options, in the weeks to come.
Other great things about OpenOffice.org:
It handles Word docs and Excel spreadsheets with ease. You're right, Harry -- your coworkers probably aren't aware that you're working in OpenOffice.
It's a simple download -- http://download.openoffice.org/1.1.1/index.html
Not only is it free, but upgrades to newer editions are free, too. (No more waiting in line at CompUSA for the latest, expensive version of Microsoft Office. That is, if you'd wait in line to pay $250+ for an office suite.)
Two words (other than "it's free") that distinguish OpenOffice from MS Office:
No Clippy.
'nuff said.
It seems like a good deal for a typical small office, but bigger organizations (with many power users, for instance) reap $ benefit from the standardized features of MS Office. The $ saved in implementing an Open Source product may be spent many times over in trying to support it.
You forgot to mention that OO will convert documents to PDF flawlessly.... FOR FREE!
jz
I just tried out OOo 1.1.1 this past weekend. I found myself missing the ease that Word2k gives me in doing certain tasks, like table column totaling and individual line spacing options, with space either before, after, or on both sides of the affected line, for example. Some of the menus and functions appear to me to be "clunky" and some are unfamiliar, but you can get the job done eventually. I am sticking with MS Word 2000 since I don't really need all that computing power for the work I have to do on my home PC. I believe in Open Source ( I use Netscape 7.1 and am testing Linspire) but OOo will have to wait for a couple of release refinements before I give it another shot.
I think that Open Office .org is a good office suite. My use of it is limited (I like to use the writer) and it conversion to " .doc" is smooth and intuitive. It could have more of a choice of fonts, but then again, what do you want from an office suite that's free? At work, I use Microsoft Word 2000, but at home, I use OO.o writer. Overall, the suite is good for the purposes that I use it for (letter writing, etc.) . I am sure that over time, the features will increase and become more intuitive.
I agree with everything said. It's a little slow in some areas, but overall, it's OUTSTANDING. I bought MS Office Basic (Word, Excel, PUblisher, Outlook), because Small Business cost an additional $200, and the only thing I needed in Small Business was Powerpoint, so I use Office for everything except presentations, for which I use OOo Impress. Well, on Linux I use OOo exclusively ;-)
For most users, OO provides ample features. For some word processing tasks, OO outdoes even WordPerfect 12 (especially for building numbered lists). For building simple, compact, easily-manageable HTML documents, OO is at least as effective as MS Office.
However, OO's strongest application, by far, is its spreadsheet. OO's range of mathematical and statistical functions exceeds MS Excel's, let alone competing low-end suites' offerings.
Given OO's functionality, I can readily understand why some European Union countries have deployed it. The overall benefits far outweigh probable implementation costs.
Enjoyed reading your posts.
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Singy says: "It seems like a good deal for a typical small office, but bigger organizations (with many power users, for instance) reap $ benefit from the standardized features of MS Office. The $ saved in implementing an Open Source product may be spent many times over in trying to support it."
What a load of b*******. What's so difficult about supporting OpenOffice that would make it any more difficult or expensive to support that MS Office? Please do elaborate.