Open Office

daboyz
daboyz Posts: 5,207
edited April 2010 in The Clubhouse
Just bought a new laptop that didn't come with Microsoft Office and was told about a free download called Open Office which basically has all the bells and whistles you would need.

Anyone ever use it? Pros or cons?
Post edited by daboyz on
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  • hoosier21
    hoosier21 Posts: 4,411
    edited April 2010
    it is good stuff, download it and give it a try, don't cost nuttin
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  • Knucklehead
    Knucklehead Posts: 3,602
    edited April 2010
    hoosier21 wrote: »
    it is good stuff, download it and give it a try, don't cost nuttin

    +1...I like it.
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    Office stuff

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  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited April 2010
    Yeah, I'm a big fan. You do run into compatibility issues once in a while with MS Office users, so beware if sharing documents.
    If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
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  • punk-roc
    punk-roc Posts: 1,150
    edited April 2010
    its good. i like MS office more, but that's just because i've used it for so long.
    Open Office works just fine though, most of the commands are similar, if not the same, MS Office.

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  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,601
    edited April 2010
    If you're not using at work or just creating your own docs, it's great.
    Priced right, too!
    "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
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  • packetjones
    packetjones Posts: 1,059
    edited April 2010
    I have used open office for years. It works great for most everything that i need. There are a few compatibility issues with office 2007. Overall it is a great product, check it out, it is free.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited April 2010
    I use it and it is great when you are using it with OpenOffice users. However, the ability to read/write Microsoft Office 2007 documents without getting the formatting messed up is still not there.
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  • Kex
    Kex Posts: 5,163
    edited April 2010
    daboyz wrote: »
    Just bought a new laptop that didn't come with Microsoft Office and was told about a free download called Open Office which basically has all the bells and whistles you would need.

    Anyone ever use it? Pros or cons?
    Your laptop probably has Microsoft Works included for free. If all you want is basic word processing, spreadsheets and so on, it may work fine for you. It even has more advanced functions such as a Calendar. This may be the easiest way to get up and working out of the box, even if Open Office is a good alternative.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Works

    If you do decide to use Open Office nonetheless, sending documents using the integrated PDF feature is an easy way to make sure the recipient will see what you think they will see.
    Alea jacta est!
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,807
    edited April 2010
    Microsoft Works sucks. If you got it for free, you got ripped off.

    OpenOffice...I love it!
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  • j allen
    j allen Posts: 363
    edited April 2010
    Open Office is fantastic, imo. I've used it for several years now, and never run into any of the compatibility issues that I've heard of from other users. I can also honestly say that I find it easier to use than the newer versions of MS Offices
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  • halo71
    halo71 Posts: 4,601
    edited April 2010
    I have been using OO for several years as well with no compatibility issues at all. You have the option to save an OO document/spreadsheet with Word or Excel file extensions too. A few things work differently in OO but I find it very easy to navigate.
    --Gary--
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  • polktiger
    polktiger Posts: 556
    edited April 2010
    I would love to be able to use openoffice. I like the look and functionality of the actual programs. I think they also leave a smaller footprint that MS Office. The only problem for me is that I use a lot of programs that link their databases or export their data to Word and Excel, and it my testing those links are specific. I must have Word or Excel to use the linking feature.
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  • Kex
    Kex Posts: 5,163
    edited April 2010
    OpenOffice is a fine office suite, but I don't have problems with MS Office either. Both have morphed into absolute behemoths, and neither have what I would consider a small footprint for systems with modest specifications (especially older laptops, or even bargain basement new laptops).

    If advanced formatting features are used in OpenOffice, there is a significant chance that some of that formatting will get lost in the conversion to MS Office format, especially in complex documents, or presentations. This was especially true of presentations when I last tried it. The included "save to PDF" feature mostly solves this issue for standard documents, but even that is not quite as precise as an Adobe PDF (some spacing can get modified slightly, but there shouldn't be any major issues IME).

    MS Works is not nearly as advanced as either, but it does offer a workiing alternative that is far more sophisticated than WordPad.
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  • wayne3burk
    wayne3burk Posts: 939
    edited April 2010
    I use open office when i can -- it works fine in standalone mode. If you do word processing, spreadsheets and presentations in a business / corporate environment then you're probably stuck using MS office, for the sake of 100% compatibility. That said i got a corporate discount on Office 2007 a couple of years ago and and -- I'd take MS Office 2003 over MS Office 2007 any day. The idiots in redmond changed about 85% of the user interface in Office 2007 - rendering unusable for dinasours like me.

    just my 5 cents worth

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  • Kex
    Kex Posts: 5,163
    edited April 2010
    wayne3burk wrote: »
    ... I'd take MS Office 2003 over MS Office 2007 any day. The idiots in redmond changed about 85% of the user interface in Office 2007 - rendering unusable for dinasours like me. ...
    This is true, and I don't like it either (although I haven't used it enough to really make a properly informed judgement, TBH).
    Alea jacta est!
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited April 2010
    Open Office is okay, just remember you get what you pay for....

    I use Microsoft Home and Student, very reasonable option as you can put it on three computers....
    Testing
    Testing
    Testing
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