Computer Software question... > Washington

Posted: 4/29/2007 6:35:24 PM EDT

Anyone heard of open office? I guess it's supposed to be a free version of Microsoft Office. What are the +'s and -'s of the programs?

Posted: 4/29/2007 6:38:30 PM EDT

[#1]

I've used it. It's a good program and is comparable to Office.

You can get it here.

OpenOffice.org 2 - Product Description
Compatible with other major office suites, OpenOffice.org is free to download, use, and distribute. Download it now, and get:

Writer – a word processor you can use for anything from writing a quick letter to producing an entire book.
Calc – a powerful spreadsheet with all the tools you need to calculate, analyse, and present your data in numerical reports or sizzling graphics.
Impress – the fastest, most powerful way to create effective multimedia presentations.
Draw – lets you produce everything from simple diagrams to dynamic 3D illustrations.
Base – lets you manipulate databases seamlessly. Create and modify tables, forms, queries, and reports, all from within OpenOffice.org
Math – lets you create mathematical equations with a graphic user interface or by directly typing your formulas into the equation editor.

Posted: 4/29/2007 7:23:54 PM EDT

[#2]

Just to clarify - OpenOffice is not an open source version of MS Office. It is however an open source and free office suite from the Java/Sun community that has the capabilities of reading most of MS Offices' files and writing to those formats as well

In some ways it is superior to MS Office. It is a VERY complete and VERY good office suite to use in place of MS Office.

I'd recommend it if you are looking to not contribute to the MS monopoly

Posted: 4/29/2007 7:26:16 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:

I'd recommend it if you are looking to not contribute to the MS monopoly

Meh, the aren't that bad.

Posted: 4/29/2007 7:26:16 PM EDT

[#4]

I use it and love it

It's actually a free version of Star Office

Posted: 4/29/2007 11:33:48 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:

I'd recommend it if you are looking to not contribute to the MS monopoly

Meh, the aren't that bad.

Well, most of my career has been programming spent avoiding writing programs using tools from The Dark Side, so I tend to take a fairly contrary view towards MS. I can honestly say, I've never actually owned one of their dev environments, but the ones I have used I didn't like (supplied by the client) which is one reason I choose the Java path, not the C# or Visual Basic (yuck) path

Yes, OpenOffice is the "community" edition (or free, open source edition) of StarOffice from Sun

Warning

Confirm Action

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Computer Software question...

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Computer Software question...