OpenOffice.org 2.0 is an undeniable bargain. This robust, free productivity suite offers full-featured word-processing, spreadsheet, database and presentation applications -- and it won't cost you or your business a penny. Too often, freeware carries a you-get-what-you-pay-for caveat, but OpenOffice is the real deal and a solid alternative to Microsoft Office 2003, particularly for small-office or home users who don't mind browsing online forums for technical support. OpenOffice reads and writes Microsoft Office files -- albeit imperfectly -- and it supports multiple operating systems, including Linux, Mac OS X, Sun Solaris and Windows. Although Sun and its allies are far from creating a multiplatform suite to end the market domination of Microsoft Office, they have made OpenOffice an inexpensive alternative that's well worth a look.
OpenOffice.org 2.0 is the open-source version of Sun's StarOffice 8 desktop suite, which costs £47.36 (inc. VAT) to download. In 2000, Sun made the StarOffice source code publicly available and invited the open-source community to join Sun's developers in shaping future upgrades. StarOffice 8 has more extras, including additional presentation backgrounds and clip art, as well as better administration and Microsoft Office-migration tools.
At first glance, OpenOffice.org 2.0 and StarOffice 8 are identical. The core applications in each suite (Base, Calc, Draw, Impress and Writer) have matching interfaces, but you'll find differences as you dig deeper. Take the Impress presentations program, for instance: StarOffice provides more than 70 visual backgrounds in its Presentation Wizard, while OpenOffice has only three. StarOffice also comes with more than 1,800 clip-art graphics, while OpenOffice provides less than half that number (although you can download more at the Open Clip Art Library). More importantly for business users, only StarOffice provides a variety of tools for administration and Microsoft Office migration.
Like StarOffice, OpenOffice lets you save documents as PDF files -- a handy feature for sending read-only files via email, and one not found in Microsoft Office 2003. The Calc spreadsheet in version 2.0 can handle spreadsheets as large as 65,536 rows (the same as Excel), which is great for importing huge Excel files.
OpenOffice.org 2.0 supports the OpenDocument Format (ODF), an open-source file format with the ambitious goal of replacing Microsoft Office's formats as the workplace standard. StarOffice 8 supports ODF too; Microsoft Office 2003 does not. Does it matter? Not yet. Although the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has mandated support for ODF, most business and home users neither require the benefits nor want the headache of dealing with another file format.
So what's it going to be, OpenOffice or StarOffice? Businesses requiring professional-calibre support and superior administration tools should opt for StarOffice. But for small-business and home users who don't mind combing bulletin boards for support tips, OpenOffice is a solid, money-saving alternative.
Because it's open source, OpenOffice relies entirely upon peer support, so you're out of luck if you were hoping for a company rep to walk you through a puzzling question via a toll-free call or an online forum. Luckily, OpenOffice has an enthusiastic developer community. The OpenOffice Web site includes community-written tutorials and manuals, including installation and usage guides for individual applications. These tutorials are well written but lack screenshots to illustrate the tasks being explained. Community support, frankly, is hit or miss. We browsed the mailing list archive and saw posts from users seeking help. Most had one or two replies from fellow users, but it was often unclear if they solved the original poster's problem. Such is the nature of free, community-supported software.
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Member reviews
I have not delved into every application that comes with this but I have used 'Writer' (the Word equivalent) and briefly looked at 'Impress' (PowerPoint) and 'Calc' (Excel) and they actually appear easier to use and certainly as good for all but the highest level users. I cannot see anything in this comprehensive, free package that wouldn't do just about anything the average user needs. It is powerful, operates similarly to its MS counterpart and delivers the equivalent of the £250 MS Office XP 2003. Grab it while you can!
- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10I've been using OpenOffice since the 1.1.0 days and was already very impressed with what I found there. Now, with the release of OO.o 2.0 I'm a solid convert! I've installed it at home and at work (on both Windows and Linux) and I find that I'm doing most of my work on it.
Personally, I object to paying hundreds of pounds when I can get a product that is almost as good for free. I would say that OpenOffice is just as good as Office 97/2000.
Support on the net is excellent. The fora that are out there dedicated to OpenOffice are brilliant and the mailing lists are a hive of activity.
I would recommend either OpenOffice or StarOffice to anyone!
- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10I've been using Open Office for 3 years now, and the new version has everything I can imagine ever using in the small office situation. I can do spreadsheets and presentations; reading and writing Microsoft Office documents is no problem. Big organisations may want more than is on offer here [though the IT department could probably find or create what they want], but I can see them saving a LOT of money on licences by adopting Open Office generally and using something with more of the specialised functions in a limited area of their operation if necessary. I'd suggest you try it and see, for free.
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10A great product and much matured from v1.x This allways a serious contended for the sme market but now there is little reason to go the MS route.
Fitting well into the 80:20 rule all the functions that most users will ever want or know how to use are built into this now.
Support is a bit variable but can be suprisingly fast and the more curious the problem the more likly it is to be answered - such is the way of human beings.
A genuine alterative to MS Office
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10I wrote a 400 page book using Open Office, and I had far less problems than with MS Word. Program loads slowly but does not have all of the quirks of MS Word 2000 (in particular, some of the edits disappearing).
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10It's FREE! It works. It's reliable. It's fast. PDF Creator built in! I use this feature all the time!
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10If you're looking for a basic run-of-the-mill office suite that's free, look no further. Anything more and you should probably go for another office suite instead. It's unfortunate that advocates of this software only focus on price.
- 6.50 out of 10
6.50 out of 10Start up is a bit slow the first time you run the app from start up. The Spell check as well is not as words. Other than that the price makes this chage a no brainer, and you will not find yourself out of the office loop since OpenOffice can save in ODT, DOC, and PDF formats.
- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10