OpenOffice.org? Any exp?

[Chubby]

Anyone using this? Thoughts?

[st.cronin]

I use it, I like it.

[Rich1033]

Good stuff

[duckman]

I use it to write my papers for college. You can save them in Word format, so it's great if you can't afford Office.

[MJ4H]

I use it all the time at work. Everyone else uses Microsoft Office, I use Open Office. I work seamlessly with them. They don't even know I'm not using MS Office.

That said there is one problem. I think it will be solved soon, but Open Office can't open .docx files (and MS is pushing this to be the standard doc format now, it seems). There are some convertors online and free viewers for that file type, but it definitely screws up the interoperability.

[Antmeister]

I use it all the time at work. Everyone else uses Microsoft Office, I use Open Office. I work seamlessly with them. They don't even know I'm not using MS Office.

That said there is one problem. I think it will be solved soon, but Open Office can't open .docx files (and MS is pushing this to be the standard doc format now, it seems). There are some convertors online and free viewers for that file type, but it definitely screws up the interoperability.

Ditto. I use it at work and have made converts out of a number of employees. The only thing I have to use is Microsoft Access.

[lighthousekeeper]

yeah, ooo's counterpart to ms access is horrible.

[ThunderingHERD]

Good stuff. I don't see why anyone would buy MS Office for personal use.

[RPI-Fan]

For those that actually PREFER OO, what is the advantage?

[sterlingice]

OO is nice because it's a little smaller and, of course, it's free without losing too much over office. Sure, lots of people walk around with pirated or company versions of office but not everyone can plop down the $200+ for a legal version.

It's quite compatible.... that is, if you're using word processing. I don't think the others are nearly as far along. The spreadsheet is missing a lot of functions that Excel has and I've also heard similar things about their db program.

SI

[terpkristin]

Wow, good to know all this about OO. I've wondered about it in the past, and have made due with the versions of Office that came pre-installed on my computer, nice to know I have options.

Bummer their version of Access isn't so hot, that's one program I need to use almost daily right now and I don't have it on my personal laptop.

/tk

[Chubby]

good to see a lot of people like it. I don't do anything mind bending so as long as basic stuff works I'm happy. The ability to make .doc files is huge too.

[Lorena]

Yup, good stuff

[lcjjdnh]

I've actually been using the IBM version of OO, Lotus Symphony, which was recently released. I like it a little better than OO so far, mainly because everything can be opened in the same program (i.e. you just tab between spreadsheets, documents and presentations like in Firefox; they're not in different programs).

[Logan]

Interesting, never used this before. Is there an option I can select where all my text files will automatically save as .docs, instead of having to manually change it each time?

[ThunderingHERD]

Interesting, never used this before. Is there an option I can select where all my text files will automatically save as .docs, instead of having to manually change it each time?

Yes. Tools -> Options -> Load/Save -> General

[daedalus]

i also use oo at home and have had no problem with integrating it with office files at work.

i do find the UI to occasionally be clunky in their effort to not be office-like [i have the same problem with macromedia's attempt at not looking like adobe]. alas, it is tough to beat the price [while, as SI said, retaining that sense of non-piracy].

[Logan]

Yes. Tools -> Options -> Load/Save -> General

Excellent, thanks.

[Antmeister]

Yes. Tools -> Options -> Load/Save -> General

Brilliant! Never even thought about doing this, but this makes sense for work. Thanks.

[dj_morton]

I use this mainly bc its free! Really great product though. I've recommended it to friends and family.

[molson]

It seems like it takes way longer to starup than word sometimes - like 5-10 seconds. Probably just me.

Otherwise love it. Its doc recovery when something crashes seems to work much better than word.

[ThunderingHERD]

It seems like it takes way longer to starup than word sometimes - like 5-10 seconds. Probably just me.

Otherwise love it. Its doc recovery when something crashes seems to work much better than word.

Do you have the OO quickstarter loading on Windows startup? Also, you might try going to Tools -> Options -> OpenOffice.org -> Java and unchecking "Use a Java runtime environment" if you aren't working working with databases or using the wizards or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org#Java_controversy">some other minor features</a>. Oh, and if you're not using version 2.3, it's supposed to improve startup performance.

[KevinNU7]

is OO legal, how is MS reacting to it

[duckman]

is OO legal, how is MS reacting to it

If I remembered correctly, MS actually helped OO with coding, so they could load Office documents.

[ThunderingHERD]

I certainly don't think that Microsoft helped in any way, but the Office formats' specifications have been available for royalty-free use for several years under a covenant not to sue.

[lcjjdnh]

Sorry to bump and old thread, but I've been using Open Office 3.0 on the netbook I got over the holidays and must say it's much improved from the last time I used. It runs much faster and has many more capabilities than the one I used many moons ago.

I was wondering, however, if anyone knows of any good, free OneNote equivalents that either act as a plug-in within OpenOffice or on a standalone basis.

[Vegas Vic]

The spreadsheet is missing a lot of functions that Excel has and I've also heard similar things about their db program.

The OO spreadsheet program ("Calc") is a very light version of Excel; it's OK if all you'll be doing are simple spreadsheets with basic formulas. However, their "solver" function only does linear analysis. I use Excel's solver for a lot of my sports betting power ratings, and since the least squares error reduction is non-linear, it can't be done on OO.

As for their database program, it's absolutely horrible compared to Access. The query capabilities are almost non-existent, and it's a very cumbersome program to navigate through.

[Greyroofoo]

I somewhat like openoffice

However I like Microsoft better.
Just some things I take for granted with Microsoft doesn't happen with open office.

[lcjjdnh]

Alternatively, does anyone have any experience with using Office on a netbook? Microsoft says the required resolution is 1024x768, but my Asus 1000HA is 1024 x 600.

[stevew]

Any idea how to open a .docx file yet? My wife's starting college and her assignments are in this file format. I've never bought Word, and would prefer to not buy it now

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

I haven't tried it, but have you tried a converter like this (http://www.oooninja.com/2008/12/better-office-docx-converter.html)?

[stevew]

hmm, i may not have the latest open office either.

[DaddyTorgo]

didn't someone upthread say there are converters online? i don't know where exactly...googlefu it

[Cuckoo]

The latest OpenOffice opens docx files.

[lcjjdnh]

Any idea how to open a .docx file yet? My wife's starting college and her assignments are in this file format. I've never bought Word, and would prefer to not buy it now

Worse case scenario, they probably sell Word for $10 or so at your wife's college's bookstore.

[Samdari]

Worse case scenario, they probably sell Word for $10 or so at your wife's college's bookstore.

The 'student' version is now the same as the 'home' version with MSRP of $150 and a street price of around $100.

[dolfin]

You can also find Office 2007 online for $60-$80 if you really need Office.

[dolfin]

dola, here's a good version for about $60. Requires proof of student/faculty.

JourneyEd (http://www.journeyed.com/item/Microsoft/Office+Enterprise/87041473LARS)

[dacman]

There's a free conversion tool for docx files (and other 2007 Office files) so you can open them in older versions of Office.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en

[Rizon]

You can also find Office 2007 online for $60-$80 if you really need Office.

$59-$79 more than that POS is worth!

[Comey]

Worse case scenario, they probably sell Word for $10 or so at your wife's college's bookstore.

Gum goes for more than $10 at a college bookstore.

[Cringer]

The latest OpenOffice opens docx files.

What this guy said. I have no problem opening docx files. Double click and it opens Open Office and there it is.

[lcjjdnh]

The 'student' version is now the same as the 'home' version with MSRP of $150 and a street price of around $100.

Schools often sign deals to get Office at a lower price than the "home" version would cost at your average retail outlet.

At UVa, for instance, I found this:

Software for Just $10: Yes, you really can get Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office for the very low cost of just $10—a significant savings from the full-priced software, or even the educational discount pricing. This is possible through UVa’s Campus Agreement (http://itc.virginia.edu/licenses/studentuse.html) with Microsoft.

[stevew]

She is taking grad courses at an offsite location.

Open office works for now. Although I have been thinking about driving her up to the school so I can get cheap Software.

[fantom1979]

There is some patent problems with the .docx format. Should be interesting to see how it plays out

Financial Mail - Patently prohibitive (http://free.financialmail.co.za/09/0828/technology/atech.htm)
Office Open XML - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docx#Patent_Infringement_Issue)