Good free replacement for Microsoft Office
- Thread starter ZZman
- Start date
- Status
Been using it for a year+ now. No issues.
+1
I've been dabbling with it for years. About a month ago I set it to be my default software for all MS Office type files. So far no real problems, just a few word documents that look uglier when read in OO than in MSO.
I've been dabbling with it for years. About a month ago I set it to be my default software for all MS Office type files. So far no real problems, just a few word documents that look uglier when read in OO than in MSO.
I have also been using it for a while now and I particularly like what they have done with 3.0.
I've been using OpenOffice/StarOffice since my employer acquired Star Office. I think that was about 4-5 years ago 
Open Office meets 99% of peoples' needs...I can't justify a $300 expense for that last 1%.
Originally Posted By: javacontour
I've been using OpenOffice/StarOffice since my employer acquired Star Office. I think that was about 4-5 years ago
So that is where the Java in your name comes from!
I've been using OpenOffice/StarOffice since my employer acquired Star Office. I think that was about 4-5 years ago
So that is where the Java in your name comes from!
Java, you must be getting old. You are suffering from time compression
. Sun bought Star Office by buying the company that created it in 1999, 9 years ago next month.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_office
According to the Wiki article, they bought the company that made Star Office because it was cheaper than paying MS for licenses for the 42,000 computer seats in their company.
I tried Star Office when it was free for personal users sometime before 2002, then Open Office sometime before version 1.1 which was released in 2003.
Early versions were a good enough office suite except for lack of compatibility with MS products. It's still their weakest point although compatibility has gotten pretty darned good.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_office
According to the Wiki article, they bought the company that made Star Office because it was cheaper than paying MS for licenses for the 42,000 computer seats in their company.
I tried Star Office when it was free for personal users sometime before 2002, then Open Office sometime before version 1.1 which was released in 2003.
Early versions were a good enough office suite except for lack of compatibility with MS products. It's still their weakest point although compatibility has gotten pretty darned good.
I knew had been a while, I didn't realize it had been that long ago...
And yes, I spent most of my life from 1996 until early 2000 traveling around the USA teaching Java Programming.
I was in Sun's first class of instructors when we were developing the Java Courseware, learning the language and learning to teach it, usually at the same time. Of course the product was pretty fluid then too, so it was a lot of "fun"
I got tired of traveling 50% of the time, and switched to a Systems Support Engineer position where I traded travel for being tied to the pager 8-5, and one out of every 4 or 5 weeks pulling on-call duty.
I didn't realize we had StarOffice for so long. I was living more in the Java Development and Solaris Networking worlds at the time. StarOffice was an afterthought for me (and probably many others.)
And yes, I spent most of my life from 1996 until early 2000 traveling around the USA teaching Java Programming.
I was in Sun's first class of instructors when we were developing the Java Courseware, learning the language and learning to teach it, usually at the same time. Of course the product was pretty fluid then too, so it was a lot of "fun"
I got tired of traveling 50% of the time, and switched to a Systems Support Engineer position where I traded travel for being tied to the pager 8-5, and one out of every 4 or 5 weeks pulling on-call duty.
I didn't realize we had StarOffice for so long. I was living more in the Java Development and Solaris Networking worlds at the time. StarOffice was an afterthought for me (and probably many others.)
I been using OOo since 2003.
But, I work in the publishing field, and the only problem is that NOBODY else uses it.
I have edited thousands of chapters and manuscripts. I've received chapters in formats ranging from MS Word, to LaTeX, to PDF, to ASCII, to Lotus Word Pro (no, I'm not kidding). I've even received hardcopy chapters that somebody hammered out on an IBM Selectric II. But I have NEVER received an OpenOffice file, and that's unfortunate.
But, I work in the publishing field, and the only problem is that NOBODY else uses it.
I have edited thousands of chapters and manuscripts. I've received chapters in formats ranging from MS Word, to LaTeX, to PDF, to ASCII, to Lotus Word Pro (no, I'm not kidding). I've even received hardcopy chapters that somebody hammered out on an IBM Selectric II. But I have NEVER received an OpenOffice file, and that's unfortunate.
I tried OO recently and didn't like it. Took too long to load, didn't like the interface and didn't like the lack of integration. It wasn't even up to the level of Office XP so I uninstalled OO and went back to MS Office. No issues since.
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Been using it for a year+ now. No issues.
I too use it and have for many years. Did work @ home before I retired and took it into the office where Microsoft Office was used and had no issues with it.
I just saved my work in Microsift format.
Version 3 loads much faster too.
Been using it for a year+ now. No issues.
I too use it and have for many years. Did work @ home before I retired and took it into the office where Microsoft Office was used and had no issues with it.
I just saved my work in Microsift format.
Version 3 loads much faster too.
Originally Posted By: MinivanMauler
But I have NEVER received an OpenOffice file, and that's unfortunate.
Are you sure that you didn't receive some that were saved in MS Office format?
But I have NEVER received an OpenOffice file, and that's unfortunate.
Are you sure that you didn't receive some that were saved in MS Office format?
I like OO too, but unfortunately the whole business world in the US is built on Word/Office.
We continue with WordPerfect - which is still far-and-away the most flexible and powerful processor - for internal docs. But we suffer with the consequences whenever conversion for clients is required, as they all need Word.
OO is a great home suite, though.
We continue with WordPerfect - which is still far-and-away the most flexible and powerful processor - for internal docs. But we suffer with the consequences whenever conversion for clients is required, as they all need Word.
OO is a great home suite, though.
My problem is Word is what is used at work. I tried OO but found the features I use were not readily available (not that they were not there). It was simpler staying with Word. It is taken me 10 years to learn how to use it a little. Yes, I am slow...
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
I just bought a new laptop and installed OO. I see no need to buy M$ Office.
You will eventually run into some MS documents that OO won't handle correctly.
MS has some free MS Office viewers that allow you to view and print their files. They are definitely worth the price ($0.00) to be ready to handle the odd MS Orifice file that OO won't read properly.
http://www.completeformations.co.uk/companyfaqs/downloads/doc_readers.html
I just bought a new laptop and installed OO. I see no need to buy M$ Office.
You will eventually run into some MS documents that OO won't handle correctly.
MS has some free MS Office viewers that allow you to view and print their files. They are definitely worth the price ($0.00) to be ready to handle the odd MS Orifice file that OO won't read properly.
http://www.completeformations.co.uk/companyfaqs/downloads/doc_readers.html
I am lucky, MS and my agency have a home user deal where I was able to purchase the Enterprise version of Office for $20. It has everything!
I tried Star Office back around 1999 when I tried desperately to load Redhat onto my already-antique-by-then Pentium 133 mhz laptop. It ran slower than Win 98 so I tossed it. I used some sort of Open-Office type suite on my iMac after losing my Win 98 disk. It was okay-ish but suffered from the same types of compatibility issues. Thankfully I have the benefit of a new work computer with XP and Office 03 and my VAIO with Vista and Office 07.
I tried Star Office back around 1999 when I tried desperately to load Redhat onto my already-antique-by-then Pentium 133 mhz laptop. It ran slower than Win 98 so I tossed it. I used some sort of Open-Office type suite on my iMac after losing my Win 98 disk. It was okay-ish but suffered from the same types of compatibility issues. Thankfully I have the benefit of a new work computer with XP and Office 03 and my VAIO with Vista and Office 07.
- Status
