a slam dunk

Pros: I won't repeat what's been covered in Cnet's review. I'll just say that I've used MS Office for years, and I agree that OpenOffice is a credible alternative.

It is not a feature-for-feature clone of MS Office, but OpenOffice should be more than adequate for anyone who isn't using some of the more obscure or "advanced" features of MS Office.

Not that OpenOffice doesn't have plenty of advanced features of its own. I would think it's plenty capable of handling the tasks that even most business users would throw at it.

I've used OOo Writer to compose, edit, and share some fairly complex legal documents. Even editing a book manuscript, sent to me in Word format with change-tracking. I've used it on spreadsheets and PowerPoint-type presentations, and it did everything I needed it to do.

With its OpenDocument file formats, its ability to read and write MS Office files, and its PDF export, I have easily shared documents and files with users of other software and operating systems.

I'll admit some OpenOffice fans might get a little overly enthused at times, but when you get somthing this good and useful for free, it's hard not to. Anyone in need of good office software should try OpenOffice first.

Cons: Compared to MS Office and WordPerfect, OpenOffice is short on "wizards" and pre-made templates.

Not really a "con", but a note:

OOo is often pitched as a replacement for MS Office. If you plan to work with a lot of existing DOC, XLS, and PPT files, remember that MS Office file formats are proprietary. Only the latest version of Office itself can be expected to open 100% or them, 100% of the time, with 100% accuracy. If my own experience is anywhere near typical though, most users will have few or no problems.

Posted: 05-Jul-2006 12:24:01 PM

Open Source, OpenDocument, and Free

Pros: At my workplace I use MS Office 2003. At home, though, I switched to OpenOffice almost two years ago, and prefer it to its MS counterpart.

OpenOffice lets me save files in OpenDocument and PDF, and I can open, edit, and share files with MS Office users too. I've shared PowerPoint files, fairly complex Excel spreadsheets, legal documents, and even a book manuscript in Word format with change-tracking, and haven't had any problems.

I use word processing the most, and I've come to prefer Writer to MS Word in some ways (and I always liked Word). There are advantages to the way it handles styles, templates, and sections that make assembling long multipart documents easier.

My PC isn't the latest or greatest, but OOo runs fast on it, and has been stable and crash-free.

I used MS Office for a long time, but now when anyone asks, I recommend they try OpenOffice first.

Cons: None, if you're an intermediate or advanced user. PC novices will find the learning curve a little steeper than MS Office.

Posted: 16-Dec-2006 05:09:39 PM