Avast WEBforum
Other => General Topics => Topic started by: Alkim on April 18, 2006, 10:18:57 PM
-
OpenOffice 2 is ready to replace Microsoft Office 97/2000/XP/2003 ? Some personal experience? Some suggestion? Some friend has suggest to me to use this program. Some suggestion?
Bye
-
I am a user of OpenOffice, and I like it a lot.
You will probably find more answers and information on the suite on the OOo forum which is located at http://www.oooforum.org, than here on the avast! forum.
In my opinion, the new 2.0.2 release is an extremely competent alternative to MS Office. But, depending on what you need to do with it, your mileage may vary. I use Writer and Calc extensively, but have limited experience with the other applications.
-
I was using second hand MS Office :-[ but i noticed i really don't need it anymore.
OpenOffice suits me just fine for all my basic needs for text, spreadsheets and presentations. And it's completelly free. I really can't ask for more.
I had no problems opening MS Office documents, except few presentations that were rendered a bit too fast. Other than that i'm very happy with it.
Opens all sorts of MS documents plus it's own formats. Pretty nice :)
-
***
Yep, I like OpenOffice also. :)
***
-
I don't use open office because I need MS excel to do linear regressions, data analysis, etc. But, if you don't need MS for specific things, Openoffice is very good.
-
Can anybody please tell me: does the new Writer have a characters counter like Word? What I mean is, if I select a text can it tell me how many characters (with spaces) the selected text has? (In ms word, this option is under the "tools").
Thanks.
-
Can't remember in the 1.0 version, which I didn't use much, but in 2.0.2, which I do use now instead of MS Office, it certainly does.
Edit:
I'll save you a search. Here's a list of the new features in 2.0:
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/2.0/index.html
-
Thanks, OrangeCrate.
I had tried the first version, but it didn't have that option - which I need for my work.
-
I think users of OO will appreciate this site:
http://ooextras.sourceforge.net/ 8)
-
is there a spell checker in it like microsoft word has,my son usses it all the time?
-
bri,
Yes there is.
-
thanks orangecrate,i think ill give it a try
-
But no grammar checker yet, I believe?
-
Staind,
Nope, not yet. I think there are some add ons for foreign language use, that does some grammatical stuff when translating, but I'm not sure.
Spyros,
Cool site. Thanks.
Bri,
When you install, there will be a page to set the defaults for the MS Office products in OOo. (Watch for it, it's easy to skip.) Do that. Then in Writer, there will be an option to set the default doc type to Word Documents. Do that, and you're all set. You can save everything manually everytime you save a document, but it's a hassle, and frankly, for now, I don't know anyone that uses the OOo format. Until MS recognizes it, it won't be used a lot.
The above instructions are available (and probably a lot more clear) on the OOo forum as a "sticky" if I remember correctly. A link to the forum is in an earlier post in this thread.
Good luck.
-
For those interested in open source projects, and OpenOffice vs. MS Office in particular, here's an interesting article:
http://www.idealware.org/articles/msoffice_vs_openoffice.php
-
Bri,
It took me a while to find it again, but here are some customization issues for OOo. Particularly, setting the defaults in OpenOffice for MS Office formats. (It's a better explanation than I offered above.)
http://www.zisman.ca/OOSetup/
-
***
Thanks for that link, OrangeCrate, as it will come in handy for me and others. :)
***
-
^,
You're welcome, I'm happy to help. Since upgrading to 2.0.2, I haven't had any problems with OOo. It's a great program for my intensive, but limited use, and I recommend it to all. Personally, I even like the interface better than Word.
After setting the defaults to mimic MS Office, the only issue that's a bit hard to understand for many is page numbering. There's a pretty simple explanation to that, and if anyone is interested, I'll post it here.
By the way, this thread should probably be in Off Topic, and not here on the main board. Oh well.
-
That's a very useful link OrangeCrate. Thank you. Sorta wish I'd read it before I installed....
I'd be VERY interested in page numbering information. (You wouldn't believe how this MS Word- familiar user struggled with page numbers in her newspaper column last week - the result was far from pretty but deadlines are deadlines and "I didn't have time to change it". Apologies to Arlo)
Cheers and Happy Days to all.
-
Here's the "standard" tutorial on page numbering referenced several times on the OOo forum:
http://www.8daysaweek.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34
Frankly, I find that explanation a little daunting. So, once you're familiar with the concept, just remember and do this:
Start with a first page style. Then insert the header/footer and the page number into the second page, which will be the default style. This will start the numbering at page 2.
Once you do this a couple of times, it'll become automatic. (And in my opinion, easier than putzing around with headers or footers in Word.)
-
Word page numbering is terrible, you have to divide the document up into separate sub-documents, so if you have a table of contents and you don't want it numbered, you have to set the page after to "page 1" which in theory is simple but never works out nicely for some reason.
ADD ON:
I looked at Open Office and it was simply amazing - easy to use, and great. I went through some of the features, and picking up how to do linear regressions was actually really simple - and there were a lot of great sites that explained it step by step. One of the downsides though is that the calc program is not able to display the linear regression equation on the chart, which is almost useless.
I would have to say though that the open office math program makes word's math program crumble. If you've ever used Word's math program it's horrible and very difficult to follow. It won't allow you to undo mistakes, so if you wanted to add instead of divide something in the beginning you would have to delete almost everything and try again. Open office's math program is really easy to use, has cut/paste properties, and is a separate application - meaning it won't fudge up your documents like Word's. I think I'll start using the main open office program instead of Microsoft, but I still must use excel instead of calc.
ADD ON (part 2):
I have found a program that works extremely nicely with Open office for doing regressions, better than Calc. It can also be used with the writer very nicely (copy / paste). And the best part of all its also freeware. I would recommend using open office with this (if you need to do data analysis) over MSOffice products. The link is here: http://www.padowan.dk . (Note: This product is open source and freeware).
-
I've been using it for couple of years now and I like it a lot. Keep in mind that the name of the programs (as well as the project's name) is OpenOffice.org. It's not OpenOffice, Open Office, etc.
-
O.K., sue us. Common on, I dare ya... I double dare ya...I triple dog dare ya... ;D
Glad you like the program. That's another vote for OOo, and one less for MS Office.
Except for highly specialized technical applications (?), it seem that most everyone who tries it likes it.
Edit: Sorry, I liked "A Christmas Story" a lot. Always wanted to "triple dog dare" someone...
-
I noticed the reference too ;) I love that movie !
-
OpenOffice 2 is ready to replace Microsoft Office 97/2000/XP/2003 ? Some personal experience? Some suggestion? Some friend has suggest to me to use this program. Some suggestion?
Bye
Alkim,
To answer your original inquiry, experiences and suggestions for customization have been freely and liberally given to you in this thread.
Please give OOo a try. I, and all here, expect you'd be very happy with it.
Good luck.
-
All this response to his request for feedback with favourable feed back to a free alternative to the over priced MS Office, you would have thought Alkim would have responded since his drive by posting 14 days ago ??? ;D Nine posts in just under 7 hours on April 18th and no sign of him since ???
-
Yup, I saw that too. He was just trolling I guess, to see what he could stir up. (I thought my last post might elicit a response. We'll see...)
This thread hasn't been a lost cause however - it's been viewed by a lot of people. With the new MS Office validation process in the wings, I think OOo has sparked a lot of interest, and I, being a fan, was happy to throw in my two cents.
It's a good product, and certainly ready for prime time for most users.
-
Yup, I saw that too. He was just trolling I guess, to see what he could stir up. (I thought my last post might elicit a response. We'll see...)
This thread hasn't been a lost cause however - it's been viewed by a lot of people. With the new MS Office validation process in the wings, I think OOo has sparked a lot of interest, and I, being a fan, was happy to throw in my two cents.
It's a good product, and certainly ready for prime time for most users.
I agree with you. Many users are reading this post, and I'm sure that many of them will give OOo a try. After all, most avast! users know by experience that the most expensive software isn't necessary the best.
-
Please read this:
http://why.openoffice.org
:)
-
Thank you all for your insight and experience.
Personally I never had any probs with MS Word 2002 page numbering. It was all automatic. As I wrote another page, the number appeared at the bottom RHS of the page. But I agree that maths on Word is no fun, Staind!
One newspaper I send articles to simply cannot open docs in OO.org. They tell me it's all script. I write the story on OO.org and then copy and paste it to MS Wordpad for them so they CAN open it. I sent the same article to others and it opens easily or automatically. Any ideas why this newspaper cannot open my OO.org docs? Please?
My mainframe (the PC) has died. I am currently using my laptop which doesn't have Word - hence my instal of OO.org. I will soon have a brand new PC so this is hardly a serious problem - it just arouses my curiosity.
Happy days to you all
-
^,
If I understood your post correctly, just save your document as a Word document. (Under File, click "save as", and choose your option at the bottom - "save as type" - choose "Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP (.doc.))
If they're using MS Office, that should do it. Please report back if it doesn't work.
-
@ kakapo
If that doesn't work there is always save as an .rtf file, most WP programs are able to import these.
-
"The International Standards Organisation has today approved the standard file format to be used worldwide for the storage of files produced by office software (word processor documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, etc.)."
Read the entire announcement here:
http://www.openoffice.org/press/iso_pr.html
;D (We won one for the Gipper!)
-
That's just how I saved the doc. OrangeCrate. I guess the newspaper don't use MS Office.
I will try with your suggestion too DavidR. Thank you.
Thank you all so much for your help and insight.
-
That's just how I saved the doc. OrangeCrate. I guess the newspaper don't use MS Office.
Hmm... I'm in that business. I would be absolutely amazed if they didn't use MS Office, or would not be able to read Word Docs. The news world revolves around that format.
Without trying to state the obvious, I'd probably give them a call, or a shout via email to ask them. Very strange indeed... (Though certainly try DavidR's suggestion too.)
Edit: Unless it's the "Shire Daily News" or something, then I would guess they wouldn't have computers :)