Open Office Suite

Discussion in 'Software' started by Blueone, May 20, 2011.

  1. Blueone

    Blueone Corporal

    Does anyone know anything about this program? I've been having a bit of trouble with my office 2000 (word) and was wondering if it was worth a try. I assume it's safe to use?
     
    Blueone, May 20, 2011
    #1
  2. theefool

    theefool Geekified

    It is safe to use. If you were working with word 2000, then yes, open libre (office) will work fine. Though, if you use macros or anything special, you'll have to re-work them.

    We are currently going from 2007 to 2010. Surprisingly the transition from 2003 to 2007 wasn't as bad as going from 2007 to 2010. The users aspect that is.
     
    theefool, May 20, 2011
    #2
  3. Major Attitude

    Major Attitude Co-Owner MajorGeeks.Com Staff Member

    To repeat thefool: OpenOffice is great and it's listed here meaning you can bet it's safe. LibreOffice is also good. They are great alternatives when you can't shell out the cash. Most of us don't need all of Office. I got it free as a Microsoft MVP but Word is all I use, like many. Personally I think Word should be included with Windows but that's me on my soapbox. You can consider a standalone Word clone as well like AbiWord http://majorgeeks.com/AbiWord_d5325.html
     
    Major Attitude, May 20, 2011
    #3
  4. Gregoryno6

    Gregoryno6 Specialist

    The price of MS Word is just insane - or was the last time I looked, back in 2005.
    I used OO for five years and recently moved over to LibreOffice, which is basically the same but looked after by the people who moved from OO after it was bought by Oracle.
    My only dislike of Libre is that no Help files are installed. IMHO their online Help site is not well organised.
     
    Gregoryno6, May 21, 2011
    #4
  5. Blueone

    Blueone Corporal

    Thanks everyone, the only thing I'm worried about is my wife's computer that she uses with her business has Office 2003 (she can't find her disc BTW). I've heard that once you open a older version word file with a newer version (2000 by 2003) that you can't use the older one to open it again, is this true? I believe it says with Open Office that it opens word files, could anyting like that be true with OO? Gregory...why did you move from OO to Libre?
     
    Blueone, May 21, 2011
    #5
  6. MadMal

    MadMal Corporal

    AbiWord here, I don't need all the power (and size) of OOO or Libre

    For spreadsheets I use Spread32, it launches in an instant and has all I need.
    The last free version is not here at MG but is available @
    http://www.aplusfreeware.com/categories/business/spreadsheets.html

    "Spread32 (last freeware version) is fully compatible with Microsoft Excel! It is essentially a mini-Excel with all of the basic features that you would expect in a competent spreadsheet program. Run macros, draw objects, generate charts, calculate functions and formulas, its all here. And it reads and writes xls, csv, text, and pxl formats."
     
    MadMal, May 21, 2011
    #6
  7. usafveteran

    usafveteran MajorGeek

    The Home and Student edition is the most economical edition for those users who don't need the Access database and some other components found in the full version of MS Office. The Home and Student edition includes 2010 versions of Word, Excel®, PowerPoint® and OneNote® and the software license with this version allows installing on up to 3 computers. You can get it for $131.49 from Buy.com.
     
    usafveteran, May 21, 2011
    #7
  8. Blueone

    Blueone Corporal

    Thanks for the extra input but I like free the best. I've downloaded abi, OO and Libre and will give them al a test run to see what I like best. Thanks again.
     
    Blueone, May 21, 2011
    #8
  9. plodr

    plodr MajorGeek Super Extraordinaire Moderator Staff Member

    OO decided it was going the pay route. The developers got annoyed and started LibreOffice. It is still pretty new but most of the old OO developers now work on Libre. That's why people have been swapping OO for Libre.
    The OO company (forget if it is Oracle or Sun now) realized they made a mistake deciding to charge and have changed their mind. Of course, they've now lost most of the developers so it should prove interesting.

    As far as opening a 2000 soc. in 2003, I think you have the ability when you close it to keep the old format.

    We use both Office 2000 and Office 2007. I purchased the Home and Student edition of 2007 when it was on sale and I also had a % off coupon so I ended up paying $80. It comes with 3 licenses. So far, I only have it installed on one computer. When I get a new computer, I'll install the 2nd license on it. I found it to be a great deal.

    Your wife obviously has a valid serial number for Office 2003. Wrote the serial number down.
    You might be able to download what you need for disks here
    http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/CD001022494.aspx
    that way, if it needs to be reinstalled or removed from 1 computer and installed on another, you will be able to do it.
     
    plodr, May 21, 2011
    #9
  10. usafveteran

    usafveteran MajorGeek

    usafveteran, May 21, 2011
    #10
  11. Gregoryno6

    Gregoryno6 Specialist

    The price as I recall must have been for the full version because it was somewhere around $AUS500.
     
    Gregoryno6, May 21, 2011
    #11
  12. Gregoryno6

    Gregoryno6 Specialist

    I moved in anticipation of that. Also, we use Oracle as the OS at work and it's a pita. It didn't seem likely that OO would remain either free or user friendly.
     
    Gregoryno6, May 21, 2011
    #12
  13. Gregoryno6

    Gregoryno6 Specialist

    Gregoryno6, May 21, 2011
    #13
  14. Blueone

    Blueone Corporal

    Thanks for all the input everyone, I've certainly learned a lot today. Looks like it's going to be between Abi and Libre.
     
    Blueone, May 21, 2011
    #14
  15. Blueone

    Blueone Corporal

    For anyone interested, Open Office got the nod. It performed better for my purposes than Abi or Libre. I hope it remains consistent.
     
    Blueone, May 22, 2011
    #15

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