Cavechat.org

I'm a big fan of open source software and wondered if anyone else on the forum is using Open Office -- the open source answer to Microsoft Office? One big advantage is, it's free (donations accepted) and seems to do everything that MS Office does.

http://www.pc-tools.net/comment/openoffice/

(the NSS forum software, phpBB, is also open source)

Wayne,

Of course I work for Microsoft, but I try to be objective. Open Office does many of the things that Office will do, but there are limitations. But, for the standard stuff that many people use, it probably works fine.

I have noticed glitches in compatibility of documents, when going back and forth between Office and Open Office. A lot of that depends on what level or version you are running. If you are depending on compatibility with others, that is a big consideration that would probably keep you on MS Office.

It is not as feature rich as MS Office, but you may not need all those features.

I have tried it, and found I preferred MS office, and not because I work for them. It just does more of what I need to do, versus OpenOffice. But, I know people who do fine with Open Office.

(I think I see a lot more people using Firefox than OpenOffice in the open source camp. It might have something to do with compatibility, which is not a much of a variable with Firefox.)

I would not discourage you to try for yourself.

Hey Wayne...

I have openoffice and will never go back to MS for a bunch of reasons. One - it's free and does everything (within reason) that MS does. Two, i can't stand MS as a company (sorry Roppelcaver... I know we all have to make a living in the world) and any place where I can not use an MS product is a victory IMHO. Three, for me openoffice actually loads up quicker than MS's version.

Having said that, i should point out that I have a tablet PC and openofice is not yet compatible with the MS tablet. which means that i have to use the static tip panel instead of the pop-up one. Since hand cramps are a problem for me when I type for long stretches, it's important to be able to actually write with a pen.

So yeah, its a great and free way to get a good open source word processor. there are apparantly others out there as well. since most of us will be doing only basic documentation, it's more than adequate.

john

I've used open office in the past, and I think it rocks. It's nice to see that there are other options available other than having to fork over a lot of cash for some features that you may not need.

Open source freeware/donationware is an awesome thing. It's nice to see people develop this kind of software so people who normally couldn't afford the top dollar program, still can use and enjoy the program.

Roppel, were you experiencing the glitches with 1.0 or 2.0? The new 2.0 seems to have solved a lot of those problems.

I have no problem with MS as a company, personally. I still prefer IE over Firefox. If you are in to speculating about the future of the Internet and what it holds for us, I encourage you to watch the flash movie in another discussion thread here called "The End Of News As We Know It."

Whatever people want to use is fine with me. I only explained my observations. I do tend to use a lot of advanced features with MS Office that OpenOffice cannot support.

Of course, at work I would tend to use Office anyway...

Wayne, I had tried an earlier version (one year ago), and gave it up. I would still have the same problem due to open source "lag".