Since its first development in 2000, Open Office has sparked a
lot of debate. The best argument for using Open Office, its price, is
also the number one reason why people don't believe it to be a real
alternative to other office software packages. Because, come on, how can
free software be any good in a product that is such a cornerstone of
computing and so crucial to the day to day operations of almost every
business in the world as we know it?
Does it have all the features of competitor software packages? No, certainly not. Is it as good a solution for the needs of the average user? I believe so. Especially since the compatibility issues in earlier versions are history, there is very little reason why especially small businesses and home users need to pull out their wallets or credit cards and pony up the cash for the very expensive office suits of today. Even larger corporations can benefit from its unprecedented customization options. With its word processor Writer, its spread sheet program Calc and its presentation suite Impress, it offers the most used functionality in any office suite. And there's a database program as well. The only program that isn't included since it is purely focused on document editing, is email software.
Open office is open source software, like the operating system linux. That means it is created and improved upon by a large community of volunteer programmers and project managers who like to cooperate on a project that is not driven by marketing or sales goals. Unlike its operating system counterpart Linux, that is geared towards advanced users, open office is just as easy to use as any other office suite. You can download it from the openoffice.org site and will work immediately. There are open office versions for all modern operating systems, including all windows versions, mac osx and linux as well. That means that cross platform compatibility is excellent.
Because it is not developed for a specific operating system, trying to incorporate all the latest shiny options available, it is a lot less bloated than it's alternatives. This means that open office is fairly easy to get used to. When you're used to how it is structured, you will never want to go back. Open office is a suite that does exactly what you need for most office or home needs. Nothing more, nothing less. With a few simple settings you can autosave all your documents to the corresponding Microsoft formats, making exchanging files with others a breeze.
Does it have all the features of competitor software packages? No, certainly not. Is it as good a solution for the needs of the average user? I believe so. Especially since the compatibility issues in earlier versions are history, there is very little reason why especially small businesses and home users need to pull out their wallets or credit cards and pony up the cash for the very expensive office suits of today. Even larger corporations can benefit from its unprecedented customization options. With its word processor Writer, its spread sheet program Calc and its presentation suite Impress, it offers the most used functionality in any office suite. And there's a database program as well. The only program that isn't included since it is purely focused on document editing, is email software.
Open office is open source software, like the operating system linux. That means it is created and improved upon by a large community of volunteer programmers and project managers who like to cooperate on a project that is not driven by marketing or sales goals. Unlike its operating system counterpart Linux, that is geared towards advanced users, open office is just as easy to use as any other office suite. You can download it from the openoffice.org site and will work immediately. There are open office versions for all modern operating systems, including all windows versions, mac osx and linux as well. That means that cross platform compatibility is excellent.
Because it is not developed for a specific operating system, trying to incorporate all the latest shiny options available, it is a lot less bloated than it's alternatives. This means that open office is fairly easy to get used to. When you're used to how it is structured, you will never want to go back. Open office is a suite that does exactly what you need for most office or home needs. Nothing more, nothing less. With a few simple settings you can autosave all your documents to the corresponding Microsoft formats, making exchanging files with others a breeze.
If you want to take out open office for a spin, you can! download the software, and check out http://www.openofficevideo.com for video tutorials on how to use it.
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