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General Consensus
- Thread starter Khosher
- Start date
Linux.com have compaired the two:
Viable solution? That would depend on what you need
from your office-suite.
Viable solution? That would depend on what you need
from your office-suite.
I have recently installed OpenOffice on our network along side MS office 2000. Trying to get the users to get used to OpenOffice, to save use upgrading our existing MS Office to a later version. On the whole the response has been positive.
One reaction I got, when I first suggested OO was "but it's not Microsoft" My response was polite but to the point. After I pointed out the benefits to OO, they started to come around to it.
I have been using OO for a little while, but must admit that I started to use MS office again for a while. Anyway, I am back on the straight & narrow & am using OO most of the time. I only have OO on my home machine & works laptop. I have both MS & OO on my works machine, but when I do re-install it will only have OO. Personally I prefer OO & I think the users on the network will start to like it. The only problem I have is with Access & Publisher files, so I need to keep these available to users. I don't use them myself. Powerpoint files sometimes look strange when opened in Impress, but a bit of tweaking should sort that out.
I think it is very viable, especially to new users who are not used to MS office & got stuck in their ways.
One reaction I got, when I first suggested OO was "but it's not Microsoft" My response was polite but to the point. After I pointed out the benefits to OO, they started to come around to it.
I have been using OO for a little while, but must admit that I started to use MS office again for a while. Anyway, I am back on the straight & narrow & am using OO most of the time. I only have OO on my home machine & works laptop. I have both MS & OO on my works machine, but when I do re-install it will only have OO. Personally I prefer OO & I think the users on the network will start to like it. The only problem I have is with Access & Publisher files, so I need to keep these available to users. I don't use them myself. Powerpoint files sometimes look strange when opened in Impress, but a bit of tweaking should sort that out.
I think it is very viable, especially to new users who are not used to MS office & got stuck in their ways.
DeanConsulting
Programmer
I use OO on my personal machine at home. At work I am forced to use MS Office for the time being. There is one thing that I have noticed though. It is with some formatting. I have to edit some medical reports for another business and they use MS Office 2003. I get the reports loaded up just fine on my OO machine but some of the headers, footers, and formatting are really different. Other than that it is very straightforward, and very useable. I would recommend it.
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Noble D. Bell
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Noble D. Bell
i have OO on this machines & MS on my 6 other machines. i am the only that is currently using it and it is (as others have pointed out) a little different than MS Office. there are some discrepancies with headers, footers, and MS dot files but the more i use it the more i can get it to do what i want it to. the other drawback is some files i send to users of MS Office don't maintain all of the formating from OO.
that being said, O
rg is thinking of dropping the odf format for their newer format (can't remember the extension) that will be compatible with MS Office new xml file format.
on a side note, i have changed from Outlook to Thunderbird and you will never get me to go back to Outlook!
that being said, O
rg is thinking of dropping the odf format for their newer format (can't remember the extension) that will be compatible with MS Office new xml file format.on a side note, i have changed from Outlook to Thunderbird and you will never get me to go back to Outlook!
TonyGroves
Programmer
eyec: What makes you think OpenOffice.org is thinking about dropping the ISO-standard ODF, which is supported by almost all office suites except MSO, in favour of the proprietary MS-controlled OOXML format which is regarded as inferior to ODF? It's a ridiculous suggestion. If you can produce any evidence at all, I'd happily eat my hat.
TonyGroves
Programmer
Those articles are about the split among the ODF backers, not in OpenOffice.org. There's no suggestion there that OpenOffice has taken any notice of the affair. And certainly none to suggest that it would ever consider adopting Microsoft's format as its default.
The argument seems to be that the ODF format is too closely matched to the requirements of OpenOffice.org; some want to see the format becoming more independent and that has caused the split. It's sad to see the disagreement causing a split, but at least it shows the dedication that people have to the format.
The argument seems to be that the ODF format is too closely matched to the requirements of OpenOffice.org; some want to see the format becoming more independent and that has caused the split. It's sad to see the disagreement causing a split, but at least it shows the dedication that people have to the format.
My $.02 worth:
I have been using OO for a number of years. I work in a M$ shop and create and exchange documents may times each working day. I have NEVER had any issues using OO across Windoze or Linux machines.
Also, I was listening to a computer talk show today while driving and they were discussing Office 2008 and its Word component... they stated "run away from it" as it offers NOTHING but changes a lot and is entirely new to learn.
So, if you're going to learn, use OO.
Bob
I have been using OO for a number of years. I work in a M$ shop and create and exchange documents may times each working day. I have NEVER had any issues using OO across Windoze or Linux machines.
Also, I was listening to a computer talk show today while driving and they were discussing Office 2008 and its Word component... they stated "run away from it" as it offers NOTHING but changes a lot and is entirely new to learn.
So, if you're going to learn, use OO.
Bob
TimRegester
Technical User
I have a client that uses Openoffice exclusively, there were some usablility issues and some 'features' of Word have been difficult to reproduce, but it interfaces with MS Office seemlessly and does some things like tables a whole lot better.
I wish that the learning curve for open office basic was not so steep and support for C# would be nice, since creating Templates is not as easy as it could be, but it has effectively usurped MS Office.
At another clients a PC replacement programme was made much more difficult since the std there was MS Office 2003 and licenses for this could not be obtained, we tried Openoffice but since I was on site 1 day a week, I could not hand hold them to retrain to OO, they bit the bullet and now use MS Office 2007, though the gripes with that continue.
I wish that the learning curve for open office basic was not so steep and support for C# would be nice, since creating Templates is not as easy as it could be, but it has effectively usurped MS Office.
At another clients a PC replacement programme was made much more difficult since the std there was MS Office 2003 and licenses for this could not be obtained, we tried Openoffice but since I was on site 1 day a week, I could not hand hold them to retrain to OO, they bit the bullet and now use MS Office 2007, though the gripes with that continue.
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