Has anyone used Opal Office

[GlennUK]

Hi all,

I am sometimes asked for a cheap alternative to Excel, and I've just been told of something called Opal Office :

http://www.officebestdeal.com/

Has anyone used this? Or does anyone have any other recommendations for Office alternatives ( legal ones please )?

I've heard of Gnumeric ( Gnome Office Spreadsheet ), and would like to hear from any users of that too. And it's free ( I think ).

Cheers, Glenn.

Did you hear about the literalist show-jumper? He broke his nose jumping against the clock.

 

[MakeItSo]

Hey, wow: This looks to me as if someone STOLE OpenOffice (which is free) and just changed all the titles to Opal.

OpenOffice is exactly the same, has the exact same features, is 100% legal and 100% free of charge!

Check it out:

http://www.openoffice.org/

Cheers,
Andy

[navy]"We had to turn off that service to comply with the CDA Bill."[/navy]
- The Bastard Operator From Hell

 

[GlennUK]

Ah, that's an easy way to make money. And barely a change of spelling.

Will put OpenOffice in my memory banks.

Cheers, Glenn.

Did you hear about the literalist show-jumper? He broke his nose jumping against the clock.

 

[fumei]

I agree. It is OpenOffice.

That is very very bad. Bad dog! Change the title of something free, and then charge for it. I hope no one buys it.

Glenn, if you are going to go that route, use the real OpenOffice. OpalOffice looks like out and out theft/greed to me.

faq219-2884

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[AnotherHiggins]

Holy crap! the icon at the top left corner of the screenshots even look just like OpenOffice's!?!?

BTW, Glenn, I've had OpenOffice loaded on a few different boxes for several years now. I Even load it at work alongside MS Office. It has proven, on more than one occasion, able to open and produce recovered copies of corrupted Excel workbooks that Excel simply would not open.

I did find this in the FAQ:

Q: Does this software come with a license key?
A: No, it does not need a license key. It comes fully licensed under LGPL license, based on OpenOffice.org®, which is produced and maintained by free software community.

[tt]_____
[blue]-John[/blue][/tt]
[tab][red]The plural of anecdote is not data[/red]

Help us help you. Please read FAQ 181-2886 before posting.

 

[GlennUK]

Thanks Gerry and John,

it sounds like OpenOffice is well worth having.

That OpalOffice FAQ seems to admit that the software is really OpenOffice. Seems a real cheek to charge for it.

Cheers, Glenn.

Did you hear about the literalist show-jumper? He broke his nose jumping against the clock.

 

[fumei]

Real cheek?? That is out and out sneaky and greedy. Seriously, I hope no one buys it.

OpenOffice has some issues (macro writing takes some getting used to), but all in all it is a quite viable alternative, and if you DO get it and use it, you can (if you wish) actually become part of a serious community of people working on something decent.

I can't believe the nerve of those "Opal"Office folks.

faq219-2884

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[fumei]

Oh and Glenn? There is in fact a forum here at TT for OpenOffice, if you do get it.

faq219-2884

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[GlennUK]

Thanks Gerry. I won't be getting it anytime soon, as I don't seem to have any free time to experiment with nice ideas at the moment. Will make a note and explore this when my life gets a little less hectic.

Will pass on the info if anyone asks for an Office alternative.

Cheers, Glenn.

Did you hear about the literalist show-jumper? He broke his nose jumping against the clock.