Some good reasons to consider using OpenOffice.org instead of Microsoft Office. One of the more compelling ones, rather than it being a free package that still works in the Microsoft formats is that it can produce XML format documents, which means that the data in your documents will probably always be accessible. I still haven’t used OpenOffice.org, but I will be sure to. I have heard, though, that if you exchange a great deal of files with people who use Microsoft Office, that you will run into problems eventually.
Charles Martin said,
January 4, 2005 @ 1:55 pm
I have used OpenOffice.org now for about a year and love it. However, as you note a little hesitation, that pause is justified. I have noticed in a few cases that not all formatting from OpenOffice moves over to MS Word properly. For example, I have a resume with a skills list at the top. It is indented and tabbed properly in OpenOffice… but when I save as MSWord and open it in Word, the tabs screw up and the indentation changes. So it’s not fully there yet, but if you only use the basic stuff in Word/OpenOffice anyways, it won’t be that big a deal. Also, some things you do in Powerpoint don’t play in the OpenOffice Slideshow viewer. Not perfect, but I love being able to save to PDF from any of the OpenOffice apps and now, with version 2.0, you can save documents XHTML 1.0 compliant. Thus, some of my old MSWord articles can be saved in something actually resembling XHTML (without a million inline styles and stuff) and just apply a stylesheet to the output to get the look I want. *JOY*
kadavy said,
January 4, 2005 @ 6:37 pm
That’s really cool about the XHTML. It doesn’t surprise me about the PowerPoint troubles. I have given up on doing anything other than the basics with PowerPoint presentations if they are going to end up on a PC. I hear things are better with MS Office 2004, though.
lonelybeatle said,
April 29, 2005 @ 10:11 am
Hello,
I am trying to write a little cookbook for my daughter in openoffice. Can anyone tell me how to shuffle my pages? I’ve input the recipes now I want to organize them. I assumed it would be nearly as simple as rearranging index cards.
I would much appreciate any help.
Thank-you,
Lonelybeatle