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An increasingly credible rival to MS Office, OpenOffice.org includes powerful applications for making text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, diagrams, and databases, as well as HTML and XML documents. Not only does it let you edit basic documents, such as letters and faxes, it also handles complex and multipart documents with bibliographies, reference tables, and indexes.
The interface is similar to that of MS Office users, and even advanced Office users will find almost everything they're used to: templates, collaborative features (versions, recording changes), macros, and even a programming language. OpenOffice.org lets you open and save documents in formats as diverse as MS Office, PDF, HTML, and XML. However, it normally saves files in the open-standard Oasis OpenDocument XML format, for maximum compatibility with other applications. We were pleased to find that stability has improved too. No doubt about it, OpenOffice.org is a compelling option for anyone in search of an alternative office suite.
OpenOffice.org:Publisher's Description
From OpenOffice.org:
OpenOffice.org is both an open-source product and a project. The product is a multiplatform office productivity suite. It includes desktop applications such as a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a presentation manager, and a drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to those of other office suites. OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office
Localizations of OpenOffice.org are available in 27 languages, with more being constantly added by the community. OpenOffice.org runs on Solaris, Linux (including PPC Linux), and Windows. Written in C++ and with documented APIs licensed under the LGPL and SISSL open-source protocols, OpenOffice.org allows any knowledgeable developer to benefit from the source. OpenOffice.org 1.1.3 is primarily a bug fixes release with no new feautes.
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All versions:
4.3 starsout of 1,951 votes
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Current version:
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"great for surfing adult sites"
Version: OpenOffice.org 1.1.3
Pros
easy to navigate the software
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"OpenOffice 2.0 released"
Version: OpenOffice.org 1.1.3
Pros
Yesterday OpenOffice 2.0 was released, which is imho much better than the old version.
So go & get it! Wait until download.com hosts it or visit the openoffice.org-Website!
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"Better than Office."
Version: OpenOffice.org 1.1.3
Pros
The new beta has all the features of Office, plus its 300 dollars cheaper!
Cons
It crahes sometimes but the beta includes a document recoverer, which works!
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"Great and Best of all, Its Free!"
Version: OpenOffice.org 1.1.3
Pros
unlike Microsoft Office, this one is free. It looks no different to me than Microsoft Office. Great product!
Cons
None
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"Fully functional office solution for free"
Version: OpenOffice.org 1.1.3
Pros
It is fully compatible to the standart MS office file types. And if you don't want to even hear about those, then use its own file extensions :)
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"GPL!"
Version: OpenOffice.org 1.1.3
Pros
This program is free software. Free as in liberty, not price. While it is monitarily free, the more important thing to remember is that is is consistant with the 4 freedoms of free software as laid out by the free software foundation. It is very power also. While there are more features in MS word, the fact that is by no means free software, and that is the reason I don't use MS office.
Cons
It could use some refining work, when 2.0 is out of beta, I think it will fix most of the complaints. But the point is that the software is free.
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"Why pay for Microsoft Office!!"
Version: OpenOffice.org 1.1.3
Pros
My computer doesn't have Microsoft office, if I want it I have to pay for it. What a rip off, I just downloaded OpenOffice.org today, and it's great. Everybody should try this product.
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"must have! and FREE!! & Impressive!!"
Version: OpenOffice.org 1.1.3
Pros
Price factor !!!! its free guys....
Auto text input...
Meets the basic(and more) requirements...
I've been using it since last year and absolutely no problems whatso ever!! Office/Works/Lotus....move-on!
Cons
NONE
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"Great office bundle for FREE"
Version: OpenOffice.org 1.1.3
Pros
CNet should update their info on OpenOffice. It is now in release 1.1.5, which has some stability and feature improvements. Version 2.0 is currently in beta release, and is even better. A lot of people will try out OOo as a no-cost alternative to MS Office, but OpenOffice is a good bundle in its own right. It will open most Word and Excel files, as well as many PowerPoint files. Perhaps more importantly, OOo 2.0 supports the new OpenDocument format that is being implemented by companies like IBM, Sun, Corel, KDE, and others.
OOo includes all the applications and tools most people will need for school, a home office, or even a corporate setting. I'm currently using the 2.0 beta, and the stability is quite good, with no crashes so far.
You can't beat the price, but I would give OpenOffice a good grade, even by proprietary commercial software standards. I have a legit copy of MS Office 2003 Pro, so I tried out OpenOffice just out of curiosity. I wasn't expecting much, at first, but now I'm considering dumping MS Office altogether, and just use OpenOffice exclusively. It's that good.
Cons
Help files are adequate, but not as comprehensive as those in MS Office.
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"Free and Great Program!"
Version: OpenOffice.org 1.1.3
Pros
Great program suite! Fully customizable and easy to do conversions to and from. Faster than Microsoft Office and fewer conflicts than Corel Word Perfect Office. With the aforementioned two programs being so expensive, OpenOffice can't be beat!
Cons
The interface look and style wasn't too modern looking, but who cares?
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