MS Office Vs Star Office Vs Open Office
Discussion
G'morning all
Currently use MS Office XP - BUT is MS taking us all for a ride?
Am looking at changing to either Star Office or Open Office, however still need to be able to save files in MS Office format (Excell/Word/PowePoint/Database etc) to transfer to/from other MS Office users.
What are the Forum's views on these products, and should I change.
Thaks for your help.
P
>>> Edited by sprintmp on Sunday 21st March 11:53
Currently use MS Office XP - BUT is MS taking us all for a ride?
Am looking at changing to either Star Office or Open Office, however still need to be able to save files in MS Office format (Excell/Word/PowePoint/Database etc) to transfer to/from other MS Office users.
What are the Forum's views on these products, and should I change.
Thaks for your help.
P
>>> Edited by sprintmp on Sunday 21st March 11:53
I've changed to StarOffice 2½ years ago, and then changed to OpenOffice because it is nearly the same and it is free.
IIRC, StarOffice has some more features like a handbook, better spell-checking, and an Adabas database.
Else, I regard the functionality as equal between both packages.
I do all my office documents in OOo. When I give a document away, I mostly save it as PDF, which is a default feature that comes with the software.
Exporting documents in MS Office formats is absolutly no problem; you just state the format in "Save As...".
Opening works just as well as saving.
However, I encountered two difficulties with MS Office file formats: one was a table in a Word document, that wrapped over several pages. It couldn't be interpreted from OOo, so I had to change the size of the page to make it work on just one page.
The other one was an exported Impress document, that I opened with PowerPoint: the type of connectors between boxes were not available in MS PP, and had been substituted.
I'm not as good as a secretary in Office Programs, but there is nothing that I don't do with computers, and I've never managed to bring OpenOffice to its (functional) limits.
IIRC, StarOffice has some more features like a handbook, better spell-checking, and an Adabas database.
Else, I regard the functionality as equal between both packages.
I do all my office documents in OOo. When I give a document away, I mostly save it as PDF, which is a default feature that comes with the software.
Exporting documents in MS Office formats is absolutly no problem; you just state the format in "Save As...".
Opening works just as well as saving.
However, I encountered two difficulties with MS Office file formats: one was a table in a Word document, that wrapped over several pages. It couldn't be interpreted from OOo, so I had to change the size of the page to make it work on just one page.
The other one was an exported Impress document, that I opened with PowerPoint: the type of connectors between boxes were not available in MS PP, and had been substituted.
I'm not as good as a secretary in Office Programs, but there is nothing that I don't do with computers, and I've never managed to bring OpenOffice to its (functional) limits.
I use Star office (though I'm pretty sure it was free, its an older version though) and use it over MS office out of choice.
It opens and saves MS word documents perfectly well, spreadsheet documents seem to be OK, though I haven't looked at anything too complexed. Never used the presentation software so can't comment on that but must admit I just couldn't get any Access files to work with it, likely to be me just as much as the programme though.
Its not as polished looking as the MS products I'll admit but when licenceing costs are taken into account there was no question (considering it was mainly going to be used for word processing work)
I suggest you download and try them and see which one feels best for you. Just remember that they are all different programmes and if your used to MS office then it will take some getting used to to use open/star office
It opens and saves MS word documents perfectly well, spreadsheet documents seem to be OK, though I haven't looked at anything too complexed. Never used the presentation software so can't comment on that but must admit I just couldn't get any Access files to work with it, likely to be me just as much as the programme though.
Its not as polished looking as the MS products I'll admit but when licenceing costs are taken into account there was no question (considering it was mainly going to be used for word processing work)
I suggest you download and try them and see which one feels best for you. Just remember that they are all different programmes and if your used to MS office then it will take some getting used to to use open/star office
I use OO at home, but my uses are limited to pretty simple documents and spreadsheets. For most stuff it seems to import from and export to Office formats fine.
However for heavier use (especially where lots of macros are involved) it all becomes a big headache and I've heard of a few big rollouts that have had to be reversed because the company's documents didn't work properly in SO/OO. As far as I know, neither has a proper Access equivalent either, if that's important to you.
It's much like what I said in the PDF thread - it may seem expensive but if your work involves using the software all day, especially if you're using the more advanced features, it will probably pay for itself over a short period of time.
As you've paid for Office XP, why chuck it away for something that isn't as good in most respects? It will go on working, and provided there's nothing compelling in the next version, no reason to pay out for an upgrade.
However for heavier use (especially where lots of macros are involved) it all becomes a big headache and I've heard of a few big rollouts that have had to be reversed because the company's documents didn't work properly in SO/OO. As far as I know, neither has a proper Access equivalent either, if that's important to you.
It's much like what I said in the PDF thread - it may seem expensive but if your work involves using the software all day, especially if you're using the more advanced features, it will probably pay for itself over a short period of time.
As you've paid for Office XP, why chuck it away for something that isn't as good in most respects? It will go on working, and provided there's nothing compelling in the next version, no reason to pay out for an upgrade.
Ive used open office for the last year or so. I havent had any problems sharing documents with others who use microsoft office, and the pfd feature is pretty handy.
It does however seem much more resource hungry than microsoft office. The lack of that annoying paperclip sealed the deal for me btw...
It does however seem much more resource hungry than microsoft office. The lack of that annoying paperclip sealed the deal for me btw...
I recently ran a small trial of Star Office against our existing MS Office. For the corporate network, the main differences are
- Star Office has no email client.
- Adabas database is a lot more cumbersome than Access to the average user.
For the average home user, however, Star Office is superior.
Andy
- Star Office has no email client.
- Adabas database is a lot more cumbersome than Access to the average user.
For the average home user, however, Star Office is superior.
Andy
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff