Tessa's Technology Blog: OpenOffice.org: A free alternative to MS Office

Whether as Mac or Linux users with some experience with Microsoft [MS] Office, or as Windows users who probably use MS Office by default for word processing, many people out there will naturally want to know about a competitive alternative to the status quo. While there are a whole slew of suites available in the market, OpenOffice.org has been notably generating a lot of buzz since its release in 2000.

OpenOffice.org is a free, open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. OpenOffice is available for a wide variety of operating systems, including MS Windows, Linux and Mac OSX. It supports over 80 languages and works on most computers. It can read and write most of the file formats used in MS Office as well as other applications.

OpenOffice is a collection of applications that work together to provide features expected from a modern office suite. For example, it has a word processor similar to MS Word; a spreadsheet similar to MS Excel; and a presentation program akin to MS PowerPoint. It also has more advanced components such as a database management program similar to MS Access, a vector graphics editor and diagramming tool similar to MS Visio, and a tool for creating and editing mathematical formulae similar to MS Equation Editor.

From these application equivalencies, it's pretty obvious what the developers of OpenOffice had in mind. OpenOffice provides a free and open-source alternative to MS Office, which currently controls the market. Because of its commercial-quality functionality and appearance and its interoperability with MS Office and other popular applications, OpenOffice has attracted a lot of attention in the technology industry. So why would anyone give Open Office a try?

First of all, it's free. OpenOffice can be downloaded and used free of any license fees. That means once you download it, you are free to use it for commercial or personal use, free to distribute it, free to install it on as many computers as you like. It is free for any purpose without restriction. The software will never expire and you never have to worry if your copy is legal. A copy of MS Office's Home and Student version can cost $150, with the standard version costing $400, so there is nothing to lose by trying or using a free alternative.

Secondly, the engineering of OpenOffice is a completely open-development process, which makes OpenOffice an open-source software. This means that anyone can report bugs, request new features, or enhance the software. Also, more independent work done on the program results in frequent upgrades and updates.

Other main advantages include its leaner design, the availability of free updates, and a PDF exporter that is absent from other commercial programs. This last one is an absolutely plus, especially when you want to preserve the appearance and formatting of a document.

I may be an advocate of open-source software because I think the predominance of Microsoft stifles progress in many aspects of software development, but let me assure you that I am far from biased when it comes to OpenOffice's shortcomings.

Despite all the praise, OpenOffice has been through a battery of criticism. One of the major complaints is on ease-of-use issues. Users have complained that some tools are not where they usually are, with MS Office as a point of comparison. However, I think this issue stems from people's familiarity with MS Office and not with the program itself. Although I agree that OpenOffice's user interface differs from the MS Office interface, any intermediate computer user will have no problem adapting to the nuances in operation.

To give a simple example of one of the differences, Font is called Character in OpenOffice, but it is similarly placed under the drop down menu for Format on the main bar. Also, the same can be said for Page setup that is commonly found under File in MS Office. In OpenOffice, all page attributes, including backgrounds and borders, can be adjusted by clicking Page, which is found under Format.

Despite all the differences, OpenOffice's navigation layout and functions are highly customizable from a simple rearrangement of the widgets to a complete overhaul if one is so inclined to tinker with the programming.

Another complaint against OpenOffice is that it is lacking in features found in commercial products. OpenOffice does come with fewer fonts, graphic elements (clip art, 3-D font effects, etc.) and templates for different document types (e.g. brochures, memos, etc.) as those bundled with the proprietary competition. However, users who have no need for four different templates for legal pleadings, six different greeting cards, or 10 ways to make a banner will not feel the dearth in prefab content.

Another common complaint was on OpenOffice's appearance. Not surprisingly, OpenOffice is not as “pretty” as the commercial products but its appearance does not mask what fans love about it. What you see is what you get: straightforward and functional.

Critics have also brought up the issue that OpenOffice saves slightly larger files, but this is trivial in our current trend of terabyte drives and 20 gigabyte thumb drives.

The main advantages to using OpenOffice is that it is free of charge and updates are always developed to continuously improve the application. Its main shortcoming is that it's not Microsoft Office and people feel more comfortable using familiar software. But I think as people become more tech savvy, people will be more open to using alternative applications.

On a side note, I think going “open source” is a good way to keep expenses down when setting up a computer or an entire computer lab. And because the program can be used to open and save files in a variety of formats, it is easy to try out OpenOffice and use it with no commitment.

Here are a couple screenshots (top - Writer, bottom - Impress):