OpenOffice 3.0 - Just Another Office Suite?
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I have to admit that I was expecting a heck of a lot more from the latest release of OpenOffice, at least a Web site with some content on it (wink). And as luck would have it, the Ubuntu release is 32bit only… so I had to use “The Force,” so to speak. Basically that is Linux speak for forcing the install even though it is designed for the 32 bit architecture. In the end, it installed fine. Yet once I opened up the application, I was surprised to see that visually, very little has changed. Then I remembered how Fisher Price-looking the latest release was, immediately I felt a lot better. For me, I was simply not a fan of the newer MS Office interface and would prefer to use 2002 or 2000 instead, myself.
Ah, I digress. So after playing a bit more with the latest OpenOffice release, I have found myself pondering:
- Is it just me, or is this release loading faster? Perhaps instead, it has to do with my recent RAM upgrade? Somehow I suspect the latter is the most likely.
- Features. Despite my not enjoying paying the Microsoft premium, the fact is that MS Office does have features not found elsewhere. Problem is, not everyone needs the Outline tool among others — myself included. This said, if I was in a real pinch, I would load up my copy of MS Office 2007 with CrossOver Office (based on WINE).
- Lack of Power Users. Not everyone needs the advanced stuff not offered by OpenOffice and I think that bundled with the price of zero dollars is part of the reason why there has been such a demand for this suite.
So was it worth the upgrade? I suppose so, certainly better than buying Lotus Symphony 1.1 which allegedly uses OpenOffice 1.x for its core. Yeah, not only are you paying the price, you are buying an older product at the core — how does this work?
At the end of the day, if you need a shiny looking UI and/or the advanced features provided by MS Office, then I would recommend sticking with it. For the rest of us simply needing a good Word/Excel/PowerPoint alternative, the choice is painfully obvious.
One Comment
Dave Kovach
November 10th, 2008
at 10:55pm
I never bothered to download and try OpenOffice (any version) because I had already bought MS Office 2000. Though I did buy it inexpensivelly through Ebay (and yes legally) as I never pay a lot for software. And it doesn’t sound Like Lotus Symony 1.1 is worth trying according to Matt Hartley mention of it. I believe that MS Office is better when it comes to compatibility with other software as I’ve already had to help one individual open up a file they received from somebody in a different file format. Secondly, thought people may gripe about Microsoft’s pricing of it’s software look for an inexpensive price and maybe an older version like MS Office 2000 and stick with that version which has served me very well for all the basic office needs I need. That’s my humble opinion.