[tags]Microsoft,Open,Office[/tags]

Im sure someone has already blogged about this, but I am going to do a blog on this as well. Open Office is a very nice piece of software that I like. Microsoft newest version of office is very confusing, Supposedly Microsoft claims it’s easier to find stuff. To me it seems a lot harder to find stuff. 

Open Office is a key product for Linux users and anyone who likes open source products like Firefox. Open office is easy to use and has a very clean User Interface as well, It reminds me of the old Microsoft Office 2003 layout.  A lot of people perfer open office to Microsoft Office for a lot of reasons. Open office does not care how many times you download it because it’s open source. You can find Open office here http://www.openoffice.org/ here is a very short list of way I think Open Office is key to open source. 

• easy to use
• not bloated
• uses less resources
• no way to get an illegal copy

Microsoft Office has been known around the world  to anyone who uses a Windows PC. Microsoft makes it very hard to get a copy, because they are charging up the rear for it. Once you do it you can only install in on three computers. If you try to install on more then computers you will need a new product key as well, although it may not be exactly legal. Microsoft’s new Ribbon in Office 2007 is very confusing to use and can sometimes takes a long to get used to. The user interface needs some major work done to it.

Not only does the UI need work but Microsoft has a new file system when you save your files. This was a good move for Microsoft but it causes lot’s of problems for someone who may not have the new file system. (.DOCX) Originally it was .DOC, If you screw this up the person who has the file will need to download a comapatiblity pack.

Although you can get more done with the new office because you can use the default buttons that Microsoft built in. They figured these were the most used buttons that everyone used in Office 2003. Microsoft did a good job with that. At home I use both Office 2007 and Open office 2.3.