Open Office Suite

[redimp]

Has anybody installed OpenOffice as an alternative to Gates's bloatware?  My folks have just got a new laptop and don't want to shell out the couple of hundred for the Office suite.  I am running XP and need to replace sooner or later as well. 

If anybody does have it, what do they think?  Is it a viable alternative to Office?  Is it better? 

Also, if I do not like it, does it uninstall all right?

[redimp]

[Eristic]

If anybody does have it, what do they think?  Is it a viable alternative to Office?  Is it better?

For the basic office functions it works with similar functionality with just one or two bits with different names or in different places but the results are the same. My installations are quite a few years old and somewhat dated and a bit basic in appearance (window candy). The suite was also a bit slow to load but I believe the latest versions have improved lots and may have been a windows problem anyway.

Also, if I do not like it, does it uninstall all right?

One thing you can be sure of is it will behave itself in a proper manner. If you do not like it it will uninstall without any complaint or backhand deceit. It will also politely ask if you want it to be default or not and will accept your decision.

Give it a try. It will not harm your box or screw up windows but it might screw up micro$oft.

[PhilB]

I'm using Open Office 2 and have no problems with it. In fact, I have both MS Office 2003 and Open Office on my work PC and prefer to use the open source version.

[Trevor_D]

I use it and much prefer it to Word. It can be a bit slower (but that might be Windows 98) but it's much easier if you need to drop in pictures and stuff. The only "problem" I've had is when you need to share a file with someone who doesn't have Open Office, in which case you can simply cut & paste into Word.

It was recommended by my son, who in IT: they don't use it at work, but he much prefers it personally.

[Rob08]

I use open office at home and find it works just fine.  The only thing you need to remember to do if you are emailing documents to people who do not use open office is to save it in the windows format (this option is available if you click on 'save as') before sending, otherwise they will not be able to open it.

[redimp]

Sold (or not as the case may be ;D) thanks guys. :)

[redimp]

Right, in the drive to drive Bill Gates out of my life, does anybody use Solaris as an alternative to Windows?  Same questions apply.

Thanks

[Eristic]

I use Linux with the KDE desktop and apart from difficulty installing extra programs and learning the different names of basic applications there is not much difference in looks or basic usage. A decent Linux distribution will come complete with most of the software you are likely to need in a work environment ready bundled into the installation.

If you have space on your current machine you could partition the disk and run a dual boot system without spoiling windows. You should also be able to find and use most windows files from Linux but Windows probably will refuse to recognise the Linux space. I wonder why?

[Multiveg]

I have been using Open Office for about a year and a bit now. As some of you may remember, I did a creative writing course (still haven't polished off the allotment murder and burial with lime, etc..!). I was then using Word which crashed on me several times and I even lost some of the work (even though I was saving every so often) - though was able to retrieve a lot through taking a screenshot (just retyping..). It even crashed on me on the final deadline day for one of the assignments which I sent in with an hour or so to spare. I have had no problems with Open Office. The "Word" equivalent can even save stuff in pdf format.

[lee]

I use Open Office for basic fucntionality, Documents, Spreadsheets etc.  No problems in 2 years, I find it much quicker than Word too.

I havent used Solaris since before it was free (long time ago!) but if you are going to use your PC for nothing but Web browsing, EMail & Office then Linux is a good alternative.  Ubuntu is pretty popular at the moment and as with most distributions these days you can download a Live CD so you can test it without even installing it on your PC (boots from the CD).

[Larkshall]

Right, in the drive to drive Bill Gates out of my life, does anybody use Solaris as an alternative to Windows?  Same questions apply.

Thanks

Not Solaris, but I do use Ubuntu Linux v7.10, Open Office v2.3, The Gimp, Vnu & Gftp (for maintaining websites). Firefox & Thunderbird for the internet. The machine is very stable (I do miss those damned annoying error reports from Windows).

[redimp]

Sorry to resurrect this but are there patches available to get Ubuntu or Solaris to run programs that are already installed?  Also, drivers for sound cards etc?  Or do they just work which would be ideal?

[woppa30]

In linux (ubuntu) most programs won't install unless everything they need is already there (called dependancies in linux land)
Can't comment on Solaris, sorry.
As for drivers for hardware as long as your hardware isn't cutting edge and is also faily common (e.g Intel wireless and not some far off Chinese company nobody ahs heard of) it should install all the drivers you need. If you know what the hardware is google is fantastic e.g "Braodcom + driver + Ubuntu" Will get you very close to the correct solution. In my experinece sound cards and web cams are the hardest to get working but don't let that put ou off. There is fantastic support out there on the WWW for linux.
Best wishes,
Woppa

[redimp]

In linux (ubuntu) most programs won't install unless everything they need is already there (called dependancies in linux land)

Is that much of a problem?  Sorry for being a bit dibby but have been dependants Gates software for so long I am worried about withdrawal symptoms.  Downloading Ubuntu at the moment.

Also, what are the main differences between the two OS's - they are both Unix based systems aren't they?

[jmassane]

[/quote]
Is that much of a problem?  Sorry for being a bit dibby but have been dependants Gates software for so long I am worried about withdrawal symptoms.  Downloading Ubuntu at the moment.

Also, what are the main differences between the two OS's - they are both Unix based systems aren't they?
[/quote]

In almost all cases with Ubuntu dependencies are not a problem, Ubuntu has a built in tool for installing software and will automatically take care of dependencies, downloading them  when they are needed and removing them when they become redundant, without you having to do anything except click ok.

I have not used solaris but I would imagine that the Ubuntu would be more beginner friendly and have better community support at this point. (Solaris users feel free to correct me here). I have been using Ubuntu for over a year and I don't bother with a windows install anymore.

[redimp]

Thanks - I shall install ubuntu on one of my PC's tonight to see how it is.  I shall let you all know how I get on.  Thanks for all the advice I have received. :)

[Larkshall]

You may like to know:-
Open Office started out as Star Office by Star Division of Hamburg. Star Div. was bought out by Sun Microsystems who decided to give away Star Office V5.1 for free. It was updated to v5.2 (free), further updates were charged for. V7 included the .pdf facility. Star Office v7 eventually became Open Office v1, Open Office is now at V2.4 while Star Office is at v8.

Star Office and Open Office remain copyright of Sun Microsystems.

[dtw]

I've been using it for a few months now and it works brilliantly.

There's only one thing that I miss, CTRL-D to 'fill down' in 'calc'.

[Larkshall]

I've been using it for a few months now and it works brilliantly.

There's only one thing that I miss, CTRL-D to 'fill down' in 'calc'.

It is there, go to 'edit', 'fill' and you will see 'Ctrl/D'.
Any entry that you wish to fill down, type into the first cell, then highlight the cells you wish to fill and do 'ctrl/D' or you can type in the characters, ENTER, then click on the cell and drag down to fill down.

Hope this helps.

[dtw]

It only copied the beginning cell to the end cell, but didn't fill all the ones in between.