OpenOffice

OpenOffice.org is the powerhouse suite that is raising the ante in the battle for office space. Here's an overview of this product so that can judge whether it would work in your enterprise.

Even those IT managers who want to make the break from Microsoft to Linux can't find the strength to let go of Microsoft Office. They can't imagine something that could replace it. So they certainly can't imagine that there is a package out there that can not only replace Microsoft Office but can replace it to free.

What is OpenOffice?

The OpenOffice.org suite is a set of office tools similiar to those in microsoft Office. OpenOffice.org is based on Sun's StarOffice code but is nottied to the proprietary Sun aplication in any way. The suite consists of a word processor, spreadsheet application, presentation package, formula editor, drawing program, data charting application, HTML editor, and file filters that enable the importing and exporting of varios formats. Obiously, OpenOffice.org contains everything you'd expect in an office suite Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with the original StarOffice.

When StartOffice first came to be, it was Linux's only answer to the Microsoft suite. That was unfortunate because the application was clunky and slow, and had problems with many file formats. OpenOffice.org isnt weighted down with any of these issue. No longer is the suite an integrated desktop but a modular set of tools. Now if you want to open or create a spreadsheet, you only have to open the spreadsheet application. Needless to say, the original StarOffice left a rather bad impression on both Linux and non-Linux users. Since then, both StarOffice and OpenOffice.org have fought hard to break away from that sti.

One other area of major improvement is in file filters. The OpenOffice.org suite of tools has the ability to work with all the standard Microsoft Office document (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) without the addition of any third_party add-ons. This makes using OpenOffice.org office suit a much more viable option, since it can now easily interact with Microsoft's offering.

Now version OpenOffice is 3.0 with document standard ISO, ODF and OOXML (Open XML) to matching with Microsoft Office 2007.