illJazz
Premium
join:2002-09-04
switzerland
| Microsoft Word 2003 vs. OpenOffice Writer
For those who've tried OO's Writer, what do you think of it so far? And how do you think it compares to MS' Word 2003?
I'm seeing a lot of things I like in OpenOffice's Writer, but when using it, I do feel some rough edges, such as the inability to set a default date-format with the function Insert > Date. Also.. it seems I have to do Insert > Field > Date.. why does it go over FIELD first.. in Word, it's just Insert > Date & Time. Makes more sense.
Then.. I just got a Word document to edit from a friend, and since I know that he does not have OpenOffice installed, I wanted to save the document in the format I had received it, as an MS Word document. Guess what.. I couldn't.. I kept getting error messages and it just couldn't pull it off.
OO's Writer also behaves a little oddly when working with bulleted/numbered lists.. maybe the behavior is intentional, but I found it odd. When I take notes during a lecture, I use the outline format in MS Word. I start out with numbers, I., II., III., etc. Then comes a subsection which is indented with one indent, using basic numbers 1., 2., 3., etc. If I have to indent yet again I use either bullets or letters such as a), b), c), etc.. well, MS Word makes these changes automatically. In other words, when I hit indent to get on the next sublevel on the outline tree, it'll change the list symbol accordingly. OpenOffice's Writer does not. It just stays with whatever you currently have.. if you're using numbers in the I, II format.. it's gonna use just that on the next indented sublevel. Is that odd, or is that just me?
That's about it as far as my current observations go.. overall, Writer is coming dangerously close to becoming a serious rival to MS Word, but it's still too rough around the edges to kick MS Word off of its throne. It'll be a rough way there.
What are your thoughts on this? |
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gate1975mlm
Premium
join:2001-09-30
Philadelphia, PA
2 edits | I am not sure about OpenOffice but I use AbiWord »www.abisource.com/
I think its just as good as Word 2003 and FREE! |
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McSummation
Mmmm, Zeebas Are Tastee.
Premium,MVM
join:2003-08-13
Round Rock, TX | reply to illJazz
When OO wouldn't print an envelope properly on my HP printer, I threw it away. |
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Rexter
YeeHaw
join:2002-11-17
cloud 9
| reply to illJazz
Just to qualify by statement. I'm not a real power user, when it comes to word processors. I just use them for basic stuff. I dumped Office 2000 for Ooo. It works just as well for me, and I like things that are multi-platform.
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When all is said, and done, there will be more said than done. |
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RangerTX7
R.I.P. beloved Trooper dog
Premium
join:2004-01-29
Austin, TX
| reply to McSummation
said by McSummation  :When OO wouldn't print an envelope properly on my HP printer, I threw it away. Just as an aside...nothing prints an envelope correctly on my HP printer, I always have to send envelopes to another printer on the network  ...even if you have success under Word (for instance) I have a feeling this has more to do with HP's software, which never gets any updates. At least my printer doesn't; then again, it's a whole year old I haven't tried OpenOffice myself, but a few people I know who have really like it. |
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illJazz
Premium
join:2002-09-04
switzerland
| reply to illJazz
Abiword! I completely forgot about that.. will install right away 
The difference is that OpenOffice is an entire suite of tools, while Abiword is just a Word Processor, right? But yeah, we ARE comparing word processors only in this thread. Thanks a lot |
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gate1975mlm
Premium
join:2001-09-30
Philadelphia, PA
| said by illJazz :Abiword! I completely forgot about that.. will install right away The difference is that OpenOffice is an entire suite of tools, while Abiword is just a Word Processor, right? But yeah, we ARE comparing word processors only in this thread. Thanks a lot yep that is right!  |
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fegul
Premium
join:2004-08-23
united state
| reply to illJazz
I think OO still has some rough edges, and since I got Office '03 for a very good deal (not pirated ) I think I'll stick with it.
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Rexter
YeeHaw
join:2002-11-17
cloud 9 | I'll run right out and buy Office 2003, the day they compile a native Linux version. Bwahahaha.
Well hey, stranger things have happened!
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When all is said, and done, there will be more said than done. |
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illJazz
Premium
join:2002-09-04
switzerland | reply to illJazz
That's a thing that won't ever happen though |
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jpg366
join:2004-04-09
Humble, TX | reply to illJazz
Don't both packages support RTF files? Fonts are the most likely mismatch, although there are some pretty close clones in the open systems world. |
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