Six Microsoft Office alternatives

OO is slow, bloated, and you have to download a 150MB file every time an update is released.
 
What about Corel Office? I still find it far easier and flexible to use than MO.

Must admit that having all my docs for 10 Years in Quattro and Wordperfect format, gives me little choice.

Still find WP far better than Word.
 
I find MSOffice 2007 has grown on me, and I quite like it now. I tried to change most employee's at my work to OO two years ago, and it fell flat. We were still using MSOffice 2003 then and the problem was mainly with Excel. I found things done in MSOffice didn't always appear like they had when converted to OO. We have too many people outside of our Business that communicate with us through MSOffice, so compatibility is important. I really don't have problems with MSOffice... just that I have to pay for it, that is really the only reason why I would choose an alternative. MSOffice 2007 just works, and does it well.
 
psichron said:
OO is slow, bloated, and you have to download a 150MB file every time an update is released.
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I agree that oOo is slow.... but the MS Office Updates are not much better than OpenOffice. There are several hundred megabytes of updates for office 2007 including two service packs.
 
I've been using Google Docs for a while now. It's pretty cool not to have to carry a flash drive everywhere I go:D
 
Moederloos said:
/me waits for the usual comments about why OO sucks because it does not have some obscure feature every MS office user never uses anyways
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If only it was this simple in real life. I am 100% for free/cheaper alternatives to MS Office, but the reality is nowhere that simple. Working for a company who has been trying to incorporate OO for the past 6 years - I can tell you from experience - it does not work.

Simple (not obscure) features such as bullets, paragraph formatting and drawing objects just never seem to agree between the two (or at least not for 80% of the cases).

We receive corporate and goverment tenders in MS format and try to reply to it using OO - it is just not happening. The OO office document just does not turn out the same as the MS document.

Yes, simple documents (letters/faxes etc) with the least amount of formatting features are fine.

The reality is this: it is not a resistance to OO or bias towards MS - MS just works and everybody in business uses MS (whether we like it or not). OO will not be a viable substitute to MS in the corporate environment any time soon.
 
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On a similar topic to cronjec, Microsoft gives Office to schools in the hope that when the students leave they will be so dependent on it that they have to buy it. It's kinda :twisted:
 
Kaufies said:
On a similar topic to cronjec, Microsoft gives Office to schools in the hope that when the students leave they will be so dependent on it that they have to buy it. It's kinda :twisted:
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That might be part of their reasoning, or they might actually be doing something to make a difference. I am not arguing the "big bad corporate" angle here. Just getting back to basics - does it or does it not work for me in my daily environment? Unfortunately - OO does not, no matter how free it is.
 
Johand said:
Try to do the following quick analysis in OpenOffice 3: Scenario we want to analyze expense accounts of sales people. Our data source consists of three columns Month, Person and Amount. We want a simple report that gives the person with the total amount (sum) as well as the % of total amount next to it. Err... it doesn't work because you can't have the same field more than once in the data area. Of course there are messy work-arounds, but if the pivot stops you from doing simple analysis like this I would rather pay the R400 odd bucks (effective) for Excel rather than waste people's time. [ The last version I have tested was OO 3.01 - this might have changed.]
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Your pricing is way out.... Office basic is R1700 DSP (OEM license...)

You are using a spreadsheet where you should be using a (proper) database (MySQL, Postgres, Oracle, MS SQL) and reporting tool (jasperReports, Crystal Reports, etc...)?
 
Very happy using open office, I see no need to use mega $$$ for MS office and have not used it for years. The majority of people out there do not even come close to utilizing the full potential of MS Office.
 
rogerwe said:
Well I'm still getting with Office 2007. It takes me 5 times longer to do anything because they've moved, hidden and replaced old menus. I had to scour the help file to find how to get the macro's menu back. You have to enable the developer toolbar ribbon!

Who knows how more obscure Office 2010 will be. I want to downgrade back to Office 2003.
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Did my ICDL in 2008. I highly recommend that all 2007 users do so - it was the only way I could figure out how to use it. :D :D :D
 
Kaufies said:
On a similar topic to cronjec, Microsoft gives Office to schools in the hope that when the students leave they will be so dependent on it that they have to buy it. It's kinda :twisted:
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You mean it's kinda like TIK?

I'm still using Office 2003. I tried 2007 - hate the 'ribbon'.
 
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