Windows 7: OpenOffice 3.2 Released

OpenOffice 3.2 is available for download.

download: OpenOffice.org Downloads

Jim

Thanks Jim for the information about the latest release.
Question.
How do you compare it to other Office suites?
Is the size smaller than MSOffice?
Can you select which parts you want during install?
I only use work and excel normally.
Let us know what you like about OpenOffice 3.2 other than being FREE.

I've been using OpenOffice at home for quite some time and have been quite happy with it.

The download of 3.2 for Windows is 149MB in size. So, considerably smaller than Microsoft Office.

You can select which parts to install during the installer. The parts include Writer (word processor...think Word), Calc (spreadsheet...think Excel), Impress (slideshows...think powerpoint), Draw (simple drawings to flowcharts...not sure if MS has something like this in any version of office) and Base (database system...think Access).

The 1 component that Open Office doesn't have as an email client like Outlook.


I don't know how you can discount the fact that it is free as a selling point. The reason that I use it at home is that I have to open occasional Word and Excel files, and Open Office can do this...without me having to invest the $$'s into Microsoft Office. To me, it's all about cost. And I'd much rather use Open Office and support this product than resort to pirating Microsoft Office.

I'm sure there is additional functionality that MS Office has...but whether or not these features are needed by the average home user is another question. If so, buy MS Office. If not, try Open Office. You don't have much to lose other than a little bit of time. If Microsoft Office was free to use...that is what I would use as it would be 100% exactly the same as what I use at work...but since it's not free...Open Office is a great alternative.

I only use it occasionally if some one sends me a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document which is not often. I do use it to print envelopes and labels on occasion. I also track my bills with a spreadsheet and use that the most. I have an old copy of Office 97 that does run on Win 7 but OpenOffice can handle the new Office formats. Ver 3.2 is suppose to be faster and it does seem to load quicker. Works fine for my limited use.

Jim

Still looking pretty basic and pretty bad.

MS Office 2007 Standard comes with Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. It's full featured and has a nice smooth interface.

OOo has its equivalent of excel, word, powerpoint and access as well. Though I do admit its lacking an email client.

I would assume from "basic" that you mean that it lacks the ribbon interface that Microsoft released with the 2007 Office products.

From a functionality standpoint, OO comes with an excel, word and powerpoint equivalent. Not too mention, it also has Draw, Math and Base.

As noted, it doesn't offer an email client like Outlook. Of course, many people use alternative free products for this functionality.

Is it exactly the same as Microsoft Office 2007? No.

But since you mention Outlook, a copy of Microsoft Office 2007 which includes outlook is $419.00 on sale at NewEgg
Newegg.com - Microsoft Office Professional 2007 - Business & Finance

And if you have already spent the hundreds of dollars in the past for Office, then you qualify for the $267 sale priced upgrade
Newegg.com - Microsoft Office Professional 2007 Version Upgrade - Business & Finance

To me....OO doesn't look so bad comparing apples to apples.

Besides the ribbon interface, which makes things easier to use for even non-Office enthusiasts, it lacks the ability to write .docx, .xlsx and .pptx files. It can read them but not write.

Free alternative e-mail clients do not come close to the functionality of MS Outlook 2007. Thunderbird isn't anywhere near close.

You don't need Office Professional 2007 unless you need Access 2007, which most people will never need.

Office Standard 2007 can be had *legally* as cheap as $180 depending on where you look. Buy.com has it at that price and is reputable. So no need to depend on a single online e-tailer resource for prices on everything.

OpenOffice is a *good* free alternative but doesn't come close to the real thing. OpenOffice also requires JRE, which can be extremely resource intensive on computers.

I like writer in OO, easy to use for basic documents. Perhaps someone that has tried to use OO in a small business environment could chime in. One thing Word has over Writer is how freindly it seems to be with 7's speech / dictation.