Open office or Office 2003?

mutley74

on my new laptop (win 7) i need to use some software for word and excel documents. I have heard that open office is free and can be use with MS documents. Or i have an old (back up version) of MS office 2003.


I have not used Open office so any reviews welcome, especially if its possible to edit and work with doc and xls documents.

bengalknights

i would use open office unless you already have a genuine ms office license that can be transferred across

ahillsy

Haven't used Open Office myself but yes, it is free and can be used with MS documents. Quote from here:

...many people already have documents which they have created using other common office software packages. OpenOffice.org 3 can read these files with a very high degree of accuracy, making migration to OpenOffice.org 3 very straightforward. In fact, we have reports where OpenOffice.org 3 has been able to read files which the original software package had said were corrupted and unusable. If your friends or colleagues use different software, you can still swap files with them...

I really just wanted to add another alternative: Google Docs which gets the thumbs up from me. Also free, no need to download any software, just need to sign up for a Google account. Accepts formats like: DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT.

The_Mighty_Gusset

I'm still using MS Office 2003 - I see no reason to upgrade - there is a patch available if anyone sends you a document written on a newer version that you can't read..
I've used OpenOffice in the past - it's slightly different to use, but not too complicated, and it's compatability with MS products gets better and better.
Google Docs also gets a thumbs up - it works very well.
So the answer to your question is:
Use whichever you feel most comfortable with - just don't bother spending money on anything new.

patman99

I use Openoffice, and have yet to find any MS Office document of templ;ate that won't load. Many Govt.s are now using Oo, and so is one of the largest multi-national Law firms in the world (although in thier case, I feel it has more to do with being able to run it on different o/s's).

The best advice I can give is to give it a go. If you find it isn't to your liking, then you can always remove it, after all, it costs nothing to obtain.

Bikertov

Simple choice really ...

M$ Office = ££££
Open Office = £0

Snakeeyes21

Bikertov wrote: »

M$ Office = ££££

Not always

GunJack

MS Office, especially if you've got to use docs/ssheets/etc. from many different sources..

[Deleted User]

Bikertov wrote: »

Simple choice really ...

M$ Office = ££££
Open Office = £0

You get what you pay for. OpenOffice is fine for certain types of users, but it certainly isn't as feature complete and therefore a total replacement for Microsoft Office.

Horses for courses..

kabayiri

Go legit, is all I would say.

There is really no excuse nowadays for using dubious copies of software, when there are free alternatives.

Try Open Office for a day with all the functions you normally use. You will soon know if it's not up to the task.

Bikertov

anewhope wrote: »

You get what you pay for. OpenOffice is fine for certain types of users, but it certainly isn't as feature complete and therefore a total replacement for Microsoft Office.

Horses for courses..

While that is true to an extent, and in a lot of cases, it is not always so with software.

There is a LOT of GREAT free (Open Source) software around, that is better than paid-for.

Look at Linux, and all the variants - it pratically runs the internet, and is 'free' (Open Source)

Ditto for Asterix (a telephone system product)

Then there is Audacity (Audio editing), VLC (AV playback), WinAmp (AV playback), IrfanView (image display/edit) ... I could go on

And if you are honest, 90% of people use only 10% of a software packages features.

When was the last time you used any of the advanced feature of MS Word or Excel - OK, even the intermediate ones ? Do you even use style sheets properly, or formulas / names / pivot tables ? Pivot WHATS ??

See what I mean ?