OpenOffice.Org poll

[philthygeezer]

How much, if at all, do you use this Office Suite? IMO it gets better with every release.

[misterhinkydink]

I use it exclusively. Right now I have six speadsheets and two text documents open with it. This site uses and supports both OO and MS products. As far as I know we've had no incompatibility issues with either of the two.

[Jazz Ad]

I only use Open Office when I'm home.

I'm not gonna pay for M$ Office, it wouldn't make sense given how little I use it.

[Renfield]

 

I only use Open Office when I'm home. I'm not gonna pay for M$ Office, it wouldn't make sense given how little I use it.

 

 

This.

 

Work buys me pretty much whatever software I say I need, so I have the full MS suite. At home I'm running Open Office.

[James Hart]

I don't have it installed and don't plan to... I've used it in the past, but it was never quite right IMHO.

 

I don't pay for my MS stuff, I have friends that subscribe to MS Technet so I get the latest and greatest legit and free.

 

If I had to pay for MS, I'd be using Open Office.

[82Daion]

I use it, but I don't have it installed on my new laptop yet. It's fine for typing up a paper or something, but I always end up going to the library (where MS Office is installed on all of the computers) to do anything more involved. I've had issues from day 1 with formatting transferring properly from OO.org to Word or whatever, and I always find myself searching through drop-downs to accomplish something that would have been a 5-second task in Office, if I can find what I need at all.

 

So I guess I'm not a big fan.

[King Kashue]

I always find myself searching through drop-downs to accomplish something that would have been a 5-second task in Office, if I can find what I need at all.

 

Have you used Office 7 yet? Exact opposite...{censored}ing tabs. (Not that I can think of anything that involved with OOo though).

 

 

I haven't purchased MS Office since it wouldn't install on my first XP box and all MS could say was "It's a known issue"...

 

I've got office 7 on my work laptop, but I only use it when someone sends me a doc file or when I need to make a powerpoint for classroom use (and the classroom doesn't have OOo).

 

 

Otherwise, it's Open Office all the way.

[82Daion]

Have you used Office 7 yet? Exact opposite...{censored}ing tabs. (Not that I can think of anything that involved with OOo though). I haven't purchased MS Office since it wouldn't install on my first XP box and all MS could say was "It's a known issue"... I've got office 7 on my work laptop, but I only use it when someone sends me a doc file or when I need to make a powerpoint for classroom use (and the classroom doesn't have OOo). Otherwise, it's Open Office all the way.

 

I find the tabs intuitive, but then again, I never used Office at length before 2007, and I had to take a class that dealt with it last summer, so maybe it's just due to familiarity.

 

I think the incident that really turned me off to OOo was a case in which a professor of mine gave us an assignment in Powerpoint (which was stupid enough), and I couldn't get rid of the theming or change the text color in OOo Impress, no matter how many things I tried from the built-in help dialogues or from online. I ended up having to use a library computer in order to finish the work, and had to turn it in late as a result.

[Thunderbroom]

I have OO installed but really don't use it as I get a deep discount on MS Office from work. I have used OO in the past but found, like Chris, that the formatting doesn't always transfer between OO and MSO. My professors use MSO and therefore I do too for assignments.

[philthygeezer]

I should weigh in. I find that the MS products are often more sophisticated and use them much of the time for heavier spreadsheet and database lifting. However, OOO does some things that MSO can't, like LaTeX table exports and using Draw for quick and dirty SVG figures. I don't tend to use either Word or Write, as LaTeX is better.

[philthygeezer]

T-Broom: is that your Bongo?

[King Kashue]

 

I have OO installed but really don't use it as I get a deep discount on MS Office from work. I have used OO in the past but found, like Chris, that the formatting doesn't always transfer between OO and MSO. My professors use MSO and therefore I do too for assignments.

 

 

Do your profs need to edit the files you send them? Personally, I always send things as pdfs. The formatting is set and it looks more neat (and thus, imo, more professional) when read on the screen.

[philthygeezer]

 

Do your profs need to edit the files you send them? Personally, I always send things as pdfs. The formatting is set and it looks more neat (and thus, imo, more professional) when read on the screen.

 

 

This is where LaTeX excels. Figures can be inserted as postscript PDF from SVG drawings, and it will append or insert PDF docs with a one-line command. Text formatting is better and layout is consummately professional. Output can be simple PDF or a sophisticated PDF with cross-referenced hyperlinks and a table of contents.

 

 

% This is a small sample LaTeX input file (Version of 10 April 1994) % % Use this file as a model for making your own LaTeX input file. % Everything to the right of a % is a remark to you and is ignored by LaTeX. % The Local Guide tells how to run LaTeX. % WARNING! Do not type any of the following 10 characters except as directed: % & $ # % _ { } ^ ~ documentclass{article} % Your input file must contain these two lines egin{document} % plus the end{document} command at the end. usepackage{graphicx} section{Simple Text} % This command makes a section title. Words are separated by one or more spaces. Paragraphs are separated by one or more blank lines. The output is not affected by adding extra spaces or extra blank lines to the input file. Double quotes are typed like this: ``quoted text''. Single quotes are typed like this: `single-quoted text'. Long dashes are typed as three dash characters---like this. Emphasized text is typed like this: emph{this is emphasized}. Bold text is typed like this: extbf{this is bold}. subsection{A Warning or Two} % This command makes a subsection title. If you get too much space after a mid-sentence period---abbreviations like etc. are the common culprits)---then type a backslash followed by a space after the period, as in this sentence. includegraphics[width=5.5in]{Figure.pdf} %puts the PDF in and resizes it. Remember, don't type the 10 special characters (such as dollar sign and backslash) except as directed! The following seven are printed by typing a backslash in front of them: $ & # % _ { and }. The manual tells how to make other symbols. end{document} % The input file ends with this command.

Simple structure, and you can make your document in NotePad++, or Winshell, or TeXmaker or any other myriad free programs. I recommend using TeXmaker and Winshell. TeXmaker is the best for starters. Install MikTeX engine first.

 

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Absolute_Beginners

 

Elsevier accepts submissions in LaTeX and provides their own class and style files: http://www.elsevier.com/framework_authors/misc/elsdoc.pdf

[lokidecat]

Not a fan of OpenOffice at all. For some reason it always throws a fit when I do non-standard formatting.

 

One instance it wouldn't save my margins.. I'd set them to the .75 left/right and .50 top/bottom and it simply wouldn't do it.

 

/shrug/ who knows. It's better than GoogleDocs, which I use for back-up if none of them work.

[Kindness]

As I've said before, I've installed and tried it, but it is always short lived as it doesn't sync with my other professional programs.

[HackedByChinese!]

I use the real deal.

[oldivor]

I use the real deal.

 

Heh, nice joke.

[HackedByChinese!]

 

Heh, nice joke.

 

 

Free != superior.

[oldivor]

 

Free != superior.

 

 

Yup. I like it better for other reasons. Feel free to use whatever you desire though.

[King Kashue]

Free != superior.

 

And neither does 'not free'.

 

 

For a long while, Microsoft's office suite didn't install on their flagship OS, and they didn't know why. They were years late on XML and then trumpeted it as if they thought it up (and they still don't do it as well). They didn't make a major innovation for a decade, and when they finally did, it was of dubious utility.

 

If that's what's "real", I'll take the fake...

[HackedByChinese!]

In what instance did Office have issues installing on Windows? Was that isolated to your PC or a broader issue that I'm not aware of?

 

I use Office '07 because it's familiar, I know that the files it outputs will work as expected for anyone that needs to read them, and I was able to get it cheap. I would probably use OpenOffice if forced, but I'm not willing to tolerate a software suite that gets things only partially right when its output is being used in a heterogeneous environment, as others have noted.

[King Kashue]

I haven't purchased MS Office since it wouldn't install on my first XP box and all MS could say was "It's a known issue"...

 

All the knowledge base or MS customer service could say was "it is a known issue". They never were able to fix it for me (or for any of the other folks who had the issue).

[birdboy7007]

I'm sure I could get used to Open Office, but in the few times that I need a suite at home, its easier to just fire up MO and use what I know. The big thing for me is Excel - I have been using it for so long, I just end up getting really frustrated when I have to look up a different way of doing things in another program. I know the limitations of Excel, and how to make it do what I want, so its great. As for presentations, Power Point is just too standard for me to want to try anything else.

 

At work, most people still use Word Perfect but we're getting away from it finally.

[absintheXIII]

We only ever use OO at home. Personally, I hate it.

 

 

Then again, I don't like Word either.

[Thunderbroom]

 

Do your profs need to edit the files you send them? Personally, I always send things as pdfs. The formatting is set and it looks more neat (and thus, imo, more professional) when read on the screen.

 

 

Edit? Not necessarily, but they do use the comments feature to suggest changes or seek clarification. On occasion they have edited.