Microsoft Office 2007 versus Everybody - Part II: OpenOffice.org

My first look at OpenOffice.org was back in 2001, months after its first beta version. I wanted to see what the buzz was all about, and find out if there really is a free office suite comparable to Microsoft Office.  I installed it on my PC. Honestly, I was quite impressed with what I saw. It was easy to use, and I was able to create all of my day-to-day documents in OpenOffice just as proficiently as I did in Microsoft Office, including spreadsheets.

However, after about two weeks, I began to grow tired of reformatting every other document I created in Microsoft Office just so I could use it in OpenOffice - particularly any documents with tables and borders in it. I learned early not to even bother opening any complex documents in it.  But most of all, I missed the little things that I had grown accustomed to in Microsoft Office and had enough of continuing to learn where things were.

Truly, absence made my heart grow fonder of Microsoft Office; even though I liked what OpenOffice had to offer, the decision for me was clear.  I uninstalled it from my PC. But that doesn't make OpenOffice a loser in my book. I definitely see this office suite appealing to those that like "open source" applications (where you can "look under the hood" as they say). Certainly, any organization looking to save money should definitely give OpenOffice a strong look - it is FREE after all. And if you're someone who uses about 5% of the features in Microsoft Office, you'll find OpenOffice offers the exact same stuff.

As for me, "open source" applications aren't really that appealing to me, as long as it works. I know there are arguments both ways whether or not Microsoft Office (or any Microsoft software) does; there are bugs in OpenOffice, too, and being able to look at the code doesn't make it any better in my mind. Whether you like them or not, the truth is that Microsoft Office is a great office suite; and personally, I think it's the best and is worth the cost to have the advanced features that it offers. And Microsoft Office 2007 will continue that trend (which I will discuss in a future post).

I will say that I take great satisfaction in being able to bring a floppy of Word documents over to the computer at my church, that has no Internet connection, and to be able to edit and print them from there ... yes, using OpenOffice. No matter what you like, I think that's worth saluting; and I hope OpenOffice stays around for a long time.