Office 2007 vs Java's Open Office?

[chicago]

Any opinions?

[n/a30]

I don't use major products such as an Office Suite from anyone other than Microsoft. The whole purpose of having a baseline standard is that everyone use it and be compatible with it.

For example: Word Perfect Office does the job too to some degree, but how many people really use it anymore?

[ozofprev]

You mean OpenOffice.org (Open Office was already trademarked.)

Opinion: Good stuff.

It's free. Runs natively (Not Javaid="blue">) on most operating systems, and reads/writes Office docs (prior to Office 2007).

Try it. It doesn't have as many features as Word, but most people don't use most of the features found in Word anyway.

[ozofprev]

Originally posted by SonOfSwamp

For EW work, I'm leaning toward using MS Publisher.

I used Publisher for making my brochures, but I'm interested in what makes it a tempting tool for EW work. ????

[Jim Baird]

The only trouble with Publisher is its inability to work with earlier or later Office suites.

I just had to do a report in Open Office for a client who only has MS Works. To email I had to convert to PDF, which Open Office does free. You have to buy a converter for Word.

I'm thinking of moving over to Open Office completely, as I'm told all the new computers coming out with Vista insatlled won't work with earlier versions of Office. Right now have Office XP, but looking for laptop and have hit the installed Vista quandary.

[hausdok]

Hmmm,

You know WJ, our sponsors just came out with a new program - Photo Drop - which is designed specifically for dropping photos into Word.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[ozofprev]

Thanks Walter - that makes sense. I wouldn't hesitate to try DevWave software - you might get the best of everything without leaving Word. Take a trip without leaving the farm, so to speak. Of course Publisher does offer that really cool Paper Folding option. Lawyers would like that I'll bet.

And just to touch on a couple of earlier posts here...

- OpenOffice.org (and yes, the dot org is part of the name) allows you to open, edit and save Word documents. So, using OpenOffice.org does not require leaving the Word-based world.

- Microsoft's pdf converter is a free download.

[dcmeagle]

We use OpenOffice exclusively to run our business. It opens almost anything you can throw at it, saves as most formats. The nicest feature is its ability to save directly to PDF. Plus you can't beat the price, free! You can always set the default save type to mimic all the MS Office types if you're worried.

Dominic Maricic

Home Inspector Pro

http://www.HomeInspectorPro.com

[ozofprev]

Dominic,

Which version - Windows, Linux, ...?

(If Linux, which one - Kubuntu, Red Hat...?)

So long as you're techy enough to get it all going, there is no reason an HI biz needs more than free software.

[Bob White]

I use the openoffice.org suit too.

I haven't had any problem accessing anyone else's MS docs, spreadsheets, etc.

I bought the cheaper MS OFFICE Suite (educational version for my homeschooler) and tried it for the sixty day free trial on my computer, but, alas, I'm too familiar with OpenOffice.org, and really enjoy the free updates/upgrades. I'v used it for almost four years now, and am quite comfortable with it.

I don't think I'll ever go back to MS Office. (Now if anyone would come up with a modern day version of the old PC WRITE, I'd go with that in a flash....)

[dcmeagle]

Originally posted by ozofprev

Dominic,

Which version - Windows, Linux, ...?

(If Linux, which one - Kubuntu, Red Hat...?)

So long as you're techy enough to get it all going, there is no reason an HI biz needs more than free software.

I'm running the Windows and Mac version. I still consult for the high school I went to and worked at for a long time and just helped them upgrade 200 computers to OpenOffice. We figured it will save them $25,000 every 3 years or so.

The only linux machines I have are CentOS (a version of Red Hat) and we use those as our web servers for our software. They don't actually have a GUI so we only use vi (super geeky text editor).

Al, actually Microsoft is the ANTI standard. Their file types are closed so only people with MS Office can open them. There's a world wide consortium that voted Open Office's format the open standard. Microsoft had proposed a version but got caught bribing at least one country so they ruined their chance.

The most interesting thing is that several states such as Massachusetts have converted ALL government offices, including schools to Open Office. Many other states such as California, Nevada and Texas have legislation about the issue being discussed now. It doesn't make sense to have government files as doc's if you need to spend a few hundred bucks to open them. Any software program can add code to open Open Office's files, not true with MS.

Dominic Maricic

Home Inspector Pro

http://www.HomeInspectorPro.com

[ozofprev]

Originally posted by dcmeagle

The only linux machines I have are CentOS (a version of Red Hat) and we use those as our web servers for our software. They don't actually have a GUI so we only use vi (super geeky text editor).

To know vi is to love vi! Any Unix hack knows that.

Since it's free, why don't you use Gnome or K?

id="maroon">

Al, actually Microsoft is the ANTI standard. Their file types are closed so only people with MS Office can open them. There's a world wide consortium that voted Open Office's format the open standard. Microsoft had proposed a version but got caught bribing at least one country so they ruined their chance.

Yeah, poooor ms.[:-yuck]

At least ms passed the OpenAjax interop tests[]

id="maroon">

The most interesting thing is that several states such as Massachusetts have converted ALL government offices, including schools to Open Office. Many other states such as California, Nevada and Texas have legislation about the issue being discussed now. It doesn't make sense to have government files as doc's if you need to spend a few hundred bucks to open them. Any software program can add code to open Open Office's files, not true with MS.

It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the colleges where ms basically gives away their software - thinking the students will want to continue using it in their business lives.

id="maroon">

[Chad Fabry]

The only language I can read or write is English. I thought Unix played the women in Shakespeare's plays and Linux was Lucy's brother.

I just downloaded the Open Office Suite and I'll let y'all know what a computer illiterate thinks of the program. That's the real test. If Chad can run it, anyone can run it.

On Microsoft...For I've sworn thee fair and thought thee bright,

Thou art as black as hell, as dark as night

[dcmeagle]

Hi Gary,

I don't use a GUI as I'm connecting over ssh. Most of the servers are in Texas at the saavis data center and we're here in California.

I have used Gnome quite a bit on a solaris machine but even on the one linux box we have here I just remote in. I don't usually have a monitor hooked up to it, it's great how stable they are!

I agree about the colleges. I know college in other countries are using OpenOffice, but I'm not sure about here in the U.S.

Chad,

Good luck! If you have any problems post them here. I'd be happy to help you out.

Dominic

[ozofprev]

Originally posted by dcmeagle

Hi Gary,

I don't use a GUI as I'm connecting over ssh. Most of the servers are in Texas at the saavis data center and we're here in California.

Cool, I used to bop around the country teaching C++ on Unix. I gave a presentation on C++/OOP at the '91 Int'l Unix Developers' Conference in Hollywood, CA. I learned C++ from Bjarne Stroustrup and Andy Koenig back in '88. (I'm so old.)[:-weepn]id="blue">

[dcmeagle]

Awesome! Yes, definitely older than me, but not you're not too old I graduated with a Bachelors in Computer Science in 2001. I taught a few years of Java at a high school and ran their network. I started writing inspection software in early 2004 when a franchise here in southern California came and asked me to develop a custom program for them. After finishing up what they wanted I started making it more applicable to all inspectors in the U.S. and other countries (we have inspectors using our program in 5 countries now). There's now 4 of us working on it (2 programmers) now. I'd like to think we're on the right track and have some unique features but we definitely have some things to work on. Our 'to-do' list is several pages long!

How did you end up doing home inspections?

[ozofprev]

Originally posted by dcmeagle

How did you end up doing home inspections?

While at Auburn Univ. I received a BS in building science and a BS in computer science and a major in math.

I wanted to work in construction, but as a young whipped lad, the wife wanted to live in NY, but all of my construction offers were in the south ('81 was a tough time in construction due to interest rates.)

So I went to work at McDonnell Douglas working on F18 flight simulators. Then, to make the wife really happy, we moved to NY where I was a systems programmer for IBM.

After the divorce,[:-party] I followed my kids to Rochester, where I worked for Kodak (artificial intelligence - LISP; and later CPP and OOP). When Microsoft began to take over, I grew tired of software being dictated by a corporation instead of good engineering. To escape that, I began programming embedded systems.

As SW engineering director of a small company, I designed and implemented a family of wastewater monitoring instrumentation. The small company was sold to a large corporation (Danaher) and I retired.

Like you said, I'm not that old. Home inspection interested me, so I started an HI biz. I met the best in the industry through this forum and ASHI. I soon discovered many of the leaders do a fair amount of expert witness work. The potential of some unfair legal action, combined with my retirement account, scared me out of the biz. Still, I like the people on this forum. So now I golf, read, and participate here. I am still consulting and programming for fun (yes, it can be fun).

You are wise to be working with a small group. Some fatherly advice - always make sure your financial benefits are commensurate with your contribution in the event that the company goes public or is sold.

[dcmeagle]

Wow! You've definitely been busy but it sounds like your have fun now. Playing golf, reading and doing some part time consulting sounds great to me.

Thanks for the advice. I definitely like working in a small group. You have a lot more control and freedom then you do working for a large corporation.