Open Office?

[feicarsinn]

Hey guys,

Basically I'm in desperate need of a new word processor. I don't really want to shell out whatever ridiculous fee Microsoft are asking for these days so I'm just wondering, is Open Office any good?

It obviously has the advantage of being free (very good for a cash strapped student) but I don't really want to spend the next few months mucking about with a piece of crap word processor. The Excel programme and all that jazz is pretty important to.

Anyone have any feedback? Has anyone on here used it before? If can you tell me how it compares to its commercial counterparts?

 

[Bullitt]

Well, it's free for a start and must be better then notepad, so make from that what you will.

MS Office is the industry standard, but most should make their files MS compatible and vice versa for use on university PCs.

Look at these lot:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/...office-software

 

[kaftka]

OpenOffice is sweet. Does everything you (read: I) need it to do...

Haven't really used the spreadsheet as I don't really need it, so can't comment on it, but the word processor is very good. In terms of usability, Word is a bit easier and more straightforward, but you'd probably expect that... Mind you, I haven't used MS for a long time now as I too am a sucker for free, opensource whoja-majabs (it's a word. Look it up)

But hey, that's an excellent point... It's free. Just download it and have a play.

 

[dullonien]

I've heard very good things about OpenOffice, so give it a go. If you don't like it, you can download the beta for Microsoft Office 2010 for free which should last a while. Also, talk to your uni/college/school, they can often give you a copy of Office for free (as it's an essential piece of software).