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Alternatives to Microsoft
OpenOffice.org (OOo) is a full featured suite of programs that is a free alternative to the $300+ Microsoft Office. I have covered OOo before but they have just released a new version. 3.0 and it appears to be a significant improvement over the previous release. For this reason it calls for a repeat visit. As a brief review, OOo has applications for the following: word processing, spread sheets, presentations, data base management, and drawing.
You can go to http://www.openoffice.org/ and download a copy or you may be able to find a copy of the magazine called Linux Identity Office which comes with a copy of OOo on DVD. On the cover of the magazine, in 90 point type, are the words: OpenOffice.org 3.0, and the price of the magazine is $14.99. Two advantages of getting the magazine: There are some brief tutorials on a few of the features of OOo, and there are several extensions to OOo included on the DVD.
It is the extensions that give OOo the boost that puts it on a par with or, in some cases, surpass Microsoft Office. Extensions are add-ons for the individual applications in OOo. As an example, I am writing this using OOo's Writer which is a replacement for Word. I also added one of the extensions that came on the DVD called Writer's Tools. Writer's Tools adds a new menu item called (big surprise) Writer's Tools. These tools include 20 new features. For example, I wish to describe this package as "deserving of honor and esteem." In the back of my mind I am thinking the word is “meretricious” but I am not sure so I click on Writer's Tools, Lookup Tool and I find (gasp) that I could not be more wrong in my choice of words. (I must organize that closet in the back of my mind.)
Writer's Tools is mostly a link to the tools available on the Web, such as Wikipedia, Cambridge Dictionaries, Google Define, etc. Writer's Tools was written by Dmitri Popov and made available without charge to OOo users. BUT it is a complex application and in order to take full advantage of it, you need to buy the manual. Lulu Press sells a downloaded manual for $8.75 and a hard copy for $9.15 plus shipping. Shipping ranges from $4.90 to $101.07. For $101.07 you will have the book on your front porch the next morning. As a limited time offer, give me the 101.07 and not only will it be on your front porch the next morning, but I will be there too and I will read it to you.
OpenOffice.org is the son of a program called “Star Office.” Star Office started life in Germany in 1984. It was bought by Sun Microsystems in 1999. OpenOffice.org was made available at the end of 2000. Star Office version 9 is available but it is not free. I have used these products since around 1993 and I can say that it has grown into something that I can recommend to the non-nerd user. When I searched for OpenOffice.org at Amazon.com I found 745 books on the subject, so OOo appears to be well documented. Many government agencies around the world have mandated the use of OOo. I can also say without fear of contradiction, it is worth every cent you (don't) pay for it.
Bottom line: If you currently use Microsoft Office, don't scrap it. If you are thinking of buying Microsoft Office, try OOo first. OOo is definitely meritorious (I think I got the right word this time).
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COMPUTER I 4/7 – 4/8 – 4/9 9:00 – 11:00 am
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Activities at Elfers
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