OpenOffice.org 2.0 Released
Yesterday on NeoWin, I read that OO.o 2.0 had been leaked, supposedly prematurely. Today, it appears to be true and there are links to download it (ftp, BitTorrent and ISO). This one phrase intrigues and excites me about the potential for deployment in our churches:
Easy to use and fluidly interoperable with every major office suite, OpenOffice.org 2.0 realises the potential of open source.
I'll be downloading it to see if it's a viable replacement for MS Office.
posted by Stuart Cowen @ 9:22 AM
3 Comments:
Our church uses MS Publisher extensively. I know there are better page layout programs (I use InDesign) but for the cost and learning curve, we can't beat MS Publisher. We just finally upgraded to Office 2003 for everybody (plus I got 2004 for my mac) through Consistent Computer Bargains. You have to be 501c3, but we paid $35 for the media (one copy per program, not per license) and $69 per liscence for 2003 pro. Just publisher would cost us more than that, and we have it all in one suite. I have OpenOffice in the past, but unless they have added page layout, we will have to stick with MS.
I've played with it and it's fine for basic office stuff or home use (I have it on all my home PC's). However, I haven't found any real benefit in using it over Office2k3 presently. In fact there are some things I haven't figured out how to do in OO.o that I can easily do in MS Office.
Given the fact that the majority of businesses you'll work with use MS Office and it's inexpensive price for non-profits (~$65), I see no reason to switch. Exchange integration is another huge piece if you take advantage of it.
I'm excited to upgrade to MS Office12 when it's out...the new interface looks like it will greatly improve usability.
So OO.o is great for home, but stick to MS Office at work.
YMMV,
Jason
Open office sounds pretty good, but I did find an interesting article on it here:
http://slashdot.org/articles/05/10/27/1425232.shtml?tid=185
I'd love to know what your thoughts are
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