Slashdot Mirror
Open Office - What's the Downside?
cclangi asks: "I'm a current Microsoft Office user, and I run a small business as a consultant (mining). I've read about Open Office and all the good things about it, but what about the downside? As a small business owner and semi-literate in things computer-ese (as a user, not as a developer or administrator), what support limitations are there for Open Office. I'm particularly interested in/concerned with compatibility of software for reports, spreadsheets and database apps that I might need to send to/receive from clients. As I've said, I've read the good stuff, and 'how easy it is', but what are things I need to be aware of before considering switching completely to Open Office? Comments and experiences would be welcomed." A couple of months ago, OpenOffice advocates had space to sound of on the reasons to switch to OpenOffice. Now, it only seems fair to give the dissenters a place to voice their own reasons. What are the reasons keeping you away from OpenOffice and on your current office suite?
It's Microsoft Office compatability isn't perfect, and the other companies I work with send documents created with MS Office.
You use /CLIP ART/ on a fax header page?
There is absolutely NO reason to use ANY clip art on any sort of business paperwork. Just a company logo, somewhere out of the way. Anything else just makes the document look unprofessional, or worse, trashy.
Paperwork is not the time to show off the skills you learned in third grade art and drawing class. Fax headers are not a collage. For God's sake, keep them neat and uncluttered so I can figure out why you are faxing me.
Shiny. Let's be bad guys.
i made the switch over 2 years ago and i have to say... i have not found a single drawback. the java thing as a dependency is about the only thing i can think. i made the switch to linux permanently on the desktop (kubuntu) from winxp and i noticed that ooo wasn't that slow on windows (on a relatively older pc [2004]) and i've found that it is MEGA fast on linux. it loads up way faster than m$ office on windows or even, as i said before, ooo on windows. i have only once or twice ran into m$ --> ooo incompatibility afa formatting is concerned. i'm not trying to sound like an ooo fanboy, but i can't think of anything negative in regards to ooo.
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/ Ron Paul for President 2008 http://www.infowars.com/
Other then a long launch time, I have no problems on NeoOffice. Instead of useless 'it sucks' why not say what you have a problem with.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
Exactly the issue I was going to bring up. When graphing data, it has difficulty/it is impossible to display the equation of a line of best fit, place several sets of data on the same graph, etc.
It's not like it costs anything, or you have to uninstall MS Office to install OpenOffice or some other nonsense.
Download it, keep MS Office around for awhile as a backup, and start using OpenOffice. Try using it exclusively for a week, or month, or however long until you feel comfortable that it can do all you need it to do. Them, and only then, should you give MS the boot.
It would be absolutely retarded from a business perspective to proceed any other way - based on anyones advice, no matter how much of an "expert" they claim to be. Just try for yourself - if it fits your needs, great. If it doesn't, you still have MS Office installed, so there is no risk of it hurting your business.
No one knows your business better than you do. Maybe you have special needs OpenOffice can't meet. Maybe you don't. You won't know until you try it out.
Like most so-called Linux evangelists, you're not listening. He wants to use clip art and templates. He wants to do exactly what he does with Word. He wants to use Open Office. If Linux wants to convert people to their OS, then FIX IT!
No, people who insist on "100% has to look the exact same including all the bugs" are being silly. Who cares if your 99-page document takes 98 (or 100) pages in OO? The world would be a better place if most people were forced to use a plain-text editor for a while. It would stop people wasting time doing things like adjusting their margins, font sizes, and line spacing so that they hit the 10 pages required for their homework assignment, for one. Or subjecting people to ridiculous popwerpoint presentations and excel spreadsheets trying to polish a turd of an idea.
Of course, that would require the average person to be more literate, as well as less susceptible to OST syndrome - "oh - shiny thingee!" ... like that's going to happen ...
The Java runtime has to load also
Wait, this is still true? I thought that OO.org hasn't been Java-based since before v1.1.
+++ATH0
I must admit I have taken a liking to Microsoft Office's ribbon UI.Which costs 269.99 USD more.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
- No page breaks, just a bunch of CRs to got the next page
- Not setting the headers under the appropriate header style and then just customizing that... Instead they manually change the font, make it bigger, add bold, underline and type it in caps.
- Don't let the application word-wrap, instead they hit enter when they get to the end of the line.
- Just do something with some elements todo something like tables, but when you look at the document, they some how made it a picture...
Do I think they can do the same crap on OpenOffice? Yes.Will they have a issue at first? Yes, because OOo Writer doesn't look and behave exactly like Microsoft Word.
Will they complain they don't like it? Probably, because it's different and they prefer the behavior they know.I have to acknowledge the UI and behaviour of Microsoft Office is certainly superior to other office suits.
However, that said -- I am not very impressed with the compatability Microsoft Office has with it's own documents between different computers and different versions of Office.
I also find it a little obscure that people complain so loudly about slight formatting issues and things that occur on OpenOffice with documents from Microsoft Office when Microsoft Office itself can't get it right.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
Statistics and spreadsheet usage are sufficiently different that even if you are familiar with Excel or Calc as spreadsheets, that in itself doesn't yield familiarity with the statistical functions. R is not that different from other programs for doing statistics and scientific graphics, so if people have any sort of background in those areas, they shouldn't need to learn a lot to use R. Are intro stat courses using Excel? I find that hard to believe given the criticism I've heard of Excel from statisticians.
You and I and everyone else knows that 99% of what a business uses office for is not time critical tasks. It is opening .doc files attached to emails, commenting on a report, viewing a chart, adding 1-2 cells to a spreadsheet. The amount of time you design some giant new report or huge Excel 10 workbook large spreadsheet is minimal - you do those things maybe once, twice a month.
Unless you are a total invalid who does not deserve to be a manager in the first place, you should be able to judge form the first few minutes of trying if this "task" is going to be too hard to accomplish under OpenOffice given it's time constraints. If you have a report due tomorrow, have nothing done, and don't have time to screw around with OO.org writer - then do it in Word. Whose stopping you? You can try OO.org later, when you have more time.
If you're too afraid to risk ANYTHING with your business, you are not going to innovate, and your business will end up failing. Innovation is the root of success for all businesses. Why would you not want to be innovative with your Office package - something you use every day?
I mean - say I came to your office and said "Hey - I can tell you a way to cut 100% off your photocopier costs by using this new model. I will bring the new model into your office as a free no-obligation trial. You can use it as long as you want. When you feel it is OK andyour workers have learned the new functionality and are comfortable, you can get rid of your old one - keep the new one for free".
What manager would not take that offer? Why then do they not do the same with Office software?