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Do OpenOffice Users Save In Microsoft Format?
superglaze writes "Looking through an article on the smartphone office suite Quickoffice, I noted a claim by a company executive that OpenOffice users usually save their documents in a Microsoft format, e.g. .doc. Hence the company has no plans to support .odf. I guess I can see the rationale for this — it helps if you're sending a document to an MS-using company — but what's this community's general experience of saving in .odf vs. .doc format?"
Been saving in ODT, PDF and TXT for ages... add HTML to that.
" What luck for rulers that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler
Honestly I always save in ODF on my MAC and then just convert to whatever I need to when I need to send a file to someone else. I get people asking for PDF or Word so it's easiest if I save as ODF and convert from there rather than saving as WORD and losing some of my formatting to convert to something else.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
I save my items internally in ODF format, but if I have to send something to another person without OO.o, I need to save it in .doc format. Honestly, if someone could convince the world that ODF is an acceptable format, I'd love to save the step.
When I installed it for someone who was too cheap to pay the ridiculous $175 fot Office 2003, I got a call real quick when they brought a "powerpoint" project to school that was saved in non-microsoft format and it ruined their whole presentation. They weren't very happy. If more people supported it, it wouldn't be a problem. If Microsoft would quit being jerks about it and supported opening open formats that Open Office uses, that would be ever better!
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
It is software companies like this that force us to save in MS formats!
I have and use OpenOffice, but frequently wind up writing stuff that I'm going to want to send to a friend or allow him to grab off my share or whatnot. Rather than dick around with the whole format thing, its easier to just use .doc. Saves time and hassle.
I also do PDF quite bit, it also makes you look a bit more professional, as PDFs have a nice snobby image.
.txt. The best supported open format in the history of computing. Plain Text forever!
However, my main format, especially when collaborating is
My little Linux and tech blog
Finished documents are sent in PDF format. Internal documents are strictly ODF.
.doc when I absolutely need some MS vict^H^H^H^Huser to contribute to the document.
I only send a
And, even then, only when I can't make him/her install OpenOffice.
http://www.dieblinkenlights.com
I stick to OOo's default format no matter what.
.doc and call the shots, I return it as an ODF and tell them to get openoffice.org. I've made numerous switchers that way, all but one of whom thanked me for it.
If I'm in the position of being able to return a
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
I use it but I save in DOC format. Here's the problem: None of the computers I go to have support for ODF. A document that you can't open is absolutely useless. We live in a Microsoft dominated world and since most businesses use DOC format, that is what we, the users of free office software are stuck using until more support for ODF comes to more computers. With Ubuntu on the rise, this may become more and more common, but as of now, we are pretty much stuck using doc format if we want to open these docs on any but our own.
Software Reviews>
'.doc' is a whole shitload of different formats, some very differentm some only a little different. However, it is because of the differences that sales for new versions of MS Office are driven. If the old programs could read the new formats, then we wouldn't have that problem. Why else do you think that MS Offfice 2007 munges your old files?
If MS published the specs for the old binary formats, we wouldn't ahve that problem either. Or if MS Office supported an open format like OpenDocument we wouldn't have that problem.
The way off the treadmill is openformats even for MS Office.
Eveything I need to send document files to uses Word or PDF. Most places I send pr's or ad copy to use the old standby formats. No ODF at the local newspaper yet.
Bury me in mashed potatoes.
If I am sending the document to someone who has explicitly requested the document be the document in Office format, only then will I save in that format (and even then, I still have it saved in openoffice format also, since that will always be my working copy). For all other cases where I am sending, I export to PDF.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Interchangeability is important. The .doc and other formats replaced WordPerfect and .rtf standards as de facto interchange formats.
.odf, and when I need to distribute documents, I export the docs to PDF. They're clean and easy to read, and the export is very accurate. PDF is also basically universally supported.
I save in
The MS formats are so particular that the given version of office that people are using will maul my document. OO exports to PDF well, I dont need to check on it.
.
.txt is superb for collaborating, and once all the work is finally done, then you can apply the formatting. All too often you can find yourself dicking around with format because you had to save an unfinished document with formatting.
Internally we used to default all OO.o installs to save as MSFT formats. we changed that recently.
We changed all internal to OO.o formats and all documents that exit the company must be sent as pdf. we did this for 3 reasons. compatability, security, and simplicity.
compatable. even a solaris machine can display a pdf. simplicity. PDF is actually the most universal document format no matter what Microsoft says.
Security. We had a problem with a salesperson that sent a contract to a client. the client sent it back and accepted it. The salesperson used the file sent back by the customer as the legal document and did not check it for changes. we got SCREWED because the asshole client changed several things silently in their favor.
If we sent them a PDF, they cant play that game as all contracts have to be sent to legal for acceptance as the oridional document format. this solved this problem.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I work at a tech desk at a university library and see a significant number of people who use open office, mainly Mac users. All of the people who have come to the desk with open office issues save in .odf. Their problem is that they want to print at the library, which requires the use of one of our information commons computers and therefore Word. So I have to show them how to save their documents as .doc files in order to load them in Word. None of them knew how to save as a .doc file and only one of them was even aware that open office saved as .odf.
What makes this even worse is the abominable equation editors that are used with word. At school here they've made it even worse by installing MathType for equations in word, which is even worse to use and not even compatible with the built in equation editor so I can't edit the equations at home even using MS Office.
I don't use OpenOffice because it is free, I use it because it is better.
My users at least are lazy. They'll just save it in whatever format the software defaults to. They don't know or care about different document formats, they just know they "do this to open a document", "do that to save it", etc. Windows explorer defaults to hiding document extensions, so why should they even bother learning? Default it to save to MS office format and you'll save headaches since it will "just work" when they email it to someone.
Real programmers use "copy con program.exe"
My documents are going towards ODT. .DOC the indices and contents get messed up. Custom masks get messed up.
When I save to ODT, the documents are stable.
When I save to
However, I do use OOo to fix corrupted word documents. I open them, save them as ODT, then resave them as word and then word does not crash on them any more.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Translation:
I'm a dick that likes to slow down the business process and make others install redundant software (if they are even allowed to) that both costs time and money, but I don't care because it makes me feel important.
-Mark
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain.
I'm a dick because I save in .doc assuming that everyone is like me, slowing down business processes for other folks.
or how about this one:
I'm a dick because I make it practice to write software that doesn't enable clients to interact with all others, but rather limit them to the "ecosystem" that my company has engineered. I like to make claims that by using my "ecosystem" of software, their business processes are sped up. Rather, the truth is that I've not sped up anything, I've only slowed down business processes for those not using my software, and I get to call those people dicks because they aren't part of the bandwagon.
--josh
One at a time:
.doc written in one default language, then opened in a different default language. ODF? Not so much. .doc is the format of business. Microsoft has a stranglehold, but it's on a dinosaur. .doc, but then establish it is on it's way to extinction. ODF isn't on its way to extinction. I'll use that.
(A sluggish one
What's sluggish? I read this claim over and over again. In my experience, the only thing vaguely resembling sluggish is the nominally slower load. Please, provide more details.
that cloned the one I already have, at that)
That you paid a ridiculous amount of money for or stole. Most small businesses I deal with are very pragmatic and operate legitimately. Therefore they thank me when they can spend less.
I would email his boss and ask for the correct file format.
There's lots of small businesses who started their own successful businesses because they cut out that kind of political inaction. Or, maybe you should consider for a moment that I'm the boss.
It's common sense.
Maybe to you. But many small businesses LOVE the fact that I show them how to do the same job they used to do for less money.
you probably won't be in that position for very long.
Nope. Sorry. Turning away business because I maximize my customer's time/money.
It's like sending your files in Spanish.
Don't get me started on the bugs in a
Wwwait... What just happened there? On the one hand you tell me use
it should be online so you can easily collaborate
So, a closed format that's more expensive to use and prevents collaboration is better because it's somehow on the web? ODF is cheaper and easier to communicate with.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
I save many of my text documents in .doc format. The reason? It "just works" ... OpenOffice is truly amazing when it comes to importing and exporting text documents to MS Word's format. It gets references, fonts, formatting just right even with repeated import/export cycles. It even makes a heroic effort to translate or at least not permanently mangle OLE objects and Visual Basic scripts.
.doc format. For my own personal documents I use ODF. I am a strong supporter of ODF, and I'll celebrate the day when we kiss .doc goodbye permanently. But for now, OpenOffice's import/export is *so good* and convenient, may as well use it :-)
So, for any document that I'm going to have to share with others... I use
It's a different story with presentations. OpenOffice does quite well with PowerPoint format, but loses some advanced animations and sometimes fudges drawings a bit. So I keep everything in ODF format, and only export to PPT if absolutely necessary.
My bicyles
Translation:
I'm a professional who ought to about the dangers of proprietary data format. However, supporting open formats takes work and it might hurt my oh-so-dear reputation. So instead of that, I'm just going to sit around and leach of the reputation of those who really do care about the software industry. Besides, what users don't know won't hurt them, right?
I save all of my files in ODF/ODT, and if I need to submit them to just about anyone else I have to convert them to an MS-Office (.doc, .xls, etc...) format. I do the same with audio files, image files, etc, using open file formats instead of their closed/proprietary/patent-encumbered brethren.
The problem is that people's computers aren't coming pre-installed with software that can read our "primary" Open File Formats. Heck -- even when I send my Macintosh-toting friends Ogg Vorbis files, they don't have any idea how to open them, so eventually I get enough complaints and just re-encode in mp3 format (and feel bad about trying and failing at spreading the Good Word).
Perhaps the best thing that us geeks could do to support open file formats is to develop a little "Unknown File Format" system utility for all of the current flavors of Windows and OSX. The utility would sit in the background and would pop up a little note whenever the user tried to open a file of an unrecognized type, telling the user that the file was, say, an XCF image file created by The GIMP, and offering to download an appropriate program to either view or edit the file.
If we had such a tool, we could feel much better about sending out open file formats like Ogg Vorbis, knowing that even clueless users would only be a click away from opening our files.
coding is life
"IF you abuse your position to have people install redundant software, you probably won't be in that position for very long."
Good! Does that mean that MS is on the way out?
Goodbye Slashdot. You've changed.
I thought OO was open source? So if it can save in .doc wouldn't that mean that the version of .doc OO is saving to is documented?
My main reason for exporting in whatever (mainly pdf), is to enforce the removal of change/collaboration type changes. I have known to many embarrassing situations because people have left the changes embedded in documents. By exporting to pdf I avoid this situation. Also, I like having the concept of a release version on all products, whether they are software or documentation or even plain old correspondence. Just my 2 cents.
>Translation:
>I'm a dick that likes to slow down the business process and make others install redundant software (if they are even allowed to) that both costs time and money, but I don't care because it makes me feel important.
Actually I am a dick that refuses to buy or install redundant software (if I could afford to) just to make some mega corporation (MS) money.
Down is Up viewed from a different angle.
What we need is a small portable efficient ODF viewer that can be used as a stand-alone app, as well as a browser plugin, just to render and view + print ODF files. That way people won't have to have large applications just to print these files.
.odf or .doc format as much as they would PDF format, actually.
Also, it seems to me though that (when sharing) OpenOffice users might not save in
Twinstiq, game news
I personally use .odt for all files that I save, however, as a college student I am sometimes required by a *shudder* 2007 office using teacher who only accepts doc and docx. So, I have a copy of EVERYTHING in .odt, and only required copies of .doc. Its horrible that we don't have an open standard that ALL OFFICE SUITE products willingly and gracefully use *cough* microbitches *cough*
Support the source, Open Source! An entire site developed with OSS
Normally I hand it to Win Users in PDF but frequently I am force to save in doc format to overcome win users shortcomings.
I'm sorry, I'm to tired to be witty at the moment so this message will have to do.
I'll defer to the wisdom of wikipedia. Its infallibility crushes any vague memory I might have.
Cheers. Good show bud.
" What luck for rulers that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler
Last time I went to a class like that I told the teacher I'd print it for her since it was against my religion and found it very offensive to my beliefs that she would demand I pay the "vile darkness" for products.
:)
She called me crazy, I took it up with the billing department and demanded a refund of my tuition and filed a complaint. A week later I was turning in written papers to a different professor.
" What luck for rulers that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler
I sent some recruiters a PDF and they just about had a heart attack. Told me they couldn't buy Adobe to read it. I tried to explain it was free and there were other readers as well. Then I found out they didn't even have MS office and were using wordpad to read those .doc resumes.
You might think wordpad is a stupid way to do it, but realize that wordpad is so stripped down that macro viruses/trojans don't work with it. I don't think the recruiters realized that advantage though.
I eventually converted it to HTML and they were happy enough with that. I was using troff for my resume (yea, I'm weird) and spitting it out as txt, html, and pdf.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
The student was fully correct to 1) try to negotiate with the teach and 2) when that failed, switch to a more competent one. If the teacher is *requiring* a format that can be used by only one application on only one platform (both of which are expensive to acquire, operate and maintain) then they have too much ignorance or too much of an axe to grind to be allowed to continue teaching. To add to the damage, that application munges older files in older formats
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
OpenOffice: $0
Office 2007, right now on Amazon: $389
That might not be an issue to you, but trust me, it is for some people. Way to pass judgment when you don't know shit about shit. You're exactly why many people hate douchebags.
Hey, I finally got my first freak! Took you long enough!
I also use Linux and OpenOffice. Mac OS X was the least objectionable alternative to having a PC lappie running Windows XP, which is a requirement of the University I'm attending. Macs are considered an acceptable alternative, with the caveat that you are largely on your own with regard to support. A PC lappie running Debian Sarge, (I started there in 2005) on the other hand, is not an acceptable alternative to their IT department, and represents a threat. "Isn't Linux that hacker OS? Are you a hacker or something?" (Actual quote from an IT drone there!) Sigh...
Oh yeah, Office is also a must. Office:Mac v.X and Office:Mac v.2004 are acceptable to the IT department and to professors. OpenOffice, on the other hand, is not.
So basically my dilemma was between purity or finishing my baccalaureate. I chose finishing my baccalaureate. Most University IT departments are like this, by the way. They are very F/OSS unfriendly and very Windows-centric. Microsoft has bought a lot of headspace in American academia.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Yes, I do know what FUD means. Blatent lying about a point to scare people from a product. Such has a high cost.
...is compatabile with what most others use...
...and I can actually get support for.
Although it must be nice to live in a world where the numbers we've discussed don't qualify as "high cost," a lot of people would disagree with you.
My argument is that its not nearly as expensive as the OP was claiming just to use Word.
I concede that I pulled $3xx from the Super-Duper Mega Ultra Office Edition, but it just happened to be the first thing a search turned up. OTOH, I wasn't including the cost of Windows in that, which, if we're talking about the cost of "using Word," should be in there.
I'd rather pay $124, get something that will work properly...
I don't know what you're talking about here, but I've never seen the "works properly" version of Office. I can't get the damn thing to get out of my way and let me work. It's all in what you're used to, I guess.
Oh, like Office '97? Nope. '95? Uh, no. It's not even compatible with earlier versions of their own product! OOo, on the other hand, is compatible with damn near whatever format you can think to throw at it.
Oh, that's right. Because so many people get Office support from Microsoft. When was the last time you called them?
Just because something is free doesn't mean its worthwhile.
And just because you got suckered into paying through the nose for a half-assed version of what should by 2007 be commodity software, don't take your bitterness out on the rest of us.
Hey, I finally got my first freak! Took you long enough!
Although it must be nice to live in a world where the numbers we've discussed don't qualify as "high cost," a lot of people would disagree with you.
Ya, I can see how $7 is a lot to a college student, and $100 is a lot to anyone with a full time job. Oh wait its not.
I concede that I pulled $3xx from the Super-Duper Mega Ultra Office Edition, but it just happened to be the first thing a search turned up. OTOH, I wasn't including the cost of Windows in that, which, if we're talking about the cost of "using Word," should be in there.
The cost of Windows is typically included in the cost of the computer. If buying the computer already covers Windows, so you don't need to include it again. Of course colleges ALSO offer discounted versions of Windows as well, so again, not a huge expense for college students, and it could even be included in student loans.
I don't know what you're talking about here, but I've never seen the "works properly" version of Office. I can't get the damn thing to get out of my way and let me work. It's all in what you're used to, I guess
You know, lets you get things formatted the way you want. The one that doesn't crash on a constant basis. OOo doesn't include an email progam, so I'll pick on Kmail, that steaming pile that would for no reason corrupt mailbox indexes making it seem as though all your mail disappeared. But i guess its no problem to just delete the index from time to time, because that should be part of normal use anyway.
Oh, like Office '97? Nope. '95? Uh, no. It's not even compatible with earlier versions of their own product! OOo, on the other hand, is compatible with damn near whatever format you can think to throw at it.
Funny how nobody I've met has had these problems, and I haven't either. OOo opens pretty much its own format, and certainly doesn't open Word files in anywhere close to properly.
Oh, that's right. Because so many people get Office support from Microsoft. When was the last time you called them?
Well I haven't had to call them about Office, because I haven't had any issues with it. I did call them for support with MS Money though, twice, and they did resolve both issues. Compared to the idiot FOSS people who either don't read your message and respond with RTFM!! (which, by the way, where IS the manual.. oh it doesn't exist half the time) or remain silent, because I guess nobody can explain what's going wrong.
And just because you got suckered into paying through the nose for a half-assed version of what should by 2007 be commodity software, don't take your bitterness out on the rest of us.
Bitter? Sure. Not because I feel cheated, I wouldn't pay for something I didn't find value in. The bitter part comes from the FOSS failing me. I ran my own Linux server for 10 years, Linux on the desktop for three. It was ok in college, when I wanted to tinker anyway, but when I just want it to work, and to be able to make changes quickly and easily, it failed. RPM hell, poor documentation and only text file configurations, people saying I'm an idiot for not buying some five year old dot matrix printer, because why should I expect anything to work on Linux I guess, wierd problems and crashes to which there were NO answers.. ya, after trying Linux for quite a while, I gladly went back to MS.