Can Open Office replace MS Office?

[Columbo]

Are there any functionality holes in Open Office when compared to MS Office.

I'm referring to Calc / Excel in particular and looking at upgrading my version of Office (I'm on Office XP..!! ) and I'm trying to weigh up whether 2007 is worth the upgrade fee or whether I could just use Calc.

It would primarily be used for creating and manipulating databases which contain large exports (sometimes 30000+ lines) and then running various formula's such as VLOOKUPS & COUNTIF etc....

Any help appreciated.

 

[div0]

Try it for a bit and see? It is free after all

 

[Theguy]

Personally I would run them both, and see how you get on..

 

[Burnsy2023]

If you have any VBA in existing workbooks OO won't be able to run it.

 

[Caged]

If you don't want to feel like a user interface is repeatedly punching you in the face then you'll want to steer clear of OpenOffice.

 

[BlizzardX]

Also I found calc limited compared to Excel and writer doesn't even compare to word for formatting and some of the more advanced features... I tried switching to Open office and ended up getting Office 2007 as I couldn't get to grips with certain aspects that where missing.

 

[edgedemon]

If you don't want to feel like a user interface is repeatedly punching you in the face then you'll want to steer clear of OpenOffice.

This +1

I went 2 years as a student using google docs and open office - never again

To be fair, most of the functionality is there and you can do pretty much what you need, but the fonts and formatting of documents is just so ugly. I used to spend a couple of hours re-formatting documents in office before handing them in to make it look nice..

 

[theheyes]

As has been said, "most" of the functionality is there and if you just need a simple word processor it's fine. I've produced high quality technical documents with OpenOffice and it was more than adequate.

The interface isn't as good as Word, but it's okay and to be fair Word isn't without its problems. The real issue as mentioned above is VBA support and all kinds of more advanced features that should work but don't.

I also found cross-compatibility a problem on occasion. Documents created in OO and saved in Word 2000/XP format would render slightly differently when opened with MS Office. For example, OO would screw up all the slideshow timings I'd set for a presentation.

 

[FatRakoon]

To be completely honest with you, there is a program called Papyrus ( Its also available on PC ) that I have been using for 10 years or so on an Atari and its vastly superior to the MS Office crap thats been floating around.

On a less serious note, I myself use Star Office v8 and this, I suppose can be taken as a polished version of Open Office. I personally am not too keep on Open Office, but that said, its free and there is nothign wrong with it. You have to weigh up the rpos and cons, while MS Office is by far the most espensice option, and its also by far the most hated internationally, and for many good reasons.

 

[westjoelwest]

Hi...
Open office has to improve a lot if they want to give good competition to Microsoft's office. And I think it needs lots of year to improve it.

 

[james.miller]

if you're a student then a certain website that sells microsoft software 4 students (legit) is still offering MS office 2007 enterprise for £35.

the link to the website can be found @ microsoft.com/uk/education/students .

and apparently it works even if you arent a student so im told.

 

[Aod]

if you're a student then a certain website that sells microsoft software 4 students (legit) is still offering MS office 2007 enterprise for £35.

the link to the website can be found @ microsoft.com/uk/education/students .

and apparently it works even if you arent a student so im told.

you can also link to the site here on OcUK without any repercussions - OcUK don't sell student-discount software.

http://www.software4students.co.uk/

 

[LeJosh]

You save £447? Enterprise edition is that expensive?

But £35 for it is a bargain!

 

[lcg]

If you don't want to feel like a user interface is repeatedly punching you in the face then you'll want to steer clear of OpenOffice.

+1 !

I could never use OpenOffice permanently. Microsoft Office is so much better. You get what you pay for.

 

[ricky200]

thats complicated.
i am using openoffice now. i used to MS office anyway and changing office was quite hard and frustrating... open office i much worse IMHO than MS. but... i just used to it and its ok (sometimes frustrating when i remember that something can be done so easly in MS).
give it a try...

 

[apatia77]

Office XP is kinda old nowdays but home version of Office 2007 and very cheap, maybe its worth waiting for Office 2010 and then upgrade?