Open Office - Free Wordprocessor, Spreadsheet, and Presentation Software

Instead of using Microsoft Office in our office we are using Open Office. We do not need a full office suite of software like M$ Office provides — so why spend the money for 8 to 10 desktops? And best of all - Open Office does everything we could want to do with M$ Office!

We use a couple of spreadsheets is all - for daily balancing and time sheets. So we are definitely not pushing the software to its limits. But the great thing is you can set Open Office up to default to reading and writing M$ Office files - so our accountant who uses Excel can read our files just fine!

If you’re used to using other office suites - such as Microsoft Office - you’ll be completely at home with OpenOffice.org. However, as you become used to OpenOffice.org, you’ll start to appreciate the extras that make your life easier. You can of course continue to use your old Microsoft Office files without any problems - and if you need to exchange files with people still using Microsoft Office, that’s no problem either.

OpenOffice.org is an open, feature-rich multi-platform office productivity suite. The user interface and the functionality is very similar to other products in the market like Microsoft Office or Lotus SmartSuite, but in contrast to these commercial products OpenOffice.org is absolutely free.

OpenOffice.org gives you everything you’d expect in office software. You can create dynamic documents, analyse data, design eye-catching presentations, produce dramatic illustrations, and open up your databases. You can publish your work in Portable Document Format (.pdf), and release your graphics in Flash (.swf) format - without needing any additional software. OpenOffice.org 1.1 is now available for more users than ever, with support for complex text layout (CTL) languages (such as Thai, Hindi, Arabic, and Hebrew) and vertical writing languages.

What’s in the suite?

• WRITER Is a powerful tool for creating professional documents, reports, newsletters, and brochures. You can easily integrate images and charts in documents, create everything from business letters to complete books with professional layouts, as well as create and publish Web content.

• CALC is a feature-packed spreadsheet which can turn boring numbers into eye-catching information. Calculate, analyse, and visually communicate your data quickly and easily. Use advanced spreadsheet functions and decision-making tools to perform sophisticated data analysis. Use built-in charting tools to generate impressive 2D and 3D charts.

• IMPRESS is the fastest, most powerful way to create effective multimedia presentations. Your presentations will truly stand out with special effects, animation and high-impact drawing tools.

• DRAW will produce everything from simple diagrams to dynamic 3D illustrations and special effects.

• The Database User Tools give you all the tools you need for day to day database work in a simple spreadsheet-like form. They support dBASE databases for simple applications, or any ODBC or JDBC compliant database for industrial strength database work.