Open Office fFor Dummies?

[Robert Meyer]

--- Joe Pollock <josephj at buffnet.net> wrote:
> Hi.  I'm thinking about switching over to OpenOffice.org from M$ Office 2000
> to save money and to make the transition to Linux easier.  I'd appreciate
> responses to any of the following questions.  I'm also open to other
> alternatives, but I'm not quite ready for all Linux-only solution.
> 
> What do you folks think of OOo?
I love OOo.  Works great and I can export/import M$ stuff.

> How good is it for an end user with no computer experience (my partner)?
Works pretty well.  Make sure that you install 'myspell' and the GB/CA/US
dictionaries or spelling check will not work.

> How good is the documentation for use in learning it?

If you can work M$ Office, you should be able to figure out OOo.  The menus
are moved around a bit but the stuff that most people use is pretty easy.
It only gets different if you start messing with things like templates and
styles.

> Are there any "OOo for Dummies" books out there?

Can't answer this 'cuz I generally don't read instructions :-)

> Are there any compatibility issues with reading and writing MS Word files?

If you are using OOo on a Linux box, you have to make sure that you have
access to the M$ TrueType fonts.  Not a problem on a dual boot box.  Mandrake
provides a nice tool to import them and it imports for Star/Open Office.
Excel files work fine if there are no macros 'cuz Linux doesn't have VB.  I
haven't tried porting PowerPoint/Impress stuff back and forth since 5.2 so
I can't tell you if that will work.

> What's the relationship between Star Office and OOo?  Are they pretty much
> the same from an end user's point of view (other than cost)? (I'm asking
> this because I already have a Sams Star Office Book.)

They're pretty much the same.  There's added stuff in Star Office and I think
that you get support with it.  I'm not sure what's added (maybe the Adabas
Database system) but I haven't found anything missing that I need (and I DO
muck with styles and templates).

Hope this helps...

Cheers!

Bob

=====
Bob Meyer
Knightwing Communications, Inc.
36 Cayuga Blvd
Depew, NY 14043
Phone: 716-308-8931 or 716-681-0076
Meyer_RM at Yahoo.com

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