Hi... I'm new to Open Office. And i don't rate myself as an advanced user of Microsoft Word. Just know enough to write whatever documents that I want to. So the question now is, are there any differences in features between the two? Some of you might say this is a redundant question since I'm not an advanced user of Microsoft Word in the first place, but hey... I just want to know. And how about saved documents in Open Office Write? Can those documents be opened in the intended format in Microsoft Word? And lastly, if you have ever encountered any problems with Open Office and its compatibility with Microsoft Word, please feel free to post it here. I would love to know about it.



PS: I'm referring to the new Open Office, 2.0. As for Microsoft Word, I'm referring to all versions since some older versions are still in used.

Well as far as you would notice probably the only differences would be cosmetic. While some of the more advanced features are either handled differently or non-existent in one or the other (I don't have any examples of this off the top of my head...) all the basics are there in both. Open Office might hide some menu items in different locations, but otherwise it can do most of the things Office can and if you just use it for basic things then it would easily be able to do them all.

As far as cross compatibility, I've opened documents between the two before and other then a few of my more complex formatting choices being slightly skewed they were the same in either program.

Frankly I can't imagine you having any issues since you just use it for the basics. If cross compatibility is a huge issue you could always try saving in Open Office as a format that is standard cross platform and furthur reduce chances of confusion between programs.

OpenOffice supports (among others) the Microsoft .DOC format, although sometimes minor details are lost when going between OpenOffice and MS Word (in either direction). It is sometimes safer to use the older RTF format. RTF cannot contain as much detail, so it is more likely to appear the same in both packages. Myself, if I want to send an OpenOffice document to someone else, I usually just convert it to PDF and skip the whole mess.

As far as features go, OpenOffice has everything I have looked for, including sophisticated table formatting and label layouts. It also crashes less. The menu options are sometimes in different places and he shortcut keys are different, but it is all there. I have a copy of MS Office or the Mac but have not bothered to install it.

It's interesting that you just started a thread about the differences or similarities between Microsoft Word and OpenOffice. I just wrote a short post yesterday on a thread about operating systems (I am too lazy to look for it right now) alluding to reasons I dumped Linux for now and stayed with the Windows platform.

Anyway, I have tried both OpenOffice 2.0 and Microsoft Word. The feature sets are largely the same. If I had a choice (I'll get to this later), I would stick with OpenOffice and not feed the Micro$oft frenzy. I feel that OpenOffice is a robust program with great potential and an active developer base. It strives to be compatible with a wide array of document formats, such as the DOC and RTF that were mentioned above. Its price is also unbeatable, since it is free.

Now, the reason why I am still using the Microsoft Office suite is simply compatibility. Yes, OpenOffice is continually improving in being able to read Microsoft documents, but this is not yet perfect. There have been times when the colors were different, the pages were off, and the margins were messy. Unfortunately for me, my work relies heavily on document compatibility with other people. I send and receive publishable documents on a regular basis, and there is no room for error.

I cannot convert others to use OpenOffice either, because the university already has a large-scale licensing agreement with Microsoft. It costs me only a few dollars to purchase the latest versions of Microsoft Office or Windows. Hence, there is no true advantage from my colleagues' standpoint to convert to non-Microsoft or open-source products.

Fortunately, Microsoft has mentioned not too long ago that it would be willing to adopt the Open Document Format (ODF) in future versions of Office. If they hold true to their word and there is minimal to no format compatibility issues, then I will just as quickly switch to OpenOffice. But for now, I am a Microsoft Office user.

I see one stupid difference.
When I write down a Microsoft Word document, I sell the document with a link to the Microsoft free reader for word document.
When people send me OpenOffice documents, I have to install OpenOffice in order to read them.

Besides that, skilled people use very complicated text formatting in Word document, especially including graphics, which make them look rather strange with OpenOffice.

Nevertheless, I always prefer a free working software rather than an expensive bugging thing...

True. When ODF becomes standard, you will probably see more OS builtin tools support it. For example, you will probably be able to read them in Konqueror or Nautilus, and maybe Firefox with a plugin. It should also be possible to do an XML->FOT transform which will make converting directly to PDF relatively straightforward. Text Edit on Mac already reads .doc and .rtf files: although the formatting is limitted, it is enough to read a document. I agree, though, that an Open Source and lightweight reader for Windows would be great.

I myself use both, and MS Word and OpenOffice.. I like the possability to create PDF files with OpenOffice, because most of the OS can open them, Well I don't know an OS which can't open them, on AmigaOS it is a bit slow, but you can always convert it to text if you really want to.. Sometimes, to people who can't read OO documents I use Word, but for personal things I use OO.. and as I noticed I am moving from using .doc because of the posability to make PDF files free with OpenOffice

There are similarities and differences, but as I don't need anything fancy using Office, I don't really get deep into it..

OO and Microsoft Publisher
Difference Between OpenOffice Write And MS Word

I recently changed computers. When I am reloading my software, I can't find the install key for Microsoft Publisher. Unfortunately, many of my work forms I use daily are on Microsoft Publisher.

I don't want to spend a few hundred dollars to buy a newer version. Is there a way to have Open Office read and edit my Publisher documents?



-Julia