A downloading guide for freeloaders

watoday ^ | Sean Dodson

[N3WBI3]

“If you employ a power user you are paying a six figure salary, the cost of MS Office becomes inconsequential compared to its value.”

It again depends on the usage..

I know folks who make a six figure salary that could not tell open office from MS Office..

Your example is aimed at providing two extremes to make Open Office look like a tinker toy. In reality 95+% of MS Office functionality exist in Open Office. For everyone ubt extreme MS-Office power users Open Office is just fine

BTW Open Office is not always playing catchup with MS Office: Which product first allowed you to export natively to PDF? Open Office..

[N3WBI3]

Yea an MS is like an expensive hooker which can give you the clap... Point?

[guitarplayer1953]

I did not make that connection between ms and clap you need read up the thread and ask them why they made that statement.

[Big Giant Head]

I’m in that 95% that doesn’t need the extras that must exist somewhere in MS Office. Open Office has everything I’ve ever needed.

Lately I’ve been using the Go-oo version of Open Office. It’s optimized to open much faster than the regular version of Open Office. It’s version 2.4 something, not the latest 3.xx Open Office.

[microgood]

Your example is aimed at providing two extremes to make Open Office look like a tinker toy. In reality 95+% of MS Office functionality exist in Open Office. For everyone but extreme MS-Office power users Open Office is just fine.

I have not seen Open Office for a while, but I was mainly alluding to power users that would request MS Office and if they did the cost is a drop in the bucket compared to the productivity loss in having to learn a new system. One of the things about MS Office is that it got a good start on Open Office and people tend to stick with things they know.

In addition, most people are not caught up in the Microsoft is the evil empire stuff that the Unix/Java/Linux crowd is caught up in and that Open Office was created for. But I must say that if this was all written in Java and is reasonably stable, that says a lot about the effort that went into it.

[ShadowAce]

I have not seen Open Office for a while,...

Then try it again, please. You may like it--you may not. But at least you will be talking from experience, and not from obsolete knowledge. It's like a *nix geek saying windows sucks because Win95 was just a GUI on top of another OS.

[microgood]

It's like a *nix geek saying windows sucks because Win95 was just a GUI on top of another OS.

I never said Open Office sucks. What I did say was most power users I know prefer MS Office. It does not surprise me, however, that MS Office would have more features since they spend a ton of money on it and Open Office is all open source support. From the reviews I have read, it is mainly trying to keep up with MS and its whole goal is to undermine MS Office.

I do occasionally look at the latest comparisons between the two but have been using MS Office since I moved to Excel from Lotus and Word from WordPerfect.

The bottom line is however, is that if you are paying someone 6 figures and he/she wants MS Office, you would be nuts not to give it to him/her.

[ShadowAce]

I never said Open Office sucks.

I know you didn't. I apologize for not being more clear--or for choosing an imperfect analogy. I was just trying to illustrate how useless out-of-date knowledge is.

The bottom line is however, is that if you are paying someone 6 figures and he/she wants MS Office, you would be nuts not to give it to him/her.

It would depend on what they want to do with it. WP and spreadsheets don't require a $500 piece of software. If s/he is worth six figures, then they are capable enough to learn a slightly different interface from MS 2007 in order to write a memo or produce a presentation.

[microgood]

It would depend on what they want to do with it. WP and spreadsheets don't require a $500 piece of software. If s/he is worth six figures, then they are capable enough to learn a slightly different interface from MS 2007 in order to write a memo or produce a presentation.

I am sure there are many cases where you are correct, but alot of the power users I have dealt with have many queries saved in Access for hitting databases, lots of Excel and Word macros that they port to each new version, and they create complex pivot tables that they then import into Access and use to update database servers. Many actively write VBA Script in Excel or Access to support other employees that are not as savvy.

So when faced with those situations, it is easier to just say: here is your MS Office.

[ShadowAce]

So when faced with those situations, it is easier to just say: here is your MS Office.

Agreed. That would be a lot cheaper than paying for his time to re-write everything.

[N3WBI3]

“One of the things about MS Office is that it got a good start on Open Office and people tend to stick with things they know.”

Fair enough, training and comfort cost must be considered when platforming an individual. But the example that you have to be some kid in a village without power in India to get a great experience out of OO is specious at best. Most college students could do just fine with OO. Most people who (1) Have a job which has not revolved around an office sweet, (2) Use of an office sweet is basic, Are part of a much larger group being moved in on OSS direction for cost savings will be just as well off in 1-3 months with either sweet.

Its all going to be situational, new company with no current software load (or growing company) versus an established company with a long term site license.

“In addition, most people are not caught up in the Microsoft is the evil empire stuff that the Unix/Java/Linux crowd is caught up in and that Open Office was created for.”

That’s not what openoffice was created for. It was created to be free not to be ‘ATBM’ Keep in mind at the time when work on Openoffice began there were already well known alternatives to MS such as corel. OO was started by the makers of Star Office in order to have the OSS community help them with the development of their product.

“But I must say that if this was all written in Java and is reasonably stable, that says a lot about the effort that went into it.”

I don’t think it was written in Java until after Sun got into the mix in 2000. But it is pretty stable, and portable.

[B Knotts]

Certainly, if you find that productivity gains are greater than the ongoing licensing fees and licensing compliance costs (often overlooked, but significant if done right), then it may make sense to pay for the proprietary option.

For the majority of office software users, I seriously doubt that they are going to realize a significant productivity advantage from Microsoft Office vs. OpenOffice.org.

There is the retraining cost, but Microsoft, in their wisdom, made Office 2007 significantly different from previous versions of Office, so the Microsoft retraining cost advantage largely disappears.

[microgood]

For the majority of office software users, I seriously doubt that they are going to realize a significant productivity advantage from Microsoft Office vs. OpenOffice.org.

I agree that most people use about 5% of Word or Excel capabilities, but what is strange is that the users seem to want the software anyway. For example, Works is kind of a featured down version of Office, but nobody wants it. They want Office, just in case, I guess.

There is the retraining cost, but Microsoft, in their wisdom, made Office 2007 significantly different from previous versions of Office, so the Microsoft retraining cost advantage largely disappears.

I know what you mean. I was cursing those ribbons for some time.

[microgood]

But the example that you have to be some kid in a village without power in India to get a great experience out of OO is specious at best.

You are right, that wasn't the best example. A better example would be a regular family that needs a word processor and spreadsheet, but does not use all the functionality available.

That’s not what openoffice was created for. It was created to be free not to be ‘ATBM’ Keep in mind at the time when work on Openoffice began there were already well known alternatives to MS such as corel. OO was started by the makers of Star Office in order to have the OSS community help them with the development of their product.

Oops. Burned by wikipedia again.

[Still Thinking]

I wondered if there was a way to use the ASCII codes, but couldn’t find it in the “docs”.