BleepingComputer.com: open office . org

I do not have "word" on my computer and have been told I can dowload "openoffice.org" free.
Anyone know anything about this?
thanks

OpenOffice is a well-respected suite of freeware programs. You can use them without reservations.

FiOS Dan, on Mar 7 2009, 02:08 PM, said:

Thank you

If you select the Custom option, you do not have to install the applications that you don't need or want

OO.o is very similar to MS Office in both functionality and look/feel, and in addition includes a database. There is adequate on-line documentation if you need it, as well as forum help. Compatibility issues with Office are very rare, and you can save a document in PDF with a point of your mouse.
Cheers,
John

Thanks. Much appreciated

jgweed, on Mar 7 2009, 04:32 PM, said:

John,

I've read a lot about OpenOffice, but just recently have truly become interested in it (as I'm going to purchase a netbook soon -- no optical drive, so installing software that comes on a CD/DVD is difficult). OpenOffice seems to fit the bill, since I really don't need to do much on this netbook other than internet access and basic word processing.

Questions: files can be saved to be opened in MS Word and Excel, correct (.doc and .xls)? And when you mention the PDF conversion, does this mean that it has capabilities to convert only OpenOffice documents to PDFs or is this feature similar to the Acrobat distiller that can convert ANY file to a PDF that is viewable on your screen (for instance, an on-line receipt that has a "print" option, so you choose the PDF printer instead of a hardware printer)?

I know that there are free PDF conversion programs out there, but I was wondering if this fits the bill in that aspect (would prevent downloading an unnecessary program).

Thanks --

Mary

Open Office will export any document you have open to PDF. 1 click.
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/D...xporting_to_PDF

Shame on me, but i still prefer Microsoft Office, even with all my love to free and open-source software.

I think this for two reasons - 1) I'm just got used to MS Office, 2) I have experienced problems with handling of large files in OpenOffice.

So, in that case, i'm stuck to MS

raw, on Mar 9 2009, 08:52 PM, said:

Thanks for the info -- that's exactly what I needed to know.

And yes, you can save any OO.o file as the appropriate Office file extension, and OO.o will open any MS office file at least up to Word 2000 and XL. Compatibility with the latest version of MS Office is soon to come, but by convention, most conversions are made to the earlier versions, since acceptance of the latest version is far from universal.
You could also load a Word document into OO.o Writer and then save it as a .pdf file if you are so inclined.

For casual use, OO.o should present absolutely no compatibility problems.
Cheers,
John

Interesting enough ... I put OO 2.4 on my computer last fall and all was well, THEN I got into the idea of the upgrade... 3.1 .

Well, I've had a horrible time with it!!!!!!! I finally got it to download, but it won't install for nothing ... I've shut the firewall off, used CCleaner and done all the system maintenance. I created an account on their forums to try to get help, but their recovery of lost passwords process requires more info than I have and when I try to create a new account, the validation code doesn't load; so I am locked out... can't get any ideas for what to try!

ANY SUGGESTIONS, please?

Thanks so much!
Allie

Did you uninstall 2.4 first?
Are you installing from an Admin account?
Are there any error messages?
What operating system are you using?