OpenOffice.org
Quick Specs
- Version: 3.4.1
- File size: 129.64MB
- Date added: August 25, 2012
- Price: Free
- Operating system:
Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista
- Total downloads: 5,577,499
- Downloads last week: 23,176
- Product ranking: #1 in Office Suites
- See full specifications
- Add to my list
CNET Editors' review
Apache OpenOffice.org is the free open-source productivity suite that rivals Microsoft's Office suite, the business world's standard. OpenOffice.org is compatible with most Office documents and many other file types. Like Office, it's a collection of powerful tools, but you don't have to install all its modules. The latest version of OpenOffice.org supports Windows 8.
The OpenOffice.org installer's custom option lets users choose which Program Modules to install from Writer, Calc, Draw, Impress, Base, and Math, plus shared Optional Components. During setup, we chose to make OpenOffice.org our default program for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. OpenOffice.org comes with a lot of support in the form of Help files and other documentation as well as a huge community of users and developers. And, while its tools aren't Office clones, users who are familiar with Word, Excel, and other Office tools will find their OpenOffice.org counterparts easy to understand.
Clicking the OpenOffice.org icon produced a quick-start page that let us open documents, spreadsheets, formulas, and databases. We started with a new document in Writer, the suite's word processor. We quickly created a document and clicked Save to see our options. Writer offered 12 choices, including its proprietary ODF file format (.odt) as well as four Word standards, HTML, text, text encoded, and rich text. Not every format is completely compatible, though. Nevertheless, Writer offers as much as any top word processor. Impress is a presentation wizard, while Draw is a capable graphics editor. Calc is OpenOffice.org's Excel-compatible spreadsheet tool, and Base generates and accesses databases via the Database Wizard. Math is one of OpenOffice.org's advantages over Office: it's a standalone equation editor that can also insert formulas as objects into Writer.
One thing OpenOffice.org lacks that Office has is an integrated e-mail client like Outlook. But OpenOffice.org is compatible with a wide range of e-mail clients, including Mozilla Thunderbird, which many OpenOffice.org users recommend for use with the suite. Still, count us among those who'd like a fully integrated OpenOffice.org e-mail client. In any case, it's hard to find fault with anything OpenOffice.org does, especially since every bit of it is free.
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Publisher's Description
From OpenOffice.org:
OpenOffice.org is both an open-source product and a project. The product is a multiplatform office productivity suite. It includes desktop applications such as a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a presentation manager, and a drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to those of other office suites. OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office. Localizations of OpenOffice.org are available in 27 languages, with more being constantly added by the community. OpenOffice.org runs on Solaris, Linux (including PPC Linux), and Windows. Written in C++ and with documented APIs licensed under the LGPL and SISSL open-source protocols, OpenOffice.org allows any knowledgeable developer to benefit from the source.
What's new in this version: Version 3.4.1 includes Finnish, British English, and Khmer languages and fixed extension cleanup and auto update check now re-enabled by default.
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All versions:
4.3 starsout of 1,938 votes
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Current version:
3.3 starsout of 40 votes
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My rating:
Write review
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"Crash...after 8 seconds. reinstall...crash again"
Version: OpenOffice.org 3.4.1
Pros
None. .......
Cons
Windows 7 is not in OS. And worse, i can not restore the old version.
No validation on OS.Summary
Stay away from it.
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"Excellent for personal use."
Version: OpenOffice.org 3.4.1
Pros
Similar layout to MS. Easy to use once you've found out where things are. Can do most things that MS does, and it's free.
Cons
If you use OO at home and MS at work, it will be confusing to switch back and forth because things are in different places, even though the layout looks similar.
I've heard that it may have trouble opening MS docs, but I haven't had that trouble myself, yet.
I use it on Vista, and it seems to hate Open Office -- it took me a while to get it working smoothly, but I still get asked "Do you want to open this program" whenever I start it.Summary
A great program for free.
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"Utterly Awful"
Version: OpenOffice.org 3.4.1
Pros
Has a layout like MS office
Compatible with any MS office fileCons
Hard to use
Does strange things with Copy/Paste
makes you do EVERYTHING manually, no automatic features
Bullets for text plainly don't work at all. They disappear, change colors without your permission, and appear when you don't want them.
Freezes when autosavingSummary
If you are looking for a program that is second-best to office for free, this is it. You can write a paper on this quite easily, but for anything else, forget it. You might be able to do it, but it will take you five times longer, and a burning desire to punch your fist through your computer's screen. Just buy office, this is horrendous.
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"Works as advertised."
Version: OpenOffice.org 3.4.1
Pros
easy to use and free!
Cons
none that i could find so far.
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"does everything and is free. what more could one ask"
Version: OpenOffice.org 3.4.1
Pros
has everything you need: word processor/text document, spreadsheet, Presentation, templates, drawing, formula and database. It works like other office suites and is free
Cons
nothing so far. just need to learn more of what it can do
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"It Works - It's Free"
Version: OpenOffice.org 3.4.1
Pros
I have an occasional need to be able to create or read MS Office compatible documents. Open Office is fast and works well for my needs plus it's free. In fact I just used the Draw module to create a flow chart without the need for any instruction. If you've used any office suite this one will look familiar too.
Cons
Just say no to the extra downloads if you don't want them. Takes a second during the install to uncheck the boxes.
Summary
It works - it's compact - it's free !
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"Works nicely, but be careful during installation!"
Version: OpenOffice.org 3.4.1
Pros
OpenOffice contains all of the software one would expect in an Office suite, and it all works very nicely. There is a bit of a learning curve if you're used to Microsoft Office or other software, but the software seems reliable and stable. And best of all, it's free!
Cons
There is an ABSURD amount of bloatware that the installer attempts to trick you into installing. And it's mostly shady stuff too. Be sure to carefully read every screen and corresponding buttons during the install process. Do not use the quick "next > next > next" routine that we are all used to doing when installing software. Also, despite the claims of compatibility between Microsoft Office, it is still not 100% compatible and probably never will be. It comes pretty close, but if you expect to share complex documents with several users whose main method of viewing/editing them is MS Office, then it would be best just to buy/use MS to begin with.
Summary
All in all, this suite is quite powerful and impressive and I use it quite frequently. I cannot officially recommend it to anyone, however, because I am concerned about the software its installer is bundled with.
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"Great freeware!"
Version: OpenOffice.org 3.4.1
Pros
I use Windows Office, an old Word Perfect version, and OpenOffice. I like OpenOffice especially to save Word documents as PDF documents. It is easy to learn to use effectively. See the "cons" below.
Cons
Be careful when you download the software, before you click "Accept" to have it installed on your computer, make sure you are not agreeing to also download and install software and toolbars/browsers you don't really want. If the small print on the window with "Accept" talks about something your don't want (or if there is a checked box for something you don't want), uncheck any boxes for unwanted "stuff" and/or click on "Decline." Eventually, you will get a window for accepting JUST OpenOffice. Plus, be sure to open the installation file you saved to your computer to complete the setup.
Summary
Good stuff. Be cautious about what you are accepting with the download and installation on your computer. Don't accept any "crapware."
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"Simplicity is there"
Version: OpenOffice.org 3.4.1
Pros
Simplicity is there, same as how my fylcloud.com runs where I can share my projects with my clients
Cons
Crashes a lot
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"Good, but is it fully compatible with MS Word?"
Version: OpenOffice.org 3.4.1
Pros
It is a good word processor. I do not know what improvements the latest versions have.
Cons
I used it about 7 years ago when I went to a cafe internet, but they did not have MS Word. I downloaded OpenOffice and tried to use it for some Word documents. I had compatibility problems. I got frustrated. I downloaded it at a later date when Word was not working and later on uninstalled it when I did not need it anymore. It did not have some features I needed. I suppose that the new version is much better, but I do not know. I currently use MS Word and extra programs for features MS Word does not have. I am a fan of the CesarUSA Text Editor BS2, which works with the RTF, TXT, and HTML formats, is very simple to use, has autocompletion of words in multiple languages and it is going to include support for doc and docx files.
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