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OpenOffice.org 2
Guidebook

OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute. Compatible with other major office suites, OpenOffice.org is free to download, use, and distribute. Download it now, and get: Writer – a word processor you can use for anything from writing a quick letter to producing an entire book. Calc – a powerful spreadsheet with all the tools you need to calculate, analyse, and present your data in numerical reports or sizzling graphics. Impress – the fastest, most powerful way to create effective multimedia presentations. Draw – lets you produce everything from simple diagrams to dynamic 3D illustrations. Base – lets you manipulate databases seamlessly. Create and modify tables, forms, queries, and reports, all from within OpenOffice.org Math – lets you create mathematical equations with a graphic user interface or by directly typing your formulas into the equation editor.

Sun Microsystems and StarOffice OpenOffice.org is the same as StarOffice, which sold and supported by Sun Microsystems, but without the templates, some filters, a different spellchecker, and a few other features. We don't think most people need StarOffice; try OpenOffice.org and see how it works for you. If you want Sun behind you giving support and other consulting, then go ahead and use StarOffice or the Java Desktop. Sun provides StarOffice at a significant discount to educational institutions. Novell's OpenOfffice.org Many report liking the version of OpenOffice.org provided by Novell; conversion in particular works well according to reports.

Why is it free? Some programmers are paid in money. Others are paid in the satisfaction of being involved in something they believe in. Both, with the backing of Sun Microsystems, are involved in creating the OpenOffice.org office suite. So OpenOffice.org is absolutely free of price or licensing constraint. You can download it for free f you don't have a fast connection. This means that you can not only use OpenOffice.org for free but make copies and give them to your friends. Give 100 copies out at your next parent-teacher conference. It's not only legal--it's encouraged. If you're the IT person for your organization, this means that you never ever have to keep track of office suite licenses again.

• It's actually free?

• It actually lets me open and create Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files?

• Is it hard to learn?

• Who else is using it?

• Can I use it for my business?

• Why haven't I heard of it?

• I know it runs on Linux and Solaris, but does it run on Windows? Or Mac?

• How do I learn to use it?

• How do I get a CD of the software?

• Is it the same as StarOffice?

• It's free, but is it good?

• What about connecting to databases?

• If it's free, how does anyone make money?

• Why should I go with open source software?

It's actually free?
OpenOffice.org is free. No qualifications, no additions. It's open source software. And it's a good product. It's part of a growing movement all over the world to make software open to everyone, not just controlled by a few companies, and priced anyway they please. 

It actually lets me open and create Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files?
Yep. The conversion is really pretty good, and conversion enhancements have been added in 1.1. Sometimes the layout will switch a little in a Writer document, sometimes you'll need to change print settings, sometimes you'll need to apply different bullets. Overall interoperability is really good.

Is it hard to learn?
OpenOffice.org is quite similar to other office suites, including Microsoft Office. Calc and Excel are particularly similar since with spreadsheets, you're dealing with a lot of math, which doesn't change depending on your software. Take a look at these toolbars for OpenOffice.org Writer and Word, too. If you're a Word user now, you're going to be able to get started on Writer pretty easily.

The "OpenOffice.org 2 Guidebook" user's guide includes tutorials. You can also get workbooks for each application.

Who else is using it?
10 million users worldwide, and growing   And those are just the ones who have told OpenOffice.org that they're using it. Read about how a company ditched Microsoft for OpenOffice.org, and is loving every minute of it. (If that news story isn't up anymore, click here.)  Or read this article, "Home Users Leap to Linux." And the US defense department is using StarOffice. (We might or might not back what the US defense department is using it for, but hey, whatever they're doing, they have a good office suite.)

Can I use it for my business?
Absolutely. It'll save you a lot of money in Microsoft Office licenses, today and every day going forward. Get your employees a little training ahead of time, throw them a party with some of the money you'll be saving, and you'll be good to go. You can still interact with businesses that use MS Office since you can save in MS Office format using OpenOffice.org.

Why haven't I heard of it?
If you're interested, but you're kind of worried because you've never heard of OpenOffice.org before, don't worry. It's been around for years; a German company called StarDivision has been selling it for years, for several hundred dollars. Then Sun Microsystems bought it and set it free for anyone to use. And frankly, Sun has always been really good at making good products, but less good at telling people about them. If Bill Gates blows his nose, he does a product launch; but you hear little or nothing about OpenOffice.org or StarOffice. 

I know it runs on Linux and Solaris, but does it run on Windows? Or Mac?
OpenOffice.org runs virtually identically on Windows and UNIX, and a Mac version is in beta/prerelease.

How do I learn to use it?
The core features of Writer, Calc, and Impress are very similar to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. You'll be able to get started with the basics pretty easily. For the rest, you can get training,books, and workbooks from getOpenOffice.org.

Read the slashdot review of the "OpenOffice.org Resource Kit" user's guide with CD.

How do I get a CD of the software?
Get the $10 CD by clicking here. Or  download it here.

Is it the same as StarOffice?
OpenOffice.org is the same as StarOffice, which sold and supported by Sun Microsystems, but without the templates, Adabas database, some filters, and a few other features. We personally don't think most people need StarOffice; try OpenOffice.org and see how it works for you. If you want Sun behind you giving support and other consulting, then go ahead and use StarOffice or the Java Desktop.

It's free, but is it good?
It's a fullfledged office suite, as big as MS Office. It's got a great set of features—everything you need to do word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation slides. Plus extra programs for drawing that you don't get with Microsoft Office: OpenOffice.org Draw is like Canvas, with a bit of Visio thrown in.

Does it connect to databases?
Absolutely. If you've got Access databases sitting around, you can connect to them using OpenOffice.org's data source setup tools. Then you can suck that data into OpenOffice.org documents to do mail merges, pivot tables, and more. You can connect to just about any database under the sun; you can even use a plain text file or spreadsheet as a data source.

OpenOffice.org 2.0 also lets you create your own databases from scratch with the Base tool.

How does anyone make any money if it's free?
OpenOffice.org is open source software. Open Source is a very cool approach to open source which means that developers sometimes get paid in money, and sometimes get paid in recognition, job satisfaction, or the other intangibles that make a difference. (How many people do you know who earn good salaries and hate their jobs?)  To learn more about Open Source, you can read the well respected works on this topic by Eric Raymond and Richard Stallman.

Another factor is that Sun bought StarOffice outright. Back during the bubble when everyone had huge amounts of money.

And the other main factor is that people still make money from services. Giving away the product and making money from services is just an extreme extension of the common practice of selling a product cheaply, and then making  money on support and other services.