The OpenOffice.org Guidebook for OpenOffice.org 2 and StarOffice 8 is
the ultimate insider's guide to learning to use and love the office
suite. The book provides not just great, simple information about how
to use the program but the hidden tips and tricks you'll need to make
life easier. Solveig Haugland developed this book to
address exactly what people really need to know, written in a clear,
conversational manner.
If you're an OpenOffice user or an aspiring one, then spoil yourself
with Solveig Haugland's [...] 2 Guidebook. This book ruined my day when
it arrived. I had things to do, places to go. But once I opened it up,
I couldn't put it down. I don't remember blinking for the first few
chapters. Or so it seemed. Solveig has a reputation of being one of the
upper-tier brains in tech; that is, she's one of those unique people
who can economically explain complex operations in a clear,
step-by-step manner. What takes others 57 steps and 400 words to
explain, she can reduce to 5 steps and 75 words, only you remember it!
Think back and this is what your best teachers did when you were in
school. The book is supplemented by her prolific OpenOffice.org
Training, Tips, and Ideas site which not only teaches you the ins and
outs of OpenOffice.org, but it's where she gets a chance to interact
with users and gain feedback on topics beyond the book. She even
includes a section on "everything that didn't make it in the book."
That alone is a challenge to readers, but these topics are also covered
on her blog above. So if you are or you know an OpenOffice.org user,
this book would be an invaluable resource to have at their left hand.
'Practicality' describes this book best. It is full of useful tips for
situations that arise in 'real work.' It is not an academic or
theoretical treatise, nor is it a true 'manual' in the sense of feeling
the need to describe every option in every drop-down box.
The index is extremely well-done; it is easy to find the solution
to a given working problem quickly and efficiently. For instance, I was
working on an ebook that required numerous changes in page numbering
throughout the book. This would have taken an hour or more on my own;
with the Guidebook, I reached 'misson accomplished' status in about ten
minutes.
To set the level here, I am no OpenOffice/StarOffice beginner; I
have used the products back to the day before Sun bought out StarOffice
and when the print manuals were completely, and only, in German. Yet,
in just the first five pages of the Guide, I found two new tips, and it
just got better after that. The 'demystification' of the use of styles
is alone worth more than the price of the book.
The Guide is best for someone with some experience with office
suites; complete beginners need to start with a tutorial book first.
But if you have any level of knowledge, from rudimentary on up through
expert, and want a large number of practical tips on how to really work
effectively with OpenOffice, get this book at once.
"...You
don't have to shell out the $149-$499 Bill Gates plans to
charge you...You can, instead, order The OpenOffice.Org 1.0
Resource Kit for $28 and receive a superb office suite,
complete with a well-written 1,000-page manual that covers all
of the integrated programs...I am myself, for example, making
much better use of the OpenOffice.org spread sheet than I ever
made of Excel because of the detailed instructions in the
manual. " Read
the rest.
Lucid,
comprehensive, and enjoyable,
June 26, 2004 Knowing
that it's mostly intelligent, clear-thinking people who will be
willing to venture outside the for-your-own-good
totalitarianism of Microsoftland, the authoress efficiently
plots you a straight-line course to mastery of the
product...Her revivifying doses of occasional wit are actually
amusing - unlike the Borscht Belt shtick found in the "For
Dummies" volumes. .. I'm actually reading the thing
cover-to-cover, believe it or not. Best computer
instruction book ever? Read
the rest
Amazon UK "
Absolutely fantastic, 16 September, 2003 Reviewer: A
reader from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom This book is
a joy to read, It seems strange that I should say this about
such a dry subject...The book not only sums up what you can do
with the program but also goes into the details and answers
those annoying questions that you get with all computer
programs. ..I have been so please with it I have now bought 6
copies and given them to friends, teachers and polititions. I
love it. " Read
the rest
Slashdot "I'm
very picky when it comes to my geek shelf space, and this one
gets high markes in all the important areas: comprehensive,
well organized, and with a great signal-to-noise ratio."
Read
the rest.
JavaRanch.com "I learned a huge amount of new features
despite having worked with the application for over two years.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who intends to use
StarOffice. [10 out of 10 stars.]" ~ Marcus
Green, book reviewer, www.javaranch.com
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