OpenOffice.org vs. Google Docs

[steve2222]

Any views on which is better.

Do they both emulate M$ Office to the same degree, or is one better than the other? Also are they as good as each other for converting files backwards and forwards with M$ Office?

Appreciate Google Docs lets you store your documents with Google and the associated pros and cons of that.

 

[mayk]

Any views on which is better.

Do they both emulate M$ Office to the same degree, or is one better than the other? Also are they as good as each other for converting files backwards and forwards with M$ Office?

Appreciate Google Docs lets you store your documents with Google and the associated pros and cons of that.

Openoffice is like the open source copy of MS office. A part from MS office 2008 format (they might have fixed it by now). All previous formats along with open document format (odf) is supported. It has the whole shebang (excel, word, powerpoint etc.)

Google docs is limited. It lets you write small articles, if you are not fond of including tables, and other complex objects in your article. But it is extremely simple. I generally use it to store my ideas, but not for writing publishable articles. The google powerpoint is simple, but effective.

If you have missed it (as it is a cult software), try using latex. It has a learning curve, but the results and quality beats almost anything.

Overall, I think you are better off with openoffice, more flexible and more features.

One last point, most of the people have problem while printing the document if they have different versions of MS Word . Try to convert your Word document in to pdf or PS format before printing and save yourself the avoidable hassle every time.

 

[wildkactus]

Openoffice all the way,
I have been using it for some time now and love it.
Takes a little at first to get use to them you are away.

I personally think it is far better then MS Office. more features and always seams to work right.

as for google doc have loked but did not like the concept.

if you want an online based solution look into the hosted office suites that are around. like zoho.com

 

[skyQuake]

Disagree with above in regards to functionality. OO Calc is a fair bit behind MS Excel in features. Macros are written in Python rather than basic, and some features are not available. eg. Dynamic charts.

Stick with MS Office if you can imo.