Perhaps you're on a tight budget and you don't want to pay big bucks for Microsoft Office. Or maybe you have to collaborate on a project across several platforms—more than just Mac and PC—and you need a versatile office suite that allows you to do this. Or maybe you just plain don't like Microsoft Office! Whatever the reason, if you're in search of a free alternative to Microsoft Office, the best place to turn is "open source" software.
What is open source? Put simply, open source refers to programs whose source code is available to the public free of charge and open to changes and modification. On the surface that sounds dangerous. Couldn't anybody just hack into the code and riddle it with viruses and spyware? Yes, but it is highly unlikely. Open source programs are the work of a large community of programmers who take their work and their reputations seriously. Of course an unscrupulous hack might try to sabotage an open source program, but given the peer review that reputable open source programs undergo before they are officially declared stable makes this virtually impossible.
Open source software makes for a family of programs that is incredibly dynamic and diversified. Upgrades, improvements, and even user-requested customizations are fast-paced compared to those in the commercial, closed-source market—not to mention free in most cases. Some examples of open source software include Linux (an operating system), OpenOffice (an office suite similar to MS Office), and Joomla (a web development program). All of these programs are incredibly robust and enjoy a large community of contributors, which translates into LOTS of free customer support.
So much for the introductory crash course into open source software! What about the free alternative to Microsoft Office? Of the available free titles, perhaps the best is OpenOffice available for free from http://www.openoffice.org/. OpenOffice is a full-featured office suite that will allow you to do everything that MS Office does without the hefty price tag. It can even use and create MS Office files and Adobe .pdf's. That said, you need to understand that OpenOffice is NOT MS Office. By that I mean that OpenOffice has its signature characteristics–and quirks. For instance, it has an unusual way of handling graphics in Writer, its word processing program. Its way of cropping graphics is not as intuitive as it could be, but it's a small price to pay, given how powerful it is. Stride for stride, OpenOffice is every bit as good as (some would say better than) its Microsoft counterpart.
Below is a list of the programs included in OpenOffice, and the MS Office equivalent:
- OpenOffice: Writer – Word processor = MS Word
- OpenOffice: Impress – Presentation software = MS PowerPoint
- Open Office Calc – Spreadsheet = MS Excel
- OpenOffice: Base – Database program = Access
- OpenOffice: Math – Creates mathematical functions = ?
- OpenOffice: Draw – Creates vector graphics = ?
When you download OpenOffice, you have a number of options besides just which operating system you want to use it on. OpenOffice is available in a number of developmental stages, also known as builds. If you're a software developer up for a fulfilling challenge, the latest build may be exactly what you want. The latest builds are works in progress, have the latest innovations, and require a programmer's expertise to perfect.
For the rest of us, the latest build is probably not the best thing. The latest builds may have the latest innovations, but that also means they will be the ones most prone to crashes and bugs. If you want OpenOffice ready-to-use, download the stable version. It's like buying the current model year car as opposed to buying the concept car. Sure the concept car is cool and will turn a lot of heads, but you don't know if all the bugs have been worked out yet. The current model year car is still cool and still turns heads, and you can be sure it's reliable. The stable version is the download that OpenOffice.org promotes by default. With it, you'll get the latest and greatest available to the average user, and you'll save yourself a lot of frustration.
OK, so OpenOffice is cheap (read free) and robust, but is it easy to learn, and is it practical? Yes. MS Office users should have few problems transitioning into OpenOffice; and its multiple platform availability makes it ideal for collaborative efforts. OpenOffice is available for Windows (2000, NT & XP), Linux, Solaris, Mac OSX (including Mac Intel), Linux PPC, and FreeBSD.
So, if you're simply looking for a Microsoft Office alternative, looking to collaborate across several platforms, or just trying to save a few bucks, OpenOffice is an efficient and cost-effective tool worthy of your consideration.
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This article may be used on the web as long as it is presented unchanged and in its entirety along with this entire resource box. For other uses, please contact the author at glenn@imglenn.net. Glenn teaches students with special needs and is his school's resident 'computer geek.' Looking for other free or inexpensive alternative software? Check out http://www.SoftwareVector.com. It's what you need at the prices you want. |
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