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December 12, 2010 at 8:20 pm #971146Up::0
MS Office Suite too expensive for your business?
Free alternatives to Word, Excel, Powerpoint and more. Visit http://www.openoffice.org
January 27, 2011 at 12:42 pm #1048025January 27, 2011 at 10:22 pm #1048026Up::0I have used OpenOffice for many year and on many different computers.
You dont get things for FREE anymore except OpenOfficeJanuary 28, 2011 at 3:15 am #1048027Up::0oscsau, post: 63135 wrote:Look into Open Office by Sun technology. I found that to be good.Thats exactly what the OP linked to.
Open Office is great, but be careful if you share your files with other MS Office users. You will encounter compatibility problems, especially with Spreadsheets.
MS Office is not that expensive anymore, Academic and Student versions are available. If your a business then really you should be using business class, industry standard and highly compatible tools, such as MS Office Pro.
Example: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 – 3 Computers – Retail -$166
or
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 – 1 PC and Portable Device for Same User – Retail – $314 (thats a desktop & laptop for $314)
January 28, 2011 at 3:49 am #1048028Up::0IT Advocate, post: 63202 wrote:Thats exactly what the OP linked to.Open Office is great, but be careful if you share your files with other MS Office users. You will encounter compatibility problems, especially with Spreadsheets.
MS Office is not that expensive anymore, Academic and Student versions are available. If your a business then really you should be using business class, industry standard and highly compatible tools, such as MS Office Pro.
Example: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 – 3 Computers – Retail -$166
or
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 – 1 PC and Portable Device for Same User – Retail – $314 (thats a desktop & laptop for $314)
Interesting,
I’ve used OO for over 4 years exclusively and export spreadsheets and word doc’s almost daily, never had an issue but I do have client’s using MS office that have issues between different versions of MS Office that have switched to OO.
There’s also some pretty strong debate going on at the moment at a federal government level to move/ encourage Gov. Depts towards open source, internationally compliant file formats and stop paying for proprietary licensing fees .
I would also suggest as this is a forum for solo/micro business it’s unlikely many small operator’s would need anywhere need full office suite functionality, so why pay for something you’re only going to use 10 percent of.My example: 1 workstation/PC, 2 laptops cost= $0.00
January 28, 2011 at 4:32 am #1048029Up::0No denying facts, Just as there is compatibility issues between Open Office and MS Office, there is also compatibility issues between MS Office 2000,2003,2007 and 2010.
As this is a small/micro business forum Im trying to provide a ‘least hassle’ solution as possible. One with the shortest learning curve and the highest possible support (both in-person and via internet searches/tutorials).
The main point is that MS Office was once a very very expensive program and OO was a real viable alternative. Now MS has changed its pricing structure to make it affordable.
In regards to our govt discussing open source, here is an article you might find interesting:
Via Google Translate: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a plan for transition of power structures and the federal budget [to] free software. According to the document, the introduction of Linux in government should begin in II quarter 2012.Today it became known that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a document which describes the timetable for the transition of power structures on free software (OSS).
The document is called a “transition plan of the federal authorities and federal budgetary institutions on the use of free software, and covers the period from 2011 to 2015.]
January 28, 2011 at 4:55 am #1048030Up::0I use Google Doc regularly and it is getting to be pretty good. Nice if you want to share over the web – http://docs.google.com. But I still use Microsoft and find it better in many ways to OpenOffice. However for a free product suite OpenOffice is not bad. MS Office sometimes tries to be too smart which can be painful like opening CSV files in Excel and dropping leading zeros.
January 28, 2011 at 5:23 am #1048031Up::0IT Advocate, post: 63218 wrote:No denying facts, Just as there is compatibility issues between Open Office and MS Office, there is also compatibility issues between MS Office 2000,2003,2007 and 2010.As this is a small/micro business forum Im trying to provide a ‘least hassle’ solution as possible. One with the shortest learning curve and the highest possible support (both in-person and via internet searches/tutorials).
The main point is that MS Office was once a very very expensive program and OO was a real viable alternative. Now MS has changed its pricing structure to make it affordable.
In regards to our govt discussing open source, here is an article you might find interesting:
Via Google Translate: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a plan for transition of power structures and the federal budget [to] free software. According to the document, the introduction of Linux in government should begin in II quarter 2012.Today it became known that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a document which describes the timetable for the transition of power structures on free software (OSS).
The document is called a “transition plan of the federal authorities and federal budgetary institutions on the use of free software, and covers the period from 2011 to 2015.]
Cheers for the link.
I will keep an eye on the blog too.
Point taken on “least hassle”, not the right forum perhaps for arguing open source issues but I think it’s important people know there are good alternatives that are not beyond their scope to use.January 28, 2011 at 5:38 am #1048032Up::0I’ve got to say that I’ve experienced many more compatibility issues between different versions of MS Office than I have between MS Office and Open Office. Most of the problems I have seen have been a result of macros and advanced formulas, so if you’re not using those then I think OO is a very good alternative to MS Office.
One great advantage with Open Office is it’s built-in ability to save as a PDF – something that MS Office is still unable to do as far as I know.
As always, it’s a case of horses for courses… if Open Office or even Google Docs does what you need, then why pay Microsoft for bloated software that serves you no purpose? I’d rather spend that money on marketing or put it towards a coffee machine!
Cheers,
JohnFebruary 1, 2011 at 4:00 am #1048033Up::0Also, for those trying to open a Microsoft Project file, this works :
(The version I have can’t save in MS Project format, but it’s good for when a project manager sends a schedule for you to look at)
Oh, and you still get heaps for free
http://www.ubuntu.com/
February 4, 2011 at 1:17 am #1048034Up::0You should go with the program that you find usable. Price shouldn’t be the deciding point, but take it into account all things together like; ease of use, layout, interaction with others that you deal with, long term readability etc.
For example I started using a word processing program call Perfect Writer which shows just how long I have been doing this. While the files were saved as .mss they were still basically a text file and are still readable by any text editor. However I also used a relational database called Borland Reflex which has a very limited ability to be read and understood by any other program.
By the way Office 2010 will save files as a pdf.
February 11, 2011 at 3:08 am #1048035Up::0Whenever I buy a new computer I make sure the place I buy it from throws in Microsoft Office for me so I never have to go out and buy one. I like to stick to what I know with some things and MS office I have been using for over a decade or so now. Yeah sure, sometimes it mucks up etc but not that often Better the devil you know I reckon.
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