Technology Tips for Success
Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.org Compared
Over the last year and a half the MJI Network Services Department has been working with an office productivity suite called OpenOffice.org as an alternative to Microsoft Office 2003. During our evaluation and adoption, we've noticed many similarities and differences between both suites.
First the prices. OpenOffice.org is an 'open source' application, which means that it is free to acquire, use, distribute and/or make modifications without penalty. On the other side of the coin, Microsoft (MS) Office is a 'proprietary' application, which means that the user has legal limitations on distribution, use and modifications. MS Office is also limited to those who can afford its up to $700 price tag for the currently available Office 2007.
In promoting OpenOffice.org, we've heard a few people express concerns about 'standard file format compatibility'. The 'standard' in this case refers to MS Office. OpenOffice.org can save and open its own files as well as Microsoft's, among others. OpenOffice.org can also export its own files to a PDF format, something MS Office cannot do without help from a pricey Adobe program.
Another difference exists in the amount of “editions.” MS Office has a plethora of editions, such as Home or Professional. Each of these “editions” contains a different mix of applications based on potential usage. Home Edition has less functionality than Professional, for example. OpenOffice.org has one edition which contains six applications.
Both suites share four common applications. These include: a word processor, spreadsheet, slide show presenter, and a database. These four applications have a similar look and feel, with some minor differences. For example, MS Office uses shades of blue while OpenOffice.org uses gray shades. Microsoft's word processor, “Word”, has five different page views, while OpenOffice.org's word processor, “Writer” has two. In each case 'Print Layout View' are virtually the same. MS Excel spreadsheet program and OpenOffice.org's Calc spreadsheet program are almost twins. The same can be said for MS PowerPoint presentation program and OpenOffice.org's Impress presentation program. The database programs are not mentioned here, we have not yet used OpenOffice.org's database program (called “Base”), so we have nothing to compare MS Access to.
On the opposite end, both suites have a few not-in-common applications. The Professional version of MS Office 2003 has an E-mail application known as Outlook, and a page designer referred to as Publisher. OpenOffice.org has two applications in addition to the four listed in the previous paragraph. These are 'Draw' and 'Math'. Draw is a graphics editor with some desktop publishing tools similar to MS Publisher. Math is a tool for creating/editing mathematical formulas.
Finally, the footprints taken up by both programs are very different. MS Office devours a large chunk of space, requiring roughly 1 GB of disk space after all the updates. OpenOffice.org requires a smaller footprint of just under 300MB. In fact, OpenOffice.org can even be installed and run from a flash drive, without the need to install it on your local computer.
Both suites are very good and powerful platforms, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. OpenOffice.org works well on PCs that are light on resources. It is also a wonderful asset to those with limited budgets, especially students. MS Office works well for the power users that need the higher functionalities that OpenOffice.org doesn't support.. Both of these suites are on the public PCs in the MJI Learning Resources Center, feel free to take OpenOffice.org for a test drive! OpenOffice.org is available for free download at www.OpenOffice.org.
