Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

peterkirn — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:41:40 GMT

Hang on, if we're actually suggesting iWork over OpenOffice, we've definitely entered the twilight zone. That application suite is beautifully designed -- and wildly incompatible, missing key features, and often buggy.

For what it's worth, I've written for official Apple publisher and Mac-centric publishing house Peachpit and for Macworld Magazine, and the in-house tools there are both Office. Were they happy about that? Nope. Did I develop a unique language of expletives to describe extensive revisions of a 600 page book? Yep. If revision tools were better in OO, would those houses switch? Probably. Would I? Already have.

The casual office user who occasionally needs a desktop tool and is doing a lot of sharing on Google Docs to me is a *prime* candidate for Open Office. And the download numbers and anecdotal evidence bear that out. OO is growing. Figure that -- Microsoft shaking in their boots or not -- this market is so HUGE that you don't have to take a very big bite out of it to have a healthy user base.

Mac users have always had an awkward relationship with Microsoft to begin with (gee, can't imagine why). The new office suite to many Mac users I've talked to is a huge disappointment. And OpenOffice is finally maturing and differentiating itself.

So, yeah, I don't see this as the Beginning of the End for Microsoft, but Paul, why paint it in the same black-and-white terms in the reverse?

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re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

Waethorn — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:29:17 GMT

" When they needed to buy 10 cals of Office 2007 "

you don't buy CAL's for Office, you buy CAL's for Windows Server....

....such ignorance!

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

subzerohitman721 — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:13:54 GMT

The biggest problem with OpenOffice.org is that its tied to Java. Java continues to have security and performance issues. There are rampant code bloat issues reported and versus MS Office, lacks the speed and responsiveness of the program.

blogs.zdnet.com/Ou

Also, the U.S. goverment has programs in place to purchase PC's for school districts, which usually contain some version of MS Office. MS reps work hand in hand not only with the PC vendors and school districts, but also with the companies contracted to do delivery, installation, and upkeep. This is a big part of the ecosystem that both Apple and Linux has failed to establish for their operating systems. Thats why MS dominance of the industry is not going away. Until Apple and Linux companies attack the true infrastructure of MS, then maybe they might gain ground.

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

Avro — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:50:03 GMT

@tristanh

If you are a Mac using professional writer you would probably use Scrivener or WriteRoom. These both split the creative part of writing from formatting.

"The bottom line with that is that Microsoft is too smart to let that happen"

Unfortunately Microsoft has not been smart in the past nor will they make the decision. Their reluctance to comply with the EU anti-trust judgements may have knocked them out of contention for future EU government contracts and this could spill over to Enterprise. This may be what has provoked their appeal this week of the judgement. Basically you have to be of good character to be considered for further government contracts and if the judgement stands, that means that Microsoft may not be able to bid on new contracts. If Microsoft had been smart they would have complied with the earlier judgements and that would not have placed them in this position nor with such a heavy fine.

arstechnica.com/.../20080414-microsoft-may-be-barred-from-eu-public-procurement-procedure.html

I don't think we would be particularly well served by having a choice of Open Office or Open Office, but that is what we could end up with. I think Open Office is okay and I certainly could live with it, but it is still a bit bargain basement.

@DRWAM I have iWork on my Hard Drive and it certainly is very nice and a good alternative to MS Office. Some will stick with Office just because they don't like change and others will prefer iWork. I think both are good.

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

DRWAM — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:07:06 GMT

Dipsh and Lindy, several ISP's give an anti-virus/internet protection suite for free, even for business accounts.

Drylight, most of my group that own PC's prefer MS Office. Those that do not were the ones that missed the rebate, but several that missed the rebate still bought MS Office, I think the Student version since we all have kids.

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

drylight — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:26:05 GMT

Mac users also prefer Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Much better office suite than Office. Pages renders Word docs better than Word itself. Keynote craps all over power point and Numbers is so so nice.

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

clindhartsen — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:20:54 GMT

Honestly, the biggest issue with any open source product is, like Paul has said in the past (I believe, don't quote me), is whether it brings anything new to the table. Linux has had some welcoming into servers since it likely runs on less than Windows and many in the IT community probably like assorted elements of it. Firefox has gained a following since it provides extensions and overall makes the web experience better than IE was during the entire IE 6 era from XP launch to near Vista launch.

Now, we get to Open Office, and what do we have? We have a product that works some of the time, but still can't function very well with the standards already on the books. When most companies can afford mass licenses, not to mention many schools, what is the purpose of using a sub-par product that requires you to install additional software just to make it work. Also, when we already have the Word/PP/EX standards on near most PCs, what good is it when you have this other product yelling other formats at you? I had to help a teacher the other day since she had a student use a computer in another room, accidentally saved it in OpenOffice format, and couldn't open it on her PC since it didn't have OO. Many teachers have moderate tech knowledge, but may not understand the inbetween issue.

Either way, I use OO for a long time bit made the investment for the Student edition, and honestly, I don't know how I survived with OO for so long.

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

Dipsh t Admin — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:54:48 GMT

Lindy, make sure you look at those small business licenses again for AVG. AVG is free for personal use, but here, in red, it states if you are a business: "AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is only available for single computer use for home and non commercial use."

www.grisoft.com/ww.product-avg-anti-virus-free-edition

If you are a business, the only free protection that I know of is ClamWin, and that is passive protection.

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

Lindy — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:12:14 GMT

I know of at least three Small Business that have switched. When they needed to buy 10 cals of Office 2007 at around $150 is was easy to make the switch.

It really depends how much you use say Excel and if Calc can do what you want. I have never seen a new PC in the last three years come with office. They come with 30/90 trials.

In a small privately owned company products like OpenOffice and AVG - Free, and others save $$$.

I am not saying OpenOffice is better, but its pretty dam good. Most Office users don't touch 50% of the power of office.

I for one dont really like Office 2007. The ribbon is to big, the start up times suck compared to 2003 and the learning curve for Joe User is steep as well, but its popular.

OpenOffice by its self is no match for Office, but it is one of the many pin pricks, along with many cloud efforts that just might make up the "death of a thousand pin pricks" for Office. Someday maybe.

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

tristanh — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:47:52 GMT

@Avro

The bottom line with that is that Microsoft is too smart to let that happen. Regardless of how good OpenOffice gets, I can't see it ever being at the same level as Office. And if for some reason this becomes a serious consideration, I'm sure that MS will do everything they can to keep thier customers.

Maybe it's just me, but OpenOffice is just too far away from the real thing to be any good, and this is the reason people keep shelling out the money for Office.

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

Waethorn — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:46:26 GMT

"Most users WILL get Office pre-installed on their new PCs."

Ah, but many new systems ship with trials. Consumer PC's are supposed to ship with Office Home & Student ONLY if the user purchases it at the time of computer purchase, but many manufacturers include the 25-launch trial against Microsoft's recommendations, unless they also include a full version of Works. Business PC's are supposed to ship with the "Office Ready PC" trial, which is a hybrid trial that can be unlocked to Office Basic, Small Business, or Professional, which are the only editions available for businesses in OEM versions.

Office Home & Student OEM has a 25-launch trial when preinstalled. The "Office Ready PC" hybrid trial has an option for system builders to include the Office Activation Assistant which gives users a full 60-day trial of Office Professional. If the user doesn't use the Activation Assistant, they get the same 25-use trial.

A user can buy an OEM copy from the manufacturer up to 90 days after purchasing the computer. If they do, they can unlock their trial for full use. The Office Pro hybrid trial will fall back to lesser versions, and leave any superceding programs still enabled as a trial, if time remains on the initial 60 days, meaning that if you buy an "Office Ready PC", but purchase Office Small Business under 60 days after buying the computer, Office Access will remain a trial app until the 60 days are up, since it is not included in the SB edition.

If the user doesn't purchase Office, and the trial expires, AFAIK you can still view and print documents from the programs, but you can't edit documents. Essentially, they turn into the equivalent viewer programs that Microsoft also offers for free. After 90 days, the manufacturer isn't allowed to sell the customer an OEM copy, and the user would have to purchase a retail one.

re: Sorry, but OpenOffice.org is an also-ran ... and always will be

tristanh — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:41:47 GMT

@Ocean

Dude... you are referencing a post from 2005. A lot has changed since then. For one MS has released Office 2007 which set the bar even higher for OpenOffice.org and gave them a whole bunch more that they need to do.

Also, since that post, could computing has become bigger and bigger to the point where it now seems that this is going to be the future. It is pointless to try to take market share away from Office now as the evolution of applications such as Google Docs progress and more and more people jump into the cloud. If OpenOffice.org really wants to make a splash they need to try to beat out Google Docs and create something for the cloud that is much more usable than what is out there now.