Let's not forget about PC Suite from 602 Software
http://www.software602.com/
I found this one to be as good as Star Office with a much smaller
"footprint", and like Open Office it is free.
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Polvinale [mailto:garyp@...]
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 9:11 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Vantage] (OT) MS Office Alternatives
Interesting that so many have tried this. Our company decided to try
OpenOffice.org on a large scale 6 mo ago. I've been using it myself for
a
year. I'm still using it - prefer it to Office 2000. The authors did a
good job on it. But I think stopped short of where they need to be.
But had nothing but problems from users when it comes to their ability
to
format in such a way that documents will be able to be read back and
forth
with MS Office. I haven't had that much time to tinker with it, and we
need
good interfacing with our customers, so we are updating everyone to MS
Office XP. There are other reasons other than OpenOffice.org's
shortcomings, but after all the trouble I can't recommend it for overall
network use.
It also has problems dealing with various users on one workstation in
W2K.
I still haven't figured out how to get a foolproof install that will
work
with multiple users. If anyone has figured this out for sure, I'd be
real
interested to see how you do it.
But like I said, I'm still using it myself. It is very good at a lot of
things. The authors need to work on compatability a little more and
ease of
installation, if they want to take over the world from Microsoft.
Gary Polvinale
Denton ATD
Milan OH
-----Original Message-----
From: Rich Shafer [mailto:rshafer@...]
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 4:34 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] (OT) MS Office Alternatives
Marty,
I have used both Star Office and Open Office on my personal PC and my PC
at
work for evaluation purposes.
If your user is doing simple word processing and spreadsheets your
search is
over.
Go with Open Office.
First of all, its compatability with current MS Office file formatting
is
very good in both reading and saving as those types of files.
Second, it is free.
Third, If your user is at all capable in using MS Office products you
should
find their learning curve more of a learning bump.
Download it at www.openoffice.org and give it a spin.
I think you will be pleasantly suprised.
Star Office is a strong second for all of the same reasons as above.
The major differences are the costs and document templates and support.
If you are using sophisticated Macros then I suggest you proceed
cautiously
with both Open Office and Star Office
As I believe they are not as strong in that department as MS Office.
Currently out of about 30 PC's on my network we could reliably replace
MS
Office on all but one.
i.e.
If I had to drop all of my MS Products today, I would instantly load
Open
Office on every PC in the building.
Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must
have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder
and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
http://www.software602.com/
I found this one to be as good as Star Office with a much smaller
"footprint", and like Open Office it is free.
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Polvinale [mailto:garyp@...]
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 9:11 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Vantage] (OT) MS Office Alternatives
Interesting that so many have tried this. Our company decided to try
OpenOffice.org on a large scale 6 mo ago. I've been using it myself for
a
year. I'm still using it - prefer it to Office 2000. The authors did a
good job on it. But I think stopped short of where they need to be.
But had nothing but problems from users when it comes to their ability
to
format in such a way that documents will be able to be read back and
forth
with MS Office. I haven't had that much time to tinker with it, and we
need
good interfacing with our customers, so we are updating everyone to MS
Office XP. There are other reasons other than OpenOffice.org's
shortcomings, but after all the trouble I can't recommend it for overall
network use.
It also has problems dealing with various users on one workstation in
W2K.
I still haven't figured out how to get a foolproof install that will
work
with multiple users. If anyone has figured this out for sure, I'd be
real
interested to see how you do it.
But like I said, I'm still using it myself. It is very good at a lot of
things. The authors need to work on compatability a little more and
ease of
installation, if they want to take over the world from Microsoft.
Gary Polvinale
Denton ATD
Milan OH
-----Original Message-----
From: Rich Shafer [mailto:rshafer@...]
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 4:34 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] (OT) MS Office Alternatives
Marty,
I have used both Star Office and Open Office on my personal PC and my PC
at
work for evaluation purposes.
If your user is doing simple word processing and spreadsheets your
search is
over.
Go with Open Office.
First of all, its compatability with current MS Office file formatting
is
very good in both reading and saving as those types of files.
Second, it is free.
Third, If your user is at all capable in using MS Office products you
should
find their learning curve more of a learning bump.
Download it at www.openoffice.org and give it a spin.
I think you will be pleasantly suprised.
Star Office is a strong second for all of the same reasons as above.
The major differences are the costs and document templates and support.
If you are using sophisticated Macros then I suggest you proceed
cautiously
with both Open Office and Star Office
As I believe they are not as strong in that department as MS Office.
Currently out of about 30 PC's on my network we could reliably replace
MS
Office on all but one.
i.e.
If I had to drop all of my MS Products today, I would instantly load
Open
Office on every PC in the building.
Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must
have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder
and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/