Open source office?

[ajbrun]

Is this a decent replacement for microsoft office?
Does it have programs on it similar to:

* Word
* Excel
* Access

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04...ches_maturity/

I've read the review and some other bits about it, but I'm not sure if it's got a database facility. It's got something called "Adabas D relational database" though, but is that a replacement for access? (it says it's only enabled for three users and 100MB of data.)

Thanks for any help

It's not for me - I'm kind of helping someone research the possiblities of a cheaper office program .

[Moby-Dick]

openoffice.org does seem to be pretty good - I'm not an access person so I dont use either

[Red10]

I think OpenOffice is manky.... it´s Ok for making documents for assignments and the like, but overall it´s not in the same league as M$ Office, it lacks the features the quality and dare i say it, the reliability?! Though maybe that´s just me....
Also, if you are going to use it as part of a work group compatibility is an issue too.... for example the Presentation proggie files in OpenOffice don´t format properly in Power Point etc.

So basically OOffice is ok for run of the mill stuff but it´s cheap and nasty compared to M$ Stuff and the two don´t play nice either in my experience....

[nichomach]

OO's never lacked reliability from my perspective; and something that's definitely worth a look is the beta codeline for v2; yes it's a beta, but it's been stable for me so far and is pretty good for features.

Link to OpenOffice 2 snapshot builds

[Red10]

OO's never lacked reliability from my perspective;

Link to OpenOffice 2 snapshot builds

Fair point, BUT when you open a M$ Word document in OpenOffice, amend it, then save changes - OOffice ALWAYS crashes (again in my experience)...

Maybe this isn´t exactly a reliability issue, but i hope you get the idea...

[nichomach]

No, I think it's just a "your machine" issue. I frequently edit Word docs in the beta of v2, have done in 1.1.0 and 1.1.3, as has my other half, and without nasty crashes.

[directhex]

openoffice has word processing, spreadsheets, frontpage-grade html editing, basic publisher-grade typesetting, and presentation ability. the word processor is word compatible, the spreadsheets are excel compatible, the presentations are powe****** compatible (be sure to save in ms format rather than the default open-source format if you need to interoperate with windows users. it has some extra features not found in office msoffice such as exporting straight to pdf file. it's a little rough around the edges in places, but it's also several hundred quid cheaper than msoffice, and constantly improving.

it has nothign access-like

and i've never had stability issues with it - it's just a little slow to start up.

[ajbrun]

Is there a cheap (or even free) access program out there anywhere? It must be pretty much the same as access, cheaper and just as good.

I really don't like how the larger companies charge over the odds for a piece of software - it even costs more than most PC's I think!

[nichomach]

It's worth noting that StarOffice (which is Sun's partly proprietary suite which is based upon OpenOffice) does include AdabasD as its database package, which performs similar functions to Access. StarOffice is NOT free, however, but the package can be had for $39.95 as a download from Sun.

edit: That price is for the whole suite, not just the AdabasD part.

You can set OO to work in MS-compatible mode by default under Tools, Options, Load/Save, General (in the v2 beta, I forget the location in v1).

[ajbrun]

Is the AdabasD part as good as access?

[nichomach]

I've only had a quick play with earlier versions, so couldn't tell you, but you can try the three user 100MB version HERE

It's a 90-day eval.

Does that help any?

[Kezzer]

I've used OpenOffice for a long time and never had any problems with it. It's a great office suite imo

[oyster]

imho there isn't any open source database that really compares to Access for quickly building simple database apps.

Personally, I don't get on with OO.o and use Abiword and Gnumeric for WP and Spreadsheets, and am still looking for a decent db, although the combination of Rekall and MySQL is about the best currently available (again in my opinion of course!).

[ajbrun]

I've looked around on the net a bit, and I think the general opinion is that Access is the best one, even though is massively expensive!

[PopUpPirate]

Lotus Approach is much more user friendly, tends to be cheapest when bought as part of the SmartSuite package, which generally isn't as good as MS Office, apart from Approach and Organizer (imho).

Expect to pay £30-45.