OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org Overview
OpenOffice.org 2.x
OpenOffice.org is a powerful, fully-featured Office Suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office. This means that you can open, edit and save files created with Word, Excel or PowerPoint using OpenOffice.org.
OOo is suitable (in fact ideal) for use by individuals, educational organizations and of course, businesses. OpenOffice.org is available for many different Operating Systems and languages and is an affordable, legal alternative to other Office Suites like MS Office.
But OpenOffice.org (often shortened to OOo) offers more features: a drawing tool, a Math editor and PDF and Flash export to name just a few. (If you don't know what these are, please read the Frequently Asked Questions page).
OOo is now over 6 years old, (the StarOffice code was first donated on 13th October 2000) and there are estimated to be over 40 million people using the software.
The OpenOffice.org Mission Statement is: "to create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data..."
On 20th October 2005, OpenOffice.org 2.0 was released. For the previous 2 years individuals, governments, and corporations around the world were looking forward to this release. OOo 2.0 is easy to use and compatible with every major office suite.
OpenOffice.org 2.0 is the first open source office suite to offer thorough support for the Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) OASIS Standard. OpenDocument is an XML file format that was developed by OASIS, the international body for the development and ratification of e-Business standards. The OpenDocument format can be used by any office application without fear of vendor specific lock-in, format obsolescence, or onerous licensing terms and fees.
Several countries, as well as the U.S. state of Massachusetts, have already established OpenDocument as the default for their office documents.
The OOo suite now also offers a powerful database module, Base, to complement the word processor (Writer), spreadsheet manager (Calc), presentation manager (Impress) and drawing tool (Draw) modules. These give all users the tools they need to be productive in the modern world.
With a new user interface, OpenOffice.org 2.0 is easy to learn and use by the most inexperienced user, and is significantly more compatible with Microsoft Office files than prior versions.
Able to run on Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, Sun Solaris and other platforms, OpenOffice.org is increasingly the choice of businesses and governments throughout the world, and over 49 million copies of earlier versions are now estimated to be in circulation.
8daysaweek promote the use of OpenOffice.org by individuals, schools, businesses and other organizations. We also encourage use of other, high quality, open-source software and freeware where viable and practical.
Our aim is to remain user-focused. We provide a resource for user to user help via our forums, where we also "chip in" and provide support to users who have purchased CDs.
We try to provide balanced reviews of open source software and resources, and unbiased comparisons with some other well-known programs. Please read our Mission Statement for more information.
