OpenOffice.org

imeime
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I do not yet have a Mac machine and am currently using a PC. I've also made the switch from Microsoft Office 2003 to OpenOffice.org. The application on the PC runs great without any hickups.



How does OpenOffice.org run on the Mac and is it up to par with the new Pages software and the AppleWorks suite?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    jwink3101jwink3101 Posts: 739member
    OOO is okay on mac. You need to jump through hoops to get it work work. That is because it is not a native port, rather it is made to work with X11 (free from apple). There is a small app that comes with the program (i think) that will launch it and jump those hoops for you.



    Appleworks just plain old sucks and i haven't really gotten a good look at pages but it seems more like a M$Publisher replacement rather than a Word 2004 replacement.



    I use Office 2004 because i love the notebook view and because it works well for me (except that it sometimes is a processor hog). I also have it because i need excel for a bunch of physics and chem (titration curves) stuff which OOO does not do too well. I am a student so i originally got the student edition ($129) but then when v.2004 came and i got the free upgrade, i paid extra to get a non-student professional version (same as non-student 2004 plus VPC7). The student edition is exactly the same but it says student on one of the about screens. (like how PS CS for students just say educational on the boot up window)



    Edit/Add-on: Abiword is opensource and native on a mac but i find the buttons to be too big and i don't feel comfortable in the program
  • Reply 2 of 10
    regreg Posts: 832member
    Yes it runs on OSX. It is a 155M download.

    http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/oo...downloads.html

    You should also look at X11, http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/x11/

    I have not tried Pages yet so I am not sure how that compares. The only MS office product I use is Excel. I get a lot of spread sheets from work and not all open completely in appleworks. People put too much junk in some cells. I tried using OpenOffice and it just did not feel as nice as Appleworks or Keynote.



    reg
  • Reply 3 of 10
    imeime Posts: 40member
    Is there a solid office suite that:



    A. Runs smoothly without hogging up the memory

    B. Very functional and plenty of features.





    I found the OOO Writer to be a quite good replacement for MS Word but was disappointed with the OOO Spreadsheet app. Havn't had time to try out the Presentation app and the other portions of OOO.



    So, since you say that AppleWorks isn't all that good, and that Pages is more of a MS Publisher app than a MS Word, is there really anything out there that will take care of everything like Microsoft's Office 2003 did. The functionality of Office 2003 is great but it is a bit bloaded, and moving to the Mac to get Microsoft's software is a bit weird to me.



    I've also heard that AbiWord didn't do that great of a job porting its software to the Mac. One example is that the toolbars don't stick to the app and when you move around the AbiWord windows, some of its toolbars don't move with it.



    Thanks.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    jwink3101jwink3101 Posts: 739member
    What i would really say is get used to the Office for mac. When i was first contemplating swithcing, i wasn't in favor of office but now i love it. When i look at Office 2003 for XP, i am sickened by the whole blue tint of everyting anyway.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    jwink3101jwink3101 Posts: 739member
    I just read your original post agian. If you can live with OOO on a PC without problems, you could do it on the mac too. It is a little annoying not having it native but it is easier to go trhough everyting than to get used to a program you don't like.



    If you can afford it, get office and use OOO until you need office for somehting.



    The one thing i can see you missing with OOO is the ability to print to PDFs but i am pretty sure OOO has another way to export any file to PDF
  • Reply 6 of 10
    danielctulldanielctull Posts: 586member
    I have tried OOO, but bought Office when I bought my PowerBook and like its notebook layout for class notes.



    There is a way to export to PDF in OOO for Mac. Go to File > Export as PDF.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    imeime Posts: 40member
    Thanks for the answers.



    If anyone can still compare Pages and AppleWorks and OpenOffice.org that would be great.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    boukmanboukman Posts: 93member
    Actually, if you care about OpenOffice.org, then you should take a look at NeoOffice/J. To make a long story short, OpenOffice.org and Sun are not working on a OS X native version, so 2 programmers decided to do it themselves. You could call it the "real" native Mac OS X version if you will. They are actually getting there, so anyone who hasn't tried it yet ought to do themselves a favour and download it.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    imeime Posts: 40member
    Anyone have a screenshot of OOO on a Mac? Just curious what it looks like
  • Reply 10 of 10
    xdedxded Posts: 41member
    Listen to Boukman, he is right on. Go with NeoOffice/J until they get the final version completed, who knows when.



    As far as looks, you must be kidding, they all look the same.



    http://www.openoffice.org/
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