Alternative to Microsoft Office

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Martin2006

New Member
Good afternoon all,

I am looking for a credible and cheaper alternative to the softwares contained in the Microsoft Office program. My computer is running on Microsoft Office XP Pro. I just downloaded OpenOffice. Does any of you have any experience with this software or can any one recommend another software offering similar possibilities to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc... ?

Thanks in advance and best regards from Mexico.
 
Geoff

Geoff

VIP Member
I find that OpenOffice.org is the best free software comparable to what Microsoft Office offers. It has the ability to do all the basic, and some advanced functions that the Office Suite can do, and is a perfect solution for the average user or those who can not spend hundreds of dollars for Microsoft Office.
 
OvenMaster

OvenMaster

VIP Member
If you want apps very similar to Office, and OpenOffice doesn't float your boat, for $50 or so you can get Microsoft Works, version 7 or 8. Unless you plan on running a business, these applications (word processor, database, spreadsheet, calendar, picture portfolio manager) work great. You can even save documents in Office-readable extensions (.doc, .xls, etc)
Tom
 
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4W4K3

VIP Member
I got Works and Office on this laptop...hardly use either lmao. Why would u package it with both...hmm?

I can vouch for openOffice though, used it on my last PC that didn't have Office.
 
drumking1088

drumking1088

New Member
Martin2006 said:
Good afternoon all,

I am looking for a credible and cheaper alternative to the softwares contained in the Microsoft Office program. My computer is running on Microsoft Office XP Pro. I just downloaded OpenOffice. Does any of you have any experience with this software or can any one recommend another software offering similar possibilities to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc... ?

Thanks in advance and best regards from Mexico.
Click to expand...

I have only used the word proccessing element and that is really identical to MS Word.
 
N

newatit27

New Member
Go with open office for sure, its a very good option. But I strongly reccomend that you stay away from works. I had it on my previous computer, it was a real pain because not many people had it so their was serious compadiblity issues. (saving in diffrent format just gets annoying)
 
Vince013

Vince013

New Member
Yes, but OOo has no grammer check!! Microsoft Office, latest version, is going for 100 bucks nowadays. XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
As others have said, OpenOffice is a good alternative, as is Corel's WordPerfect suite.

If you're willing to put up with the learning curve, TeX can take over most of office as will Adobe's PageMaker/InDesign/etc
 
Apokarteron

Apokarteron

banned
[-0MEGA-];360218 said:
I find that OpenOffice.org is the best free software comparable to what Microsoft Office offers. It has the ability to do all the basic, and some advanced functions that the Office Suite can do, and is a perfect solution for the average user or those who can not spend hundreds of dollars for Microsoft Office.
Click to expand...

I didn't pay hundreds of dollars for my MS Office 2003 Pro, it was something like 4 or 5 euros outside a trainstation.
Anyway, I think Open Office is better (the Windows version at least, cause the mac version is crap.)
 
Vince013

Vince013

New Member
Why bother with macs...

i like your avatar. they are very important keys, as together they bring up task manager, a very useful tool
 
Vince013

Vince013

New Member
Apokarteron said:
Yes... For force-exiting programs when they're not obedient... Windows - ha![/QUOUTE]

the disobedience of programs has nothing to do with the OS's kernel and everything to do with the reliability of the program. Only the truly incompetent have problems with Windows.
Click to expand...
 
4

4W4K3

VIP Member
It really depends on what you do. I stopped "tweaking" my computer when I got a laptop, no extreme OS changes and no trying to pound performance out of my computer. I do your standard internet/gaming/chat/picture editing and i also F@H 24/7. I've left my computer on...probably months without a reboot lately. The OS doesn't/hasn't "bogged down" and I don't get BSOD's or random program failures/freezes.

Rewind to my last desktop, or any "tweaked" computer I had, even if it was only OS mods and software changes...I'd be lucky to get 2-3 days straight without Windows or a major Windows component going haywire and requiring a reboot.
 
Vince013

Vince013

New Member
Mac propaganda annoys me

you are not making yourself too clear, but i'm assuming you're talking about a Mac OS in the first paragraph

again with that crazy assumption all Mac users have that Windows has the tendency to "crash" or "reboot" without warning. You only need to reboot Windows XP if you're installing a new driver into the kernel; or if you're changing you'r startup configuration; or if you're messing with task manager and accidently stop a system execution. That's it.
I myself have no problem with Windows XP Service Pack 2. Windows firewall is very reliable. Windows Media Player plays my music and my videos well. There are loads of skins for Windows XP, for you desktop and your logon screens. You can customize windows xp. loads of reliable freeware is ready-to-use from the internet. gaming is dominated by microsoft.

As for the Microsoft Updates, I have not seen one pop up since i got service pack 2 on this laptop 2 months ago, when i bought it.

I'm not even going to mention the fact that you can build/upgrade your PC's hardware. IF YOUR MAC IS GETTING OUT-OF-DATE, YOU JUST PICK IT UP, THROW IT IN THE NEAREST DUMPSTER, AND GO BUY A NEW ONE.
 
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4W4K3

VIP Member
I'm assuming you're talking to me. I was not meaning Mac OS, my laptop uses Windows XP Home Edition, and it has been running for months now without crashing or freezing or requiring a reboot. I'm pretty much agreeing with you. Only when you try and tweak the OS or your hardware does the XP OS go to crap, because most people (myself included) don't know the right way to tweak the computer as far as keeping stability/reliability and not sacrificing them for performance/speed.

If you just got SP2 a month ago, you are way behind lol.
 
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