OpenOffice.org 1.0 Review The Force Is Strong in This One Eric Grevstad
Mon 5/13/02 — The most significant open-source software in the world isn't Linux.
Are we kidding? Linux is the quintessential, ultimate open-source project, an operating system capable enough to be a genuine rival to Microsoft Windows. We know. But most computer users don't care about operating systems; they run applications, which is why they run Windows.
Specifically, they run Microsoft Office, whose Word, Excel, and PowerPoint claim about a 95-percent market share — and a stranglehold on business software budgets, though businesses have expressed angry resistance to Microsoft's new Licensing 6.0 annuity (i.e., "you must sign up for Windows and Office subscriptions, can no longer choose which upgrades to buy or skip") scheme.
That's why the most significant open-source software is the Windows version of OpenOffice.org 1.0, a 49 MB download that debuted week before last (along with Linux and Solaris editions; a Mac OS version is in development).
OpenOffice.org is an intriquing (though not perfect) file- and interface-compatible alternative to Microsoft Office. With little or no time spent converting files and learning different commands, you can use it to edit your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, and create ones that colleagues can use with Office — or consider moving from Microsoft's proprietary, changed-at-whim file formats to OpenOffice.org's more universally readable XML, which also saves disk space.
Best of all? While Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition costs $479, OpenOffice.org costs $0.
