OpenOffice.org 3.3.0

Rated 40/50 by guti at Sep 6, 2008

Not a real major update compared to 2.4.1, it should be called 2.5. A bit faster, and a bit prettier, but still slower and uglier than Office 2007. Still no native Win64 version, but a good product being free.

Rated 30/50 by jcunews at Sep 6, 2008

Microsoft Office has been (storage) bloating since Office XP. That's why I keep my Office 2000. It only take 100MB of my harddisk space. Open Office has been (code) bloating since its first release. That's why I keep my Office 2000. Heck, even Office 2007 is still faster. However, for those who have less than 1-2 years system, and are not geeks, there's no harm on trying this one out. Who knows, you might like it.

Rated 50/50 by Sven123456789 at Sep 6, 2008

Great free software. Almost as good as office. Couple features less than office, but overall a good solid office software.

Rated 20/50 by netean at Sep 6, 2008

ugly, very very ugly... not a pleasure to use at all. and everytime there's the slightest update you have to download the ever growing whole package. I actually prefer using Lotus symphony to this, but abiword is a very good alternative (free) word processor and of course the lovely Koffice (if you have linux) If you can afford it, stay with Microsoft office. If you cant', look for something better than this (which there are)

Rated 50/50 by mflip at Sep 6, 2008

It's like getting Microsoft Office for free.

Rated 50/50 by teranova52 at Sep 6, 2008

I started to use Open office, since the time that i got my legal XP license . The Open office suite , gave to the many , one free and easy solution to edit and create documents . The truth are, that i had never understand, why Microsoft wanted to abuse so much the people , so to offer them the ability to create documents. I will continue use and support, the Open Office suite , for the most simple reasons ... 1) It works ! 2) Its made by the people for the people.

Rated 50/50 by mjm01010101 at Sep 6, 2008

Office 07 is the definition of bloat: http://www.infoworld.com...fice-performance_1.html

Rated 40/50 by photonboy at Sep 6, 2008

Money aside, I still prefer Microsoft Office 2007. Yes, I do like OpenOffice and its progressing nicely. However, without getting technical, it's just not quite as good as MS Office 2007. And yes, I love the new ribbon (which you can minimize by the way). The term "bloated" applies to coding which is inefficient thus slowing down the application. It does NOT simply refer to the overall size. Office 2007 is a little quicker; this has been well benchmarked. However, considering how little time is taken to open a document compared to how long is spent editing it, who really cares? OpenOffice is still a great program and more than adequate for most tasks.

Rated 40/50 by DudeBoyz at Sep 6, 2008

Installation of RC1 on XP SP2 was fast and problem free and from what I have been able to see so far, it looks like a promising release. Yes, it would be nice if the code were better optimized and more efficient in terms of memory handling, and cross-platform font issues still may be present, but overall I feel it is a product worth using. The interface is familiar and productive, so for those who are not that happy with Microsoft and the Ribbon interface, this is a great option. I own Office 97 Pro, Office 2000 Pro and Office XP Pro. I personally use Office 2000 Pro, but Office XP Pro is on the other machine. I don't see myself investing in another version of Microsoft Office if there is any way I can avoid it. I also don't think it would be fair to rip Open Office for "bloat" without recognizing just how much bloat is in the latest version of MS Office. This is a solid product and very usable, and also happens to be free. I do wish it was 100% open source in all versions and that it did not rely on Java for anything, but that said, with todays machines, I don't think most users would be disappointed with how it functions or performs. If you have a machine that can run Vista well, then Open Office 3.x should have no problems performing well. I'm very glad that they have this product available as an alternative to Microsoft Office and I hope that more users with concerns take the time to get involved in the project. If you can optimize the code and submit it, you can actually make it a better product - if you choose to get involved. But if this product is not for you, then no harm done, right? BTW, don't forget to disable quick starter if you want to free up resources.

Rated 50/50 by gcaleval at Sep 7, 2008

This package, altho in beta, is superior to the commercial alternatives in dozens of ways. The current production release (2.4.1) already has MS Office 2007 outstripped with many unique feature and, you don't have to pony up hundreds of dollars to get a complete suite. I don't get the almost whining reviews as they seem wholly out of context. If all you want is a lean-mean word processing app, there are dozens around. If you are seriously worried about how much hard drive space packages consume, then rush back to DOS when real programmers wrote Assembly code to run apps in 640K memory and occupy less than 360K drive space. Heck my old TI94A only has 16K Total RAM. However, if you want a complete, professional office suite that includes advanced word processing, spreadsheet, drawing, presentation AND database; all tightly integrated so generating a databased report out of a spreadsheet is a trivial and pleasing experience; and get all of that plus a huge community of willing supporters for production advice (how can I do X in my formula), not just technical support, then OpenOffice.Org is an outstanding option. For small businesses with a handful of staff, it's an option that will save them thousands of dollars. The database is a true joy, able to work with almost every imaginable data source effortlessly. I would hope that in beta forums, users would report Beta problems, rather than forcing others to balance comments that should be reserved for production releases. But I can't let a couple of hit-and-run slaps against such a fine product sit in the forum unanswered.

Rated 40/50 by tickleonthetum at Sep 9, 2008

I still believe that this needs background saving to be able to compete with MS Office. It just takes to long to save. If you are working on a large complex document you need to have autosave set to save every 1 minute, but it makes this software unusable as it can take it 15 seconds to save in it's native format. that means you have to keep stopping and waiting for it to do it's thing, which is useless for a touch typist! Apart from this one, all be it big, problem this software IS an MS killer. It is as easy to use as MS WORD/EXCEL etc. and can be customised to look almost identical if so required!

Rated 50/50 by Aegis69 at Sep 22, 2008

"Daddy_Spank - Looks like its from the early 90's" Wow that comment reveals your level of intelligence pretty dramatically, don't bother to comment on the app itself, just look at the screen cap and make a dumba** comment.

Rated 50/50 by Ain Soph Aur at Sep 22, 2008

it works very good, can read all my .doc and .docx files (not the password protected) and looks very clean and tidy :) as a private person, i dont see a reason to use MS Office... great software!!

Rated 40/50 by DudeBoyz at Sep 22, 2008

Not much has changed from RC1 to RC2, it seems, but I'm still just as pleased with the nearly finalized 3.x version. It looks just fine, it works just fine and feels more "integrated" than MS Office does. It's not like MS Office isn't a cohesive product, but I think Open Office just gives an impression of continuity. I kinda like the "Welcome to OpenOffice.org" screen that pops up when you start it normally. It has a nice look about it and I like the drop shadow effect. But I also have to admit to liking the Quickstarter thing that they have in the system tray after the initial install. If you have the memory and a dual core or higher, it doesn't seem like much of a resource drain, so the preloading of some of the core code ends up making the apps feel snappier when you load them individually. I like the list of options that pops up when you right-click on that tray icon. It makes it really easy to work with and again makes it feel sort of "quicker" as a result. It's hard to explain, exactly, but I just like how it works. I do wish that they would put a Quickstarter link in the Start Menu folder it creates so that it was easier to find. If you at first disable it from loading at startup, but later want to have it load again, it would be simpler and more obvious if all you had to do was go to that Start Menu folder and select it. But at least you can find it if you look in the Tools, Options, Memory dialog of settings. It is kind of silly that due to Copyright reasons, they had to change the name of the product to OpenOffice.ORG, but Copyrights are just wacky that way sometimes. But all things considered, it's a nice little bundle of free apps, weighing in at about a 130 meg download. Nothing fancy really, just a free productivity suite that is easy to use and get used to. I'm not going to dump my copy of MS Office 2000 Pro for it, but I think if I didn't own MS Office, I could get along quite nicely with this updated

Rated 20/50 by Daddy_Spank at Sep 22, 2008

Looks like its from the early 90's.

Rated 40/50 by stranded at Sep 23, 2008

I really like OpenOffice. I've been using it since version 1.4 I guess. Why do I like it? Well it can basically replace Microsoft Office - but I think it's safe to say - only for home use. Although it's main flaw is the speed, it's slow, really slow sometimes, but that's because of Java. But yeah, it is free.

Rated 50/50 by zridling at Sep 23, 2008

I'll take menus and customizable toolbars over that ridiculous ribbon any day. Some cool features in version 3 let me discard other programs, like FinePrint. Vera nize!

Rated 50/50 by aruprc at Sep 23, 2008

Looks don't matter, what matters is that it works and works good and its FREE.

Rated 30/50 by Midichlorian_Joe at Sep 23, 2008

No, people are absolutely right to attack the look of this software. People have been pushing for a better looking app for years. The team just doesn't seem to care, and so this is really software that's being left behind. There seems to be an assumption that anyone worth programming for shouldn't care about the look of the software. And yet documentation on things as simple as macro programming is a nightmare too, so its high-end use is limited too. Between the two, it's pretty much dropped to the level of Works or Appleworks, not the MS Office 2003 level. (Lucky for them Office 2007's Use-the-ribbon-or-get-lost policy helps keep OO alive.) Open Source and Cross Platform doesn't have to mean poor appearance. Another bland-looking version of OpenOffice with 1994 icons on bland cream backgrounds? Oh well. But OMG! Did you hear the next X-Wing expansion pack is going to let you fly the B-Wing??? 1994 visuals. Pfffft.

Rated 50/50 by roj at Sep 24, 2008

Looks DO matter in software. A VERY great deal. It's why I refuse to use that retroactive abortion called The Gimp. It's also why I will continue to use Openoffice at the office instead of that utterly moronic "ribbon" rubbish that Micro$oft has foisted upon its victims, er, users. I'm thinking that this will end up being the final - I can't find a thing wrong with it. FIVE stars.