What Office program should I use?

[Babbler]

Hey!

My parents purchased a new computer recently. It came with a full version of Microsoft Works 7 and a 60 day trial of Microsoft Office Student and Home Edition. I have been previously using the Microsoft Works Suite 2001. My main use for computer, school-wise, is writing essays on the Word Processor, and I may use spreadsheets (my Physics class will use them) and PowerPoint for class presentations. As well, my mother uses email and my bother use word processor and occasionally the spreadsheet.

Should I use Works, use Office for now and get to full edition later or use the (free) OpenOffice.org suite I heard about?

 

[Birdjaguar]

Go with office 2003, the 3 licnese student edition for about $150 is the best deal. Office is the standard for US business.

 

[t92300]

Go open office its free and ms compatible.

If in the future you deciede you need msoffice then you can still get it.

t92300

 

[Jeratain]

I have had extreme compatibility problems with Works files, and I would not recommend it to anyone.

MS Office is proven software and is pretty much the standard. Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Outlook (the real version, not Express) are all excellent. Personally, I'm still using Office 2000, which has all the functions that I need, and it is yet to seem out of date. I would recommend purchasing this to people who are looking for ease of use and/or are used to the software in general.

OpenOffice is, on the other hand, free and compatible with MS - as mentioned above. However, some users that swith from MS Office to OpenOffice have certain qualms and switch back to MS (but not all). It's not guaranteed that you will love OpenOffice, but it's good software - especially considering the cost. I've tried it, and I liked it; but I ultimately found MS Office to be more suitable to my needs.

 

[Grisu]

OpenOffice is, on the other hand, free and compatible with MS - as mentioned above. However, some users that swith from MS Office to OpenOffice have certain qualms and switch back to MS (but not all). It's not guaranteed that you will love OpenOffice, but it's good software - especially considering the cost. I've tried it, and I liked it; but I ultimately found MS Office to be more suitable to my needs.

I agree here, except that I was one of the users who stayed with OpenOffice, I won't switch back to MS. It's still got some features that I would like in OO as well, but nothing to justify the high cost to me. I certainly advise you to try OpenOffice, since it's free you can't lose anything, and if you don't like it you can still buy MS Office. But whatever you do, stay the hell away from Works, it's crap (IMHO)

 

[Padma]

OpenOffice.org would be my recommendation.

When OO.o 2.0 comes out, it will default to the new "OASIS" standard document format. (As will KOffice, and any other good document tool. )

 

[hbdragon88]

I like Microsoft Office...once I've uninstalled the Clip Assistants, Macros, "Smart Tags," Access, FrontPage, Outlook, WordArt, other language support, and numerous other useless features that I never have used.

 

[IbnSina]

OpenOffice is excellent, and you can't beat the price! The first week after a change from MS office is a bit tough, since the interface is not identical, but after you become accustomed to the new controls, OpenOffice has just as much power as its competitor.