OpenOffice.org 2 - anyone use this software?

[redsmetz]

I've been using Microsoft Works that came with my computer eons ago, but it has some deficiancies particularly working with documents created by Word or with Excel Spreadsheets, etc. My brother was telling me about some free software called OpenOffice.org 2.

Has anyone used this software?

Also, what web design software are folks using? I'm planning on updated (and upgrading) my business website.

[westofyou]

I use the open office Thunderbird for my work email/calender

My wifes system is all open source

OS - Ubuntu

Open Office and Mozilla

Nothing of cost on there.

My father uses Open Office on his Vista Box, said he wasn't going to pay for office anymore.

[ochre]

Open Office is pretty solid.

I generally just use whatever text editor I have available for web design stuff. I have Ultraedit on most of my windows boxes and I use either gedit, or kate on linux depending on whether, or not, I have the kde libraries installed.

ubuntu is smooth.

[RedlegJake]

Open Office is an excellent program suite. I use it all the time. It isn't quite up to par with MS but it's very, very close. Since it's free and MS Office can cost from a couple hundred to 500 bucks it's a terrific deal. It will also open any MS documents or spreadsheets. Another thing is that it is constantly being improved upon as it's open source and collaborative. The entire state of Massachussets uses it exclusively in their offices statewide and so do several large corporations.

[westofyou]

Open Office is pretty solid.

I generally just use whatever text editor I have available for web design stuff. I have Ultraedit on most of my windows boxes and I use either gedit, or kate on linux depending on whether, or not, I have the kde libraries installed.

ubuntu is smooth.

I use editPad Light to move my text to applications, it's a great tool, blows Notepad away.

[RedlegJake]

I use editPad Light to move my text to applications, it's a great tool, blows Notepad away.

I use editPad Light, too. Good program. And replace Paint with Paint.net for lots more flexibility and utility.

[westofyou]

I use editPad Light, too. Good program. And replace Paint with Paint.net for lots more flexibility and utility.

I am a Adobe fan, so I haven't used any opensource image tools, though we recommends GIMP to clients.

[RedlegJake]

GIMP has lots of power but its very, very different interface and sometimes confusing layout keeps me returning to Paint Shop Pro when I'm doing photo work. I've tried Adobe's Elements, too but I prefer PSP, probably because I've used the last 4 or 5 iterations and I'm used to how it works.

[ochre]

gimp is pretty cool (and powerful) once you get used to some of its quirks.

Xara LX is a fun little graphics program; it's not really an editor, but you can create some pretty cool stuff pretty easily without much of a learning curve.

[cincyinco]

Used Open Office on my old(better) machine before it suffered a HDD crash.

About the only gripe I have/had with it was it did seem to take quite some time to load, more so than most other applications on my machine.

Other than that, its great. Love it. Open Source rawks!

[nate]

Yeah, I use Open Office on the PC side of my Mac and it works well. No problems just opening regular (if there is such a thing) MS files.

I also use Gimp under the X11 framework for the Mac and it seems to be good enough for my needs.

[redsmetz]

Thanks all - I think I may download it tomorrow. On a broadband connection, should it take as long as 40 minutes to download? That surprised me and I canceled the download until I could verify the site better.

[cincyinco]

Its a pretty big file suite if I recall. Depending on you transfer rate and theirs and capacity/traffic on the server it could take a while.

[Fon Duc Tow]

Its worth it though. Strongest release to date.

[redsmetz]

Its a pretty big file suite if I recall. Depending on you transfer rate and theirs and capacity/traffic on the server it could take a while.

I'll probably have to wait to do it next week because I'm only in the office tomorrow a.m. and then I'm heading to Columbus to pick up my son at OSU so we can go to the Rock & Roll HOF on Saturday (some good father/son quality time!).