I don't think gnumeric is cross-platform (easily cross platformed, maybe with cygwin) whereas Openoffice is (click and install). I use Excel everyday and in combination with VBA and other programs like SPSS and powerpoint.
I have to admit that I haven't played much with OO macros and not at all with gnumeric. At a glance, under tools, OOCalc has a macro language and gnumeric does not appear to have one. Both will allow simple import/export to Excel. Some formatting will change when importing from Excel to OOCalc. Could be wrong but I don't imagine you would want to import/export macros. Macros would probably lose their functionality. OOCalc is part of an office suite so I imagine (maybe incorrectly) that the macro language will allow write/spreadsheet/presentation cross manipulation --i.e. cut and paste macro from Calc to Writer..., pasting spreadsheet from oocalc to presentation ... without using a third party language like perl/python. Granted, as a statistician, my needs are far above those of most "normal" users and my guess is that for most users either gnumeric or oocalc will work nicely. I think you have given me a reason to spend more time learning a bit about scripting capabilities of these two packages :-) Lance > Kamaraju Kusumanchi wrote: > > Hi all > > My intention is not to start a flamewar but to get opinions on > > which spreadsheet software is better? While having choice is better, I > > would prefer to start with one and stick to it if possible. In > > particular I am looking for > > > > 1) things which can be done in one but cant be done in another? > > > > 2) Which is better compatible with microsoft excel? > > > > 3) which requires more memory, speed, other performance aspects? > > > > 4) which is being actively developed and has good documentation? > > > > 5) Any better spreadsheet programs out there which I have not looked at? > > > > 6) Enable some sort of scripting along with gui? > > I have another criteria which you may or may not find relevant: is it > cross-platform. This is a critical issue to me, because i need to be > able to recommend the tool to the end users i support, and most of them > still use Windows or Mac. Therefore, if there is a cross-platform > solution that works (i.e. OpenOffice.org), i recommend it. I do the > same with browsers and email (Mozilla/Firefox/Thunderbird). > > -- > Paul > <http://paulgear.webhop.net> > -- > Did you know? Microsoft Internet Explorer and Outlook have a poor track > record for security <http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/713878>. Why not > try one of the more secure alternatives from <http://www.mozilla.org>? -- Lance Hoffmeyer [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubbornness of an incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed. - Albert Einstein -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]