On 1/18/06, Chuck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Daniel Carrera wrote: > > Chuck wrote: > >> Following are in order of most to least significant. > >> Pros > >> ==== > >> . Free > >> . Reads and writes MS Office file formats > >> . Short learning curve for those coming from MS Office > > > > That's very sad. It makes it sound like a free MS Office rip-off. No > > wonder people see OOo just like that. How about this:
I wouldn't say those pros make it sound like a cheap MS rip-off, those are the 3 most important reasons most people use OOo. Take away any one of those, and you'll lose a large part of our user-base. > > > > * Cross platform. Run it on Windows or Linux. Thanks for not putting Mac on your list. Unless you count NeoOffice, I wouldn't tell people OOo runs on Mac. > > * Uses OpenDocument natively, so your data is secure. Very few people care about this (as has been discussed at great length) and is hardly a selling point for OOo. > > * Higher reliability. You're less likely to lose a document. Explain what you mean by that - not just for me, but for the OP and other readers. > > * Features that work. Consider styles, master documents and templates. Templates? Um, if you're comparing OOo to MSO (as I believe this thread is meant to do) templates would be a pro for MSO and a con for OOo - there are thousands, if not tens of thousands of good quality, useful templates out there for MSO, and many of them are hosted on Microsoft.com and a good number come on the CD with MSO. How many templates are on OpenOffice.org's website? 25? 50? 100? 5? > > * Includes a vector graphics application (MS Office does not). Visio does that, but it doesn't come with MSO proper. > > * Superior integration. Open a WP file from your spread sheet. Draw an > > image on Draw and paste it on Writer. You can copy and paste from one MSO app to the next. You can open Word Docs as objects in Excel, or Excel spreadsheets in PowerPoint. I'd say OOo and MSO tie there. > The OP specifically asked to skip that stuff. If you leave that all out, > it is a free alternative to MS Office. And it is a free alternative to MS Office. Unfortunately, MSO has such a high market share that people think of MS Office whenever they hear "office suite" or "office program". They think Word when they mean word processor, they think Excel when they mean spreadsheet, they think PowerPoint when they mean presentation, etc.. It has been so much of the market for so long, it's going to be hard to be compared to anything else. Every other office suite or productivity package in the world is an alternative to MSO, including OOo. Even if the suite has been around longer than MSO (ie WordPerfect) or does things better than MSO (ie iWork) - they are still held up to the MSO "benchmark" for comparison. For better or worse. Railing against the machine isn't going to change people's mindset. Chipping away at the userbase of MSO until it's a forgotten dinosaur will. > > I'm betting he's trying to justify OOo to a bunch of suits that are > afraid of using anything but MS Office. Those "pros" should alleviate > those fears. +1 - good list, Chuck. Thanks. This is my list: Free MS-Compatible Included one-button PDFs from any file Familiar interface to any word processor user Easy task switching Flash Export of presentations Can be used along side of existing software No registration or activitation required (no legal issues, can be put on any number of machines) Included Vector graphics program Resistant to macro-based viruses -- - Chad Smith http://www.gimpshop.net/ Because everyone loves free software! --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
