Hi Brad,
On 2/26/07, Brad Rellinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hello,
My name is Brad Rellinger from Anthony Wayne Local Schools in
Whitehouse, OH. We are currently evaluating the possibility of
implementing and Open Source "Office" solution into our District. We
have approximately 2400 Macintosh computers in 6 buildings. We are
using Microsoft Office X and realize that we will soon need to decide
on whether to sign a contract with Microsoft to upgrade to the latest
version or completely switch to an Open Source solution. Therefore
we have a few questions about OpenOffice for Mac
Very nice that you are considering OpenOffice. Functionality-wise it is a
very good alternative to Microsoft office.
1) We have been evaluating NeoOffice. After reading through their
forums, I notice that you guys cut ties with them about a year ago.
This makes us second guess our inital intention to implement
NeoOffice for next school year. X11 is not an option for us. Is
there a timeline or guess on when an full Aqua, native, version of
OpenOffice for Mac will be available?
This is something you'll have to decide yourself, it is highly unlikely that
you get unbiased opinions on this.
NeoOffice is a derivative of OpenOffice.org, so it does not have direct ties
with OpenOffice.org. Thus for any support/aid/etc. on NeoOffice, you'll have
to contact neooffice.org, NOT openoffice.org. However, I have the
understanding that their support is pretty ok.
NeoOffice (aqua) has been solid product since July 2006 and will be more
advanced product, than openoffice.org Mac port, for any forseeable future.
The latest improvement they have is the support for Office 2007 Word
documents and Excel macros.
NeoOffice continues to use openoffice.org code as their basis, with updates
every half-a-year or so. NeoOffice is 95% same code as OpenOffice.org.
NeoOffice project is now 4 years old and there is no reason to expect them
to stop their work. Quite the opposite, their user base is growing all the
time.
OpenOffice.org Mac port is still in development phase, with an alpha release
most likely during spring 2007. A solid product will not appear before
autumn 2007, possibly not before end of 2007. No promises on the schedule.
2) Are their any textbooks or teaching tools out there specifically
for OpenOffice? We have 2 classes that teach the Microsoft Office
Suite and would need something to replace their textbook with.
There's lots of documentation, see e.g. the Shaun's mail. Several government
migration projects in several countries have also created public
documentation, which you might be able to find with Google.
3) How similar will the Aqua version of OpenOffice be compared to the
Windows version of OpenOffice. We would like to be able to encourage
students to download OpenOffice at home on their Windows computers
and be able to complete the lessons taught with the Mac version.
Documentation written for any OpenOffice.org version works fine with any
OpenOffice.org platform. You should be able to use any
openoffice.orgdocumentation with even NeoOffice, if you want.
Best Regards,
Mox Soini
Thanks for your time and assistance in this manner.
----------
Brad Rellinger
Technology Specialist
Anthony Wayne Schools K-12
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
