D
dachapa
As a student, I have heard through all my education years the words “Officeâ€
in all computer related classes. Never had I heard of any other alternative
until later on in life. I have used Microsoft Office since 1995, and while I
was young I surely remember when Microsoft Office 1997 was released. To be
honest, it seemed perfect. While I was attached to Office, and more
specifically Word, I started hearing of other things like WordPerfect, or
Works. I did not need them, Word 97 was all I needed, and it did everything I
wanted. However, as Office changed, I began to hear more and more about
open-source software, in particular “OpenOffice.†Now, after having used
Office 2007, and OpenOffice, I can gladly say I made the switch.
First of, I would like to speak of Office 2007's Word, one of its
components. Word is perhaps the application I use the most out of all Office.
While at first, the new interfase in Word 2007 confused me, I shortly became
accustomed to it. I like the Menus now that I know where everything is, and I
think things are easier to access once you know their location. For example,
when changing the format of the paragraph, I find it easier to just click
twice, than to go for the drop-down menu “Format,†then click on Paragraph,
and then to change the settings. However, the biggest complain I have about
it is the learning curve that it takes to get used to the old menus. I found
it time consuming, and at times frustrating. Another thing I always complain
about is the incredible amount of time it takes to load. At times I feel like
punching the computer screen when I'm running late, and Word is taking its
time to open. Never mind enabling the “quick start†since that will make my
computer in general start up much slower. Another thing I have always come
across with all the Office versions and applications is the constant times
they crash. I found this happening often, and it is what led me to
“auto-save†all my documents every five minutes. In general, I find more
negatives with Word and Office than positive qualities.
Now, OpenOffice Writer has been a true blessing. It's simple, not so fancy,
Word 97 look, makes me feel welcomed, and not so intimidated. In my short
usage of Writer, it has yet to freeze my computer, or crash while I am
working on a document. The loading time compared to Word is much faster. The
Quick Starter does not slow down my start up significantly (it's bad enough
that I'm running on Vista), and I find that the lag is almost unnoticeable.
While I did find things more accessible on Word 2007, I had no trouble
finding things in Writer, since the interface was so similar to Word 97. It
is almost as though it includes Word 2007 functions with an older look A
flaw I find is the lack of languages with spelling check; however with the
exception of a few, I do not really need to know if I misspelled something on
Afrikaan. In other words, I do not need 100 Spelling Checkers. So in general,
I find the Writer experience much more enjoyable.
The media can speak all it wants. The mainstream can choose its Microsoft
Office, however, they will be missing out on a great applications provided by
OpenOffice. I'll much rather sacrifice the “stylish†look of Office 2007 for
OpenOffice's stability and its familiar, easy to use interface.
in all computer related classes. Never had I heard of any other alternative
until later on in life. I have used Microsoft Office since 1995, and while I
was young I surely remember when Microsoft Office 1997 was released. To be
honest, it seemed perfect. While I was attached to Office, and more
specifically Word, I started hearing of other things like WordPerfect, or
Works. I did not need them, Word 97 was all I needed, and it did everything I
wanted. However, as Office changed, I began to hear more and more about
open-source software, in particular “OpenOffice.†Now, after having used
Office 2007, and OpenOffice, I can gladly say I made the switch.
First of, I would like to speak of Office 2007's Word, one of its
components. Word is perhaps the application I use the most out of all Office.
While at first, the new interfase in Word 2007 confused me, I shortly became
accustomed to it. I like the Menus now that I know where everything is, and I
think things are easier to access once you know their location. For example,
when changing the format of the paragraph, I find it easier to just click
twice, than to go for the drop-down menu “Format,†then click on Paragraph,
and then to change the settings. However, the biggest complain I have about
it is the learning curve that it takes to get used to the old menus. I found
it time consuming, and at times frustrating. Another thing I always complain
about is the incredible amount of time it takes to load. At times I feel like
punching the computer screen when I'm running late, and Word is taking its
time to open. Never mind enabling the “quick start†since that will make my
computer in general start up much slower. Another thing I have always come
across with all the Office versions and applications is the constant times
they crash. I found this happening often, and it is what led me to
“auto-save†all my documents every five minutes. In general, I find more
negatives with Word and Office than positive qualities.
Now, OpenOffice Writer has been a true blessing. It's simple, not so fancy,
Word 97 look, makes me feel welcomed, and not so intimidated. In my short
usage of Writer, it has yet to freeze my computer, or crash while I am
working on a document. The loading time compared to Word is much faster. The
Quick Starter does not slow down my start up significantly (it's bad enough
that I'm running on Vista), and I find that the lag is almost unnoticeable.
While I did find things more accessible on Word 2007, I had no trouble
finding things in Writer, since the interface was so similar to Word 97. It
is almost as though it includes Word 2007 functions with an older look A
flaw I find is the lack of languages with spelling check; however with the
exception of a few, I do not really need to know if I misspelled something on
Afrikaan. In other words, I do not need 100 Spelling Checkers. So in general,
I find the Writer experience much more enjoyable.
The media can speak all it wants. The mainstream can choose its Microsoft
Office, however, they will be missing out on a great applications provided by
OpenOffice. I'll much rather sacrifice the “stylish†look of Office 2007 for
OpenOffice's stability and its familiar, easy to use interface.