Apache OpenOffice 4.0.1 [Open Source Download]

This is the best FREE word processor available.

While Open Office is freeware at the present time, it has a strong pedigree. It began life in 1985 in Germany, and became an office suite called StarOffice that was used on computers including Zilog, Amstrad, and Commodore 64. In 1999, Sun Microsystems, a highly respected hardware and software company, acquired StarOffice suite, and in 2000 open-sourced it, making it available as freeware, under the name OpenOffice.org, presumably as a rebuke to Microsoft. Subsequently the project continued with help from Sun employees and volunteers. It continues these days as a project of the non-profit Apache Software Foundation.[1] I rate this product superior to Microsoft Office in several important areas.First, Open Office will run under all the MS Windows versions, 95, 98, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 7, and 8, as well as on Mac OS, with several Unix versions, and will presumably run under future versions of Windows, so that the user will not run into the situation of finding that software they have thoroughly mastered is being made obsolescent, and that they are going to have to waste time learning a "new" office suite.Second, Microsoft has the unpleasant practice of changing the user interface with each new version of Office, presumably in an effort to persuade users that a retread with a few new features is "new". Open Office, on the other hand, retains a much more stable interface as it evolves. This means that the time you invest in learning Open Office is not going to be thrown out the window because of planned obsolescence.Third, last but by no means least, Open Office is available free of charge.[2] Above I have listed three areas where I think Apache Open Office is better than Microsoft Office. I am now going to list areas where I think Apache Open Office is comparable to Microsoft Office (i.e. not better, not worse).Reliablity and stability: About the same. I have yet to lose any files.Quality of help files: About the same.Ease of use: If you mastered Microsoft Office, Apache Open Office should be easy to learn. However, newbies to office software might find it more difficult than Microsoft Office.[3] ConsOpen Office offers conversion into native Open Office formats only of Microsoft Office files (including Word and Excel) and does not offer conversion of formats such as Word Perfect, WordStar, Wang, and XYWrite. However there may be competent third party file converters.Presumably for patent and copyright reasons, some menus are a bit convoluted./----------------------Overall, I think Apache Open Office is a strong and well designed office suite.

I had an Excel spreadsheet that I needed to view, but OpenOffice insisted on me identifying what version of Excel it was. I presented me with half a dozen choices. I finally picked the one that may be correct, but then the program was not able to open it and crashed. I ended up biting the bullet and got Microsoft Office.

The spell checker on Office Word quit working......again. Has done it before but was tired of messing with it. Went on Amazon to see what kind of deals could find on the latest version of Microsoft Office, am running 2007 version at present. Saw Apache Open Office for $00.00. Great price!! Read the reviews and sounded good to me. Well worth checking it out.Downloaded it and then downloaded the latest version 4.1.0. Downloads were fast and problem free with no issues installing them. Have only checked out the word processor so far but it seems to be able to do anything Office Word can do. It does have a word count feature, can import pics into document which I love to do, and can import Office Word files. Which is important to me because I like to review my previous letter before answering a letter.Gave this a 5 star without fully checking it out because if it only does half of what Office does it is well worth the price. However, am thinking that it will do as good a job as Office for my needs. About time Microsoft had some real competition.

This reminds me of back in the DOS days I bought a scheduling program named Early Bird for almost nothing and it was so good I sent them another 20 for the documentation even though it was so easy to use I did not need it. A similar program today that is not even so good would probably cost thousands. Just one problem with it now and this is I don't have DOS nor a dot matrix printer.

Because my current laptop is getting older (almost 4 years old), I plan to purchase a new laptop soon. And I already have MS Office (2010) on my laptop now and have enjoyed it much,but on my next one with prices the way they are, hate to have to purchase the very expensive price for MS Office. Also, let me say that I am a techie person and create many docs with inserted pictures, diagrams and more so I really need a program with the bells and whistles. But as this is free, I wanted to try it out.So I decided to test drive Apache Open Office and see how I like it. This is what I discovered:Word Compatibility for doc files1) First, I created a file in my regular Word (2010 version) with an embedded graphic and a picture as well as a table and text. I save all my Word files in DOC not DOCX because I send files to people who have older Word. And I don't care for the docx format.2) Next, I opened that Word file in Apache Open Office.*Much to my suprize, it opened fine and all of my picture and graphics and even table was intact. Very pleased with this!5 stars here for that.3) I then created a document in Apache Open OK, but then it began to crash and each time, I had to restoreExcel:Did the same as it did with Word docs, KEEPS CRASHING.Remember what you heard growing up---You get what you PAY for. Well, I am going to pay the money and go back to MS Office or maybe try WordPerfect Office...This I would recommend if you just do very light letter writing, nothing heavy duty, then you should do OK.