[AccessD] OT Start Office

Seth Galitzer sgsax at ksu.edu
Wed Apr 9 13:25:47 CDT 2003


Martin,

I've been using Star Office 6.0, both on Windows and Linux for the last
several months.  Overall, I've been very happy with it.  The word
processor imports and exports Word docs flawlessly and transparently.  I
haven't tried importing/exporting any really complicated files, but it
appears to work pretty well with the ones I have tried.

The spreadsheet is fairly easy to work with, but has some subtle
differences from Excel.  No real show-stoppers, though.  It (the
spreadsheet) does have less-powerful graphing (charting) capabilities
than Excel.

The presentation software is also pretty full-featured and imports
PowerPoint files without a hitch.  I have done some complex slide shows
that transferred back and forth without trouble.

I have not sat down to take a good look at the database app (Adabase),
but it looks like it's more in the vein of Paradox or FoxBase than
Access.  I have no idea what its import/export capabilities are like.

There is a drawing/graphics editing tool, but I have yet to use it. 
There is no email/calendar/task list/contact app a la Outlook.  For
those who like the Office Shortcut Bar (like myself), there is also no
comparable tool included with SO.

Probably the most significant shortcoming with the suite is that there
is no "Record Macro" functionality.  SO does have macro and VB-like
capability, but you have to know how to write the code yourself.  For
people in this forum, that probably wouldn't be such a difficult thing,
but the documentation is very poor.  When I went to look for info on why
there was no Record Macro feature, what I found was that the developers
for OpenOffice (StarOffice's open-source sibling) decided that with the
new version, their object model had completely changed and so a Record
Macro feature would need to be re-written from the ground up.  In an
effort to get the product out the door, they simply dropped the feature
altogether.  I think this is a pretty weak excuse and hope they
reconsider for the forthcoming new version.

I have found the Windows version to be fairly stable, no major crashes
or the like.  It has a "background" app which helps the various apps
launch faster.  The Linux version is a little touchier and has its own
printer management tool which you need to run even if you have already
set up printers on your system, otherwise SO won't be able to see your
printers.  The Linux version does not have the background app and so the
various apps take a bit longer to open.  However, once one of the apps
is open, when you open a file for a second app (ie you have the word
processor open and you open a spreadsheet) that app opens right up.

For everything I do with an Office suite, SO is pretty decent.  Some
things are easier to do in MS Office apps, especially when you start
getting into more complicated documents and spreadsheets.  SO can do
most of these things, but they are not nearly as easy to get to. 
Overall, I like SO, warts and all.  It's note quite as polished as MS
Office, but the core functionality is there.  Considering the price tag,
you get a helluva lot more than any other "alternative" office suite for
your dolar.  And for that matter, if you don't need all of the
import/export filters that SO includes, you can download and use
OpenOffice for free and have the same functionality.

For a small business that can't afford MS licensing fees, or even a
large business that is concerned about MS licensing practicies and their
own compliance, StarOffice and OpenOffice are very viable alternatives. 
I'm no "power user" when it comes to word processing or spreadsheets,
but I have yet to find a feature in Word or Excel that I can't duplicate
in StarOffice.  As with everything, you own mileage may vary.

Seth

Disclaimer - I am in no way affliliated with Sun or the OpenOffice
development team.  I just like the software.

On Wed, 2003-04-09 at 12:26, Mwp.Reid at Queens-Belfast.AC.UK wrote:
> Anyone had a look at Star Office BEta 6.1 Interested in views on this 
> comparing it to Office XP or for those on the beta Office 2003.
> 
> Martin

-- 
Seth Galitzer			sgsax at ksu.edu
Computing Specialist		http://puma.agron.ksu.edu/~sgsax
Dept. of Plant Pathology
Kansas State University



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