I've long been an admirer of OpenOffice.org, the free, open-source office suite that's a serious alternative to pricey products such as Microsoft Office. It strikes me as a no-brainer to at least try it when you're in the market for an updated productivity suite, because it costs you nothing but your time.
But I'm amazed when I run across people who are hesitant to give it a try, even when they're just as hesitant to shell out big bucks for Microsoft's product.
To be clear: If you are considering buying a commercial office suite, don't do it until you have given OpenOffice.org a shot. That's particularly true of the new version, which was released today. OpenOffice.org 3.0 is a significant upgrade and, again, is completely free.
If, after using it for a while, you don't think it meets your needs, you can always uninstall it and buy a commercial product. But I suspect most users will find it's more than adequate for their needs, and the price can't be beat. Taking the time to give it a test drive could save you a bundle.
The final version of OpenOffice.org 3.0 is available at the main OpenOffice.org site. The are versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Unix users. You can read the release notes for details about what's new.
This is a particularly interesting release for Macintosh users. In the past, running OpenOffice.org on the Mac required use of a Unix shell called X11. This is the first version of the suite that runs natively on the Mac. (There has long been a separate native-Mac project called NeoOffice, based on the OpenOffice.org source code, but it tends to lag behind in features.)
If you are a cross-platform user who works in more than one operating system, you'll appreciate that OpenOffice.org 3.0 has nearly identical interfaces in the Windows, Mac, Unix and Linux flavors. For example, here's how the Windows version of Writer, the word processor, looks in Vista:
And here's what it looks like in Leopard (OS X 10.5.5):
OpenOffice.org launches from a single "Welcome" screen in the Mac. The single-window model is available in Windows, too, but there are individual shortcuts for the word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, database and other tools as well. From this one window, you can start any kind of document, or launch an existing one.
Version 3.0 can open dozens of document types, including the newer OpenXML formats used by Office 2007 in Windows and Office 2008 on the Mac, such as .docx from Word. However, while OpenOffice.org 3.0 can read these formats, it can't write to them. Instead, it can save to the previous Office formats, such as the older Word's .doc. This makes it a great choice for opening Office 2007/2007 documents that may be sent to you, even if you don't have Microsoft's newer suite.
Past versions of OpenOffice.org have had some compatibility issues with complex Office documents, particularly the spreadsheet and presentation manager. I've only been playing with OpenOffice.org 3.0 for a couple of days at this writing, but so far I've not yet found any big issues with it not rendering Office documents properly.
However, Mac users should note that OpenOffice.org 3.0 won't open or write documents generated by Apple's iWork Suite. It's one of the few common formats not supported here.
For the most part, version 3.0 is snappy and robust. It seems to be a little faster on the Windows platform than on the Mac, which may have to do with the fact that this is the first native-Mac release. Still, on the Mac, it launches faster than most of the Office 2008 applications.
The polish and new capabilities of OpenOffice.org 3.0 make this a winner. Even if you're a die-hard user of a commercial suite, you owe it to yourself to give this new release a try. You literally have nothing to lose.
Update: OpenOffice.org's Web site is overwhelmed by demand for the software. If your browser times out when you try to access the site, keep trying.
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