Review: Apache OpenOffice
December 17, 2018
Review: Apache OpenOffice
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Apache OpenOffice
I use OpenOffice almost daily for general note taking and document formatting. OpenOffice is great for handling different document types and as a free alternative to a paid program like Microsoft Word.
- OpenOffice is nice to have as an application on your computer vs. using an online word document application like Google Docs.
- OpenOffice can handle a variety of file types (.doc, .rtf, .xml) , making it an essential tool for those who don't have access to Microsoft Word
- OpenOffice is a deeper software than Word and is more accessible. I know, accessibility for a document typing software, I know. But, OpenOffice allows for quickly changing margins, typeface, size, etc, and I think does it better than Word, and in an easier format.
- OpenOffice can handle spreadsheets, basic databases, presentations, and basic drawings. It handles all of the usual Microsoft Office tools within one application.
- OpenOffice allows for user created third-party plugins so you have many options for pursuing very specific things within the program. This is great because OpenOffice is user-sourced, so there's plenty of new things to try for improving workflow.
- Some people are legitimately not interested in using software outside of the Microsoft Office Suite or Google Drive, so this could be a hard sell for small-mid-sized businesses.
- OpenOffice is free, which means you are going to save money using it.
- You run the risk of losing files since there is not cloud saving. Follow general file backup procedures to be safe.
- OpenOffice can write to .doc files, so once you've finished working on something, you can send the file to Microsoft Word users without any issues. This means you don't need to worry about others using separate software. You can use this and be fine.
OpenOffice is great, free, and easy to use. I enjoy some of this other software, and use Google Drive (and applications) frequently, yet I still find daily use for OpenOffice.