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First Look: OpenOffice.org 2.0 Looks Good
Beta of free office suite adds a database app and tweaks existing
tools.
Edward N. Albro, PC World
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
If you're thrifty and you use an office suite, it's hard not to like
OpenOffice.org, the open-source set of office productivity tools.
Version 1.0, which first appeared in 2002, does most things Microsoft
Office can do (including smoothly trade files with users of Word,
Excel, or PowerPoint). Plus it's free. So what's to improve in version
2.0?
OpenOffice.org 2.0, still in beta during my tests, adds a database
creation application similar to Microsoft Access. But beyond that,
many of the changes are small improvements that are nice to have, but
probably won't radically change how you work. And in that way,
OpenOffice.org is similar to Microsoft Office, which hasn't made a
change that's really significant to most users in years.
In addition to Base, the database app, OpenOffice.org 2.0 includes a
word processor, a spreadsheet application, a presentation program, an
app for creating mathematical formulas, and a nifty drawing program
much more powerful and fun than Microsoft's Paint. The beta version is
available for Windows, Linux, and Mac machines. I tested the Windows
version; for PC World's take on the Linux version, check out Matthew
Newton's Free Agent column.
Too Much Like Access?
OpenOffice.org's developers seem to have tried to make Base look and
act as much like Access as possible. That's been the group's MO from
the beginning, and it makes sense--the easiest way to convert millions
of Office users to the open-source alternative is to make the
transition as simple as possible.
The problem with making an app that's just like Access, though, is
that Access completely mystifies many who attempt to use it. And many
of those users who do master it don't like it much. It might have been
a better plan to create a database app more like FileMaker Pro; that
is, one that's not at all like Access but much easier to use.
Tweaks and Additions
Now for the tweaks: Writer now has an easier-to-find word count tool
that will tell you simultaneously the number of words in the whole
document and the number in a specific selection of the document.
(Word, by contrast, won't give you both totals at once.)
Calc, the spreadsheet application, now supports just as many rows of
data as Excel, which eliminates one problem major number-crunchers had
with the previous version. And if, heaven forbid, you're a fan of
transitions and sounds in between the slides of your presentation,
Impress now has buckets of them.
While version 2.0 certainly includes features worth having, it might
be prudent to stick with version 1.0 until beta testing is over. If
you do try the beta, be warned--the version I tested really is a beta.
I experienced a number of crashes, especially in Base, and the file
recovery system had some glitches.
But once the OpenOffice.org developers release a final edition of
version 2.0 (there's no firm schedule), it should prompt lots of
people to ask themselves why they pay $300 or more for Microsoft
Office with such a good, free alternative available.
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,120154,00.asp
===
"In a world where more than 10 million americans live with cancer -- we believe unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything!"
-- Livestrong, by Lance Armstrong
Beta of free office suite adds a database app and tweaks existing
tools.
Edward N. Albro, PC World
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
If you're thrifty and you use an office suite, it's hard not to like
OpenOffice.org, the open-source set of office productivity tools.
Version 1.0, which first appeared in 2002, does most things Microsoft
Office can do (including smoothly trade files with users of Word,
Excel, or PowerPoint). Plus it's free. So what's to improve in version
2.0?
OpenOffice.org 2.0, still in beta during my tests, adds a database
creation application similar to Microsoft Access. But beyond that,
many of the changes are small improvements that are nice to have, but
probably won't radically change how you work. And in that way,
OpenOffice.org is similar to Microsoft Office, which hasn't made a
change that's really significant to most users in years.
In addition to Base, the database app, OpenOffice.org 2.0 includes a
word processor, a spreadsheet application, a presentation program, an
app for creating mathematical formulas, and a nifty drawing program
much more powerful and fun than Microsoft's Paint. The beta version is
available for Windows, Linux, and Mac machines. I tested the Windows
version; for PC World's take on the Linux version, check out Matthew
Newton's Free Agent column.
Too Much Like Access?
OpenOffice.org's developers seem to have tried to make Base look and
act as much like Access as possible. That's been the group's MO from
the beginning, and it makes sense--the easiest way to convert millions
of Office users to the open-source alternative is to make the
transition as simple as possible.
The problem with making an app that's just like Access, though, is
that Access completely mystifies many who attempt to use it. And many
of those users who do master it don't like it much. It might have been
a better plan to create a database app more like FileMaker Pro; that
is, one that's not at all like Access but much easier to use.
Tweaks and Additions
Now for the tweaks: Writer now has an easier-to-find word count tool
that will tell you simultaneously the number of words in the whole
document and the number in a specific selection of the document.
(Word, by contrast, won't give you both totals at once.)
Calc, the spreadsheet application, now supports just as many rows of
data as Excel, which eliminates one problem major number-crunchers had
with the previous version. And if, heaven forbid, you're a fan of
transitions and sounds in between the slides of your presentation,
Impress now has buckets of them.
While version 2.0 certainly includes features worth having, it might
be prudent to stick with version 1.0 until beta testing is over. If
you do try the beta, be warned--the version I tested really is a beta.
I experienced a number of crashes, especially in Base, and the file
recovery system had some glitches.
But once the OpenOffice.org developers release a final edition of
version 2.0 (there's no firm schedule), it should prompt lots of
people to ask themselves why they pay $300 or more for Microsoft
Office with such a good, free alternative available.
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,120154,00.asp
===
"In a world where more than 10 million americans live with cancer -- we believe unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything!"
-- Livestrong, by Lance Armstrong
