Open Office is the name by which Apache OpenOffice , an office package , is often referred to. It is, therefore, a set of computer programs that allow you to carry out different tasks, such as the creation, editing and storage of documents that are usually used in the workplace.
Since its source code can be freely used, modified and redistributed, Open Office is free software . It also has open source : it is based on user collaboration.
The Open Office package consists of six programs : Writer , Calc , Draw , Base , Impress and Math , which are available in more than a hundred languages.
Writer is the Open Office word processor. Its characteristics are similar to those of Microsoft Word . Its features include the possibility of exporting text files to HTML and PDF formats.
The Open Office spreadsheet is called Calc . It is similar to Microsoft Excel , although it provides additional options and also allows you to export documents to PDF .
Draw , for its part, is the vector graphics editor for Open Office . Base , meanwhile, is a database program, while Impress is a presentation program like Microsoft PowerPoint . Math , finally, is the Open Office application for creating and editing mathematical formulas.
It should be noted that Open Office has already exceeded 100 million downloads. The system has been adopted by numerous residential users, but also by companies and by public organizations and entities.
The first advantage of Open Office over alternatives like Microsoft Office is undeniable: it does not cost money. The fact of being able to download this application package without having to pay for its use is very tempting for those people who do not have the necessary budget and refuse to steal. Although piracy is widespread in the computer world, many do not agree with this practice.
The purchase of a computer usually has a strong impact on the pocket, and not everyone can complement it with programs and other devices, but rather they need to wait a while to recover financially. Therefore, arriving home and having the possibility of downloading Open Office and other free packages is undoubtedly good news.
Of course, the money we invest in a commercial program often has an impact on its quality, its quantity of features, the presence of a 24-hour customer service team, frequent updates and greater compatibility with the rest of the programs. market products. Although each person's tastes are unquestionable, it often happens that free distribution and open source programs are not up to date, precisely due to lack of organization, budget and direction.
Another disadvantage of Open Office and similar offerings is that they are not always easy to learn for veterans of their commercial counterparts. Since Microsoft Office has existed for a long time, a large percentage of PC users took their first steps into the world of office automation through Word, Excel and PowerPoint, so when faced with apparently equivalent programs but with so many differences in their functioning are easily confused and frustrated.
Something similar happens with GIMP , an image editing application that is presented as an excellent free alternative to Photoshop . While their features are worthy of attention and have even innovated in certain aspects that Photoshop acquired later, their tools are not intuitive for competing users, and this learning curve is often crucial.