Microsoft Disses OpenOffice.org with New Video

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Nice, anti-open-source propaganda. I've been using both MS office and Openoffice.org for years and have had no compatibility issues at all. For the most part, I like openoffice better. Anyone who pays for MS office for personal use is a sucker.
 
Well lets see. I've had Office 2007 since it came out. Roughly 3 years and I STILL am not use to it (I prefer 2003 and earlier traditional menu layout). I could bootup OpenOffice right now and be MUCH MORE at ease using that than Office 2007 (and probably 2010 as well).

And for those others that can't seem to figure out OpenOffice, really, probably shouldn't be using a computer, anyway.
 
I started using OpenOffice about three months ago, and prefer it to the heavy-handed Microsoft approach to software. It's not perfect, but, even if it cost the same, I'd use OpenOffice. The part I don't like is the quality of the documentation, and that's where Microsoft does a better job. Also, there are more books, etc... out for Microsoft Office. Still, it's not enough for me to go back, mainly because I hate Microsoft and will always choose an alternative where one is feasible.
 
Microsoft must be losing a considerable marketshare to bother putting something like this together. Throwing mud must cost less than fixing the interface which has made people seek an alternative... capitalism hard at work.
 
I just upgraded to windows 7. I didn't feel like spending more money for MS Office, so I download OpenOffice. I'm not sure what the fuse is about, looks like MS Office and works like MS Office. Works great for my needs. I suppose Openoffice lack certain features maybe because MS has intellectual property on them. I suppose some people just can't accept something different.
 
For working with word documents and excel sheets most people can get along just fine with Open Office. Of course, people who rely heavily on Access or Power Point may be irked with Open Office and actually need MS Office. Even so, for most home users, students, and even some small businesses Open Office will do everything they need it to do if they take a little time to get use to it.
 
I[citation][nom]JOSHSKORN[/nom]Well lets see. I've had Office 2007 since it came out. Roughly 3 years and I STILL am not use to it (I prefer 2003 and earlier traditional menu layout). I could bootup OpenOffice right now and be MUCH MORE at ease using that than Office 2007 (and probably 2010 as well).And for those others that can't seem to figure out OpenOffice, really, probably shouldn't be using a computer, anyway.[/citation]

I agree with you 100%. Your comment also makes me wonder how much those companies in the video had to spend on Office 2007 training alone?
 
[citation][nom]alikum[/nom]That may be the case for home user. Have you ever thought of how a business is going to survive without Microsoft Office (or an alternative which doesn't suck)? They don't just view and print, they actually work with it. I have worked with both O😵 and MS Office and I'm glad I never have to touch O😵 again. Some software are necessities, MS Office being one.[/citation]
Give me a break! LMFAO!!!!
 
[citation][nom]1337_b0i[/nom]Microsoft Office can do so much that Open Office can't do. All of it useful to the businessmen. For practical home use, Microsoft Office is a waste of money in most cases.[/citation]

In most cases. I have some clients who happen to have both. The wife has MS Office and the husband has O😵rg. He is having trouble getting the margins to print properly and she isn't.

While free software is great for pushing big software companies like MS to work harder, most of them do not really try as hard. Or they tend to start off great then they forget what their purpose was.

Its sad to say but Open Source is great for only a handful of things. Linux is useless to the majority and always will be until they have some proper backing and support. Same goes for O😵rg. MS Office just has better support.
 
X > Y because turning X into Y (using Y) is annoying?
Since turning Y into X (using X) is impossible, does that make Y >> X?

I don't much like either. Most of what I dislike about OOo is that it copied all the badly designed from MS.

Migration is hard. However, the main reason why so many thing suck in the world of computers is that so few are willing to do it. Eg X86, maintaining backward compatibility, catch 22s in all categories of software, etc.
 
Its like some one expert in MS windows and putting him to Linux.
It certainly will cause a little trouble in start, may be they need some training to get familiar with the Open office.
I feel that this video is nothing but a marketing stunt where MS wants to show that how superior they are.
 
The amount of hate for MS products in the comments is sickening. The fact is that MS Office is the leader in office software hands down. It's not even close. Most people produce a higher quality product, faster. When you are considering that in the business world, that matters more than a hundred dollars a license (the versions you pay more than that for typically have multiple license rights, meaning more than 1 install per serial number). My feeling is this is just more Microsoft hate because people/idiots feel it competes with Linux and you can't compete with Linux love on the internet. However, OpenOffice does compete with MS Office and what was said in the video is *generally* true.

Want an example of software that you could get free but people use the paid alternative instead? Try Adobe Photoshop and Premiere and Illustrator (or Corel Paint Shop Pro). Maya/3D Studio Max versus Blender (though, Blender does get plenty of love). Mathematica/Maple versus others. Visual Studio versus Eclipse and other spinoffs. If you think Office is expensive, take a look at Visual Studio Pro licenses (yea, 100 dollars isn't so bad huh?). VMWare Enterprise versus VirtualBox. I could go on.

Businesses know that time is money and there is a large amount of time spent writing/maintaining middleware for OSS, because no one does it already. Finding custom (or near custom) solutions to a real business problem is hard to do for OSS because industrial grade software developers (Microsoft, Adobe, etc) don't invest their time into those programs. Like it or not, this matters.

If you are a student, I can't understand why you would want OpenOffice. Word and Excel are superior to Writer and Calc (though, for college/school purposes, Calc may be passable) yet you get software like Access and OneNote (a program that no one is competing with right now... and if they ever incorporate the ability to take Math/Engineering notes it will be one of the 3 greatest programs ever). A single license student version can be had for $80 and contain everything you need/want (outside of SharePoint... but you probably don't want that). If you are a student, you probably can get financial aid to cover this cost and more.

If you are a business user, I already explained why you wouldn't bother with OpenOffice. If you are a really small business that doesn't need real support, maybe you would consider this... but if you grow, you may be asking for problems down the road.

If you are a home user or a FOSS fanboy, then I can completely understand why you would use OpenOffice. It's good enough to do what you need, then you should absolutely use it - which is what I have a feeling 99% of the people who are posting here trashing MS actually are (OSS Fanboys).

And before you go ballistic on me, I'm a software engineer (not for MS, I wish I was though, because they pay well, great benefits, great environment, etc). I'm not talking out of my rear.
 
[citation][nom]JOSHSKORN[/nom]Well lets see. I've had Office 2007 since it came out. Roughly 3 years and I STILL am not use to it (I prefer 2003 and earlier traditional menu layout).[/citation]

Then you may want to start actually using it. I seriously can't see someone using something for 3 years and 'not be used to it'.

What's damning for OOo in my opinion is that people are producing products that are catching them faster than they are catching MS Office. Google Docs for example.
 
As a freelance IT Consultant, i have tried on several occasion to convert small offices over to OpenOffice.

On 2 occasions it went really well.
These where 1 or 2 person offices with tech savy people.

The other 3 attempts went so badly i lost one of the accounts.
2 of them are still with me, because they took my advice to only try it out on a small portion of their machines, and incompatibility was a HUGE issue across business's. The account that dropped me decided to embrace OpenOffice fully (against my "try it first" advice), and when their customers couldnt open documents and they couldnt open the excell document their web based CRM generated, they dropped me before calling.

lol


i love openoffice, but i use MS Office.
 
I refuse to use anything that requires install on my home machine...
IMO Google Apps > OpenOffice > M$ Office
Microsoft Office has been bloatware since 2000.
 
wow....can anyone say "cha-ching"? somebody got their panties in a bunch bc everyone is moving to freeware. on top of the fact that america is almost a destitute nation as it is considering the circumstances of the workforce, or lack thereof, you, me and joe-bob are going to squeeze every penny until it screams. ps....the gentleman who mentioned the price hike on MO....you're right on. went up 4%.....even bill gates is getting into your pocket on this one.
 
Where is the [citation][nom]dallaswits[/nom]As a freelance IT Consultant, i have tried on several occasion to convert small offices over to OpenOffice.On 2 occasions it went really well.These where 1 or 2 person offices with tech savy people.The other 3 attempts went so badly i lost one of the accounts.2 of them are still with me, because they took my advice to only try it out on a small portion of their machines, and incompatibility was a HUGE issue across business's. The account that dropped me decided to embrace OpenOffice fully (against my "try it first" advice), and when their customers couldnt open documents and they couldnt open the excell document their web based CRM generated, they dropped me before calling.loli love openoffice, but i use MS Office.[/citation]

Sounds like a customer I had ... once.

A small business doing personal training/workout/fitness, etc. When I 'inherited' them, their "server" was a WinXP machine at their point of sale (POS) desk, connected to their cash register. Their backup system was USB to an external, old maxtor drive sitting at the feet of the lady that ran the register.

I had access to the machine the first day I worked there, figured out their backup didn't work, the POS drive was nearly full and I believed malware infected.

I gave two managers and the owner written proposals outlining changes they needed to make immediately to 1-protect their data, 2-add better sustainability and a route of disaster preparedness for their computers.

My plan was received, but not reviewed, by anyone. I did get a meeting with the owner, and pointed out their problem and that they needed a solution 'yesterday'. He promised me access to their equipment to take care of it. Then the next day happened, and all was forgotten.

I never gained physical access to any of it, continued warning the managers and the owner.

Finally, one day, it broke and they lost all their data (non-working backup I was never allowed to repair).

I got a frantic call one morning from one of the managers that ignored me, saying "its like trying to find a polar bear during a snow storm; you were supposed to take care if this".

They didn't keep me. I reminded the owner of my repeated attempts, written and verbal to take care of their technical problems beforehand, that had been denied/ignored. It didn't matter.

Why even have an IT consultant and PAY them, if you will not allow them to do the work...

Years later, I know I am better off without them.
 
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