open office - pros and cons

[ann33]

I just found out about open office and am considering downloading it. Up until now, I've used Microsoft and would need to have all my old Word and Powerpoint files converted. How easy is this to do? I'd love to hear more about experiences using open office and what I might need to be aware of. Thanks!

 

[Outlander_04]

Open Office can open your MS files , and it can save in MS formats too . It doesnt do that by default but the change is simple .

OO is very similar to older versions of office , except no email support .
Easy enough to use , and at that price no disadvantages

 

[stickmansam]

you could convert them using word (open docx, save new file as doc[which open office can open])

Pros: Free, relatively easy to use
Cons: won't support everything, some formatting may get messed up in microsoft office which other people use

also try out libre office

 

[Pinhedd]

I just found out about open office and am considering downloading it. Up until now, I've used Microsoft and would need to have all my old Word and Powerpoint files converted. How easy is this to do? I'd love to hear more about experiences using open office and what I might need to be aware of. Thanks!

OpenOffice used to have terrible compatibility with Word formats, but I've heard that's since been improved.

The best way to figure out if OOo is suitable for your needs is to try it out. It's free. The worst thing that could possibly happen is that it's not sufficient and you end up purchasing the latest version of MSOffice