Edit this page :: Discussion

OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org (OOo, OO.o, or OpenOffice informally) is an all in one office suite, handling all of your word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, publishing, and database needs. OpenOffice.org contains 5 main applications and 2 other sub-components. The main applications are:

  • Writer - for word processing
  • Impress - for presentations
  • Calc - for spreadsheets
  • Draw - for publishing and drawing
  • Base - for databases

The sub-components are:

  • Math - for formulas
  • Chart - for charts

Mission

OpenOffice.org's mission statement is:

To create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format.

History

What came to be OpenOffice.org started as the proprietary office suite, StarOffice, produced by the Germany based company StarDivision. In August of 1999 Sun Microsystems purchased the code of StarOffice and released version 5.2 of StarOffice for free.

Benefits

From the start, OpenOffice.org was designed as the full package. With this design you get several benefits such as these:

  • Similar Look & Feel - for the different applications, OOo maintains the same look and feel so that the suite is easier to use.
  • Common Tool Belt - the same tools are used in multiple applications so that you only have to learn a tool once, and you can use it in the multiple environments.
  • Shared Knowledge - the applications share knowledge, so if you add a word to the dictionary in Impress, that word will still be in the dictionary in Writer.
OpenOffice.org has these other important benefits too:

  • Multiple Platforms - OpenOffice.org isn't just for one platform it works on Linux, Windows, Mac, and Solaris.
  • OpenDocument Format - all applications save in the OpenDocument Format which is an open standard created by Sun Microsystems and OASIS.
  • Templates - the OpenOffice.org website has a whole host of templates that you can use in Writer, Impress, Calc, and Draw. All avaliable here: http://templates.services.openoffice.org/.
  • Extensions - the OpenOffice.org website also hosts a large array of extensions that you can use in OOo. They are avaliable here: http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/.
  • Native Language - you can probably view OpenOffice.org in your native language, the OOo's community Native Language Projects offer over 80 languages. One is pretty much bound to be in your language.
  • Cost - OpenOffice.org is completely free, meaning of no cost.