Go Back to School with Free Open Office

Thirty-eight years ago, I came home from my first day of school with a list of supplies I needed for class. One item was called a Duo-Tang.

At the time, neither I nor mom had any idea what a Duo-Tang was or where to buy one. Undaunted, she took me shopping.

At one store, a helpful clerk showed us clear plastic report covers with a colored slip on binder, a Duo-Tang. Adding pencils, paper, Elmer's glue, eraser, round-tip scissors, and a ruler to the mix, I was ready for another year of learning. The supplies cost less than five dollars.

Four decades later, school supplies may include inkjet cartridges, printing paper, personal computer, office and reference software, plus Internet access. This back-to-school cost can easily top $1000 or more for a single PC workstation.

Some parents I have help opted for the "no conflict" approach and installed a study workstation for each child. For one family, this meant four PCs and a complete home network.

This expense, back when I was shopping with mom for Duo-Tangs, could have bought us a new family car. What can a parent do besides smile at the cashier and hand over their Visa card?

One option is open-source software. Open-source software is something like a volunteer community project. The goal is a product that serves a public need.

In other words, software created by the people, for the people, and available to everyone at no cost, and with no strings attached.

Over the years, open-source software has lagged behind commercial products in function and appearance. Thanks to the Open Office Project found at www.openoffice.org this is no longer true.

Open Office is a suite of office applications comparable to Microsoft's MS Office 2003. It includes a word processor, Writer, a spreadsheet, Calc, a database call Base, a presentation program, Impress, and a Draw design program.

MS Office 2003 and Open Office look alike. I recognized the toolbar icons in Open Office at first glance, and all my favorite drop-down menus were where I expected them. I was able to switch between them with no lost time.

Microsoft Office 2007 is flashy with pretty icons, colors, and animated buttons. I was happy to just look and admire the new Office, which was a good thing, since I was so lost with the new layout — I had no hope for production.

Microsoft's newest Office suite sells for $400-$500 for the full version. Student versions are closer to $130 but have fewer functions.

Open Office is free, period, end-of-story. It's a full-featured office suite and is fully compatible with MS office 2003/07, including PowerPoint presentations. If spending an additional $130-$500 is not your idea of a back-to-school sale, then click on over to www.openoffice.org and try out Open Office.

(Editor's Note: This article first appeared in August, 2007. Since then, Open Office has been renamed Libre Office and is now available at www.libreoffice.org All in-context links have been updated accordingly.)

Steve Wittmann - Owner
Vivid Vision Imaging