EXCLUSIVES

OpenOffice.org 1.0
By Chris Rhoadhouse

OpenOffice.org is an open source (free) Microsoft Office analog that supports common word-processing and spreadsheet tasks.

OpenOffice.org is based on Sun's StarOffice suite (Unix) and because it is open-source, users can download and modify the source code. In fact, basing OS X in Unix opened up a world of open-source software to Mac users. Those who want to alter source code can submit those changes and have them incorporated into the next generation of a program.

To install and run OpenOffice.org you must first download and install X11. X11 is a windows manager for Unix and is needed to run OpenOffice.org. You can download X11 at: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/
x11formacosx.html. Once you have the windows manager installed you can download OpenOffice.org from http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/. It is a fairly large download (around 150MB) so users with dial-up connections might want to have a friend with broadband get it for them. Once you have OpenOffice.org simply run the installer and you are ready to go.

Once installed, double click the "Start OpenOffice.org" script to launch. You are greeted with the familiar Office looking toolbars. OpenOffice.org comes with Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (visual effects) and Math (equations). Let's take a closer look at each module.

Writer is similar to Microsoft Word and is for style formatting, tables, spell-check, bullets, etc. You can save documents in a variety of formats including OpenOffice.org (native XML), HTML and several Microsoft Word formats.

The Calc spreadsheet component is a good substitute for Excel. Calc has the same number crunching/organizing prowess of Excel including: charts, statistics, formulas and other features you have come to expect from a spreadsheet. Calc opened a wide range of Excel spreadsheets that I had on my computer with ease and can be saved in several Excel formats.

Impress corresponds to Microsoft PowerPoint and offers transitions, bulleted lists and support for spreadsheets and graphics. Like the rest of the modules in OpenOffice.org, Impress can save to a variety of Powerpoint formats.

Draw offers most Microsoft Office WordArt functions and simple drawing features and can be used on Write, Calc and Impress projects or by itself. You can open JPEGs, TIFFs, Bitmap, GIF and EPS files making it a handy graphics converter.

Math is a great tool for anyone who needs to write mathematical formulas. Many people opt to use LaTeX for formula writing, however LaTeX is complex and Math is comparatively straightforward wand will find itself many fans in the math and sciences.

OpenOffice.org is very much a work-in-progress. It takes about 3 minutes to load on my 500 MHz iMac and is a little slow overall. The interface looks like Office 95 on the PC (no Aqua jell buttons here). Also transparency in graphics is not supported in this release. OpenOffice.org boasts XML, HTML and Unicode support, however it lacks the ability to import/export WordPerfect files and has a few bugs that need to be ironed out. However the nice thing about open-source software is that you can report a bug or a feature that you would like implemented and chances are they will be fixed on the next release.

Aside from a few bugs and slow performance, OpenOffice.org is a capable application and viable substitute for Microsoft Office that is well worth downloading.

OpenOffice.org 1.0 > Price: Free Hardware requirements: Any Mac running OS X 10.2 and X11 Windowing system Mac version available at: http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/ or Apple's OS X download section http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/
x11formacosx.html