OpenOffice.org is the most popular open-source office suite available for many platforms, including MS Windows and GNU/Linux. As far as the functionality is concerned, the suite is almost a complete copy of the Microsoft Office suite. It consists of the following apps:

• Writer - an advanced document editor (a counterpart of Microsoft Word)
• Calc - a spreadsheet (comparable with Microsoft Excel)
• Impress - a presentation program (similar to Microsoft PowerPoint)
• Base - a database creator (build to be a Microsoft Access replacement)
• Draw - a drawing program
• Math - mathematical formulas editor

Pic 1. OpenOffice 2.0.2 Writer in action

OpenOffice.org supports many document formats. The default is OpenDocument - a new standard in document exchange, accepted by many organizations world-wide (including the governments, universities and other public and provate institutes). Microsoft Office formats are supported as well - OpenOffice.org is known to provide the best implementation of the MS “standards” among all the open-source apps. Since OpenOffice.org 2.0, most of the sophisticated documents with macros and scripts are supported as well.

The main argument used against OpenOffice.org is its speed and responsiveness. It is know to take 10-20 minutes to start for the first time and the minimal hardware requirements are considerably higher than for Microsoft Office (a Pantuim II with 128 MB RAM is a wise minimum). It’s overall ergonomics is often questioned as well, but at the same time admired by many.

Still, with all its pros and cons, it’s the best alternative office suite nowadays and it’s becoming adopted by an increasing number of users and organizations every year.