Well OpenOffice 2.0 is now out of beta. I'm downloading it now eventhough I just updated to beta 2 not that long ago. I don't know if its any better yet but at least this means they are closer to an official release.

http://download.openoffice.org/index.html

Remember to uninstall the old version before installing this one.

I have been posting about OO a lot, I know and I'm sorry. I have just been bussy and have needed it a lot more lately. Anyway I have finally found a way to make it not matter that you use openoffice(even though it is compatible with ms office its not 100% perfect). I found a portable distro of openoffice that will run off of a usb key! It is a pretty big file (116mb) So your going to need at least a 128mb memory stick.Although depending on how much work you will be carying around you might need a bigger one.(I got a 512mb lexar one for around $30).

http://johnhaller.com/jh/useful_stuff/portable_openoffice/

I'll update in the future.... Though what differences are there compared to the 2.0 beta (which you can't downlaod any more), and the 2.0 RC? And what does RC mean, it still is a beta, isn't it?

I honestly think that this version is a little more stable than beta 2.0. Which crashed on me several times in impress and writer.

just got it and i think you are right. Seems to be a little more stable

I understand that Open Office is compatible with MS. I haven't downloaded it yet, but I have a question.

If someone sends me an email with a Word attachment, what do I have to do to open it? Can I just click on the Word attachment to open it in OO, or do I have to open up OO to access it?

Thanks.

When you install Open Office, you will be given the option of selecting certain file types that will open in Open Office.

If you tick these options, then when you try to open a Word (.doc) document, it will open in Open Office automatically.

If you dont tick these options, then you would, either, open Open Office and the browse to the file that you want to open or right click the file, and choose Open With from the drop down context menu.

Thank you very much for the info.

No prob's.

I just downloaded this program, and I gotta tell you, I am quite impressed. It was real easy to download, and I had no problems with it at all.

Based on a quick scan through it, it looks as though it will do everything that I need to do. The beauty of it is that I can save files to open in MS Word, Excel, etc., so I can work on docs at home and then open them up in the office.

Great program. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

I just updated it, more stable for sure, and is also a little bit quicker at loading up. I founf I had real probs when opening up a document via OO beta 2 when the pc had just been switched on, but afterwards it would load up normal.

Now its the same, but a little faster which I really appreciate, and hopefully the final version will be as quick to open up as MS.

The only things I think so far that let it down to MS (though I still way prefer OO) are:

Quite slow to load first time.

Seems the programns minus Writer take some time getting used to layout wise rather than MS, though that maybe because I've been brought up on MS all my life, and this is relatively new to me.

Good things are:

You can save and load in such a way sofiles can be opened up as MS!

Crashers far less frequently to MS (seriously does).

More options.

Better User Interface.

And more.....