D
David Brown
Guest
krw wrote:
documents. But then, so is MS Word if you don't have the whole Office
pack, and so are different versions of MS Office. Perhaps this will
change as MS is forced to provide more documentation on their formats.
But either way, it makes no practical difference to me - I've rarely had
to look at such documents, and in most cases it was just someone being a
smartass.
Of course, different people use programs in different ways - if you make
a lot of use of advanced features such as macros and integration between
programs, then you'll have a lot more trouble converting to a different
program suite (and that includes converting *to* MS Office, as well as
converting away from it). Pick the best tool for the job - OOo is the
best office pack for my office, but that doesn't mean it's the best for
everyone.
with occasional problems with Excel that were non-issues with Calc. But
if you don't like Calc, there are other programs that work with the
standard ODF formats (like KOffice - coming soon to Windows if you don't
like *nix).
I'm not suggesting everyone should switch to OOo - I am merely
explaining why it is the right choice for us, and could be the right
choice for others. I think the freedom of choice is important - that's
why it is a good thing that MS will support ODF (as long as they don't
try "embrace, extend, extinguish"), as it gives users more choice of how
to access their data.
open in newer versions of Excel - I used OOo to open said files, and
re-save them in a newer Excel format. That's my personal experience -
obviously that's going to different from yours.
of trusting data files sent from an American partner company which
turned out to be infected.
Spreadsheets can do an enormous amount without bothering with macros -
the huge majority of users (of Excel, Calc, or any other part of either
office suite) have no concept of what macros are or how to use them.
Yet they make good use of the tools. If you find you need macros all
the time, then either you work regularly with much more advanced
spreadsheets than most users, or you haven't noticed the little
"function wizard" button.
about a year ago, IIRC) - PC's with particular versions of Office got
stuck as a result of an update (despite automatic updates on Office
being turned off) which caused them to spend many hours at 100% cpu time
on the update process.
(<http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/> being the one we use).
But just like Distiller, they work as printers. You lose information
such as links, clickable table of context, references, and indexes.
Distiller can get you some of that information, but it takes work. With
OOo, all you need to do is make proper use of paragraph styles (which
you should do anyway), and you get a fully structured pdf in a fraction
of the time.
(figuring out what licenses you need, and what licenses you have, can
cost more in time than the software cost itself). That's why I gave it
as the last reason.
If Calc doesn't work for you, pick something else. It works fine for
me, and others at my company, and millions of others around the world.
I'm sure it has its limits, and I'm sure there are features in Excel
that Calc doesn't have, and that a certain proportion of users want
those features - that certainly applies to the pdf generation feature of
Calc that does not exist in Excel.
I'm curious - what is it that Excel can do that Calc cannot? Is it just
the import/export of complex Excel documents with macros, or are there
things that you simply cannot do correctly with Calc? As I said, I have
had no problems - but I don't use it very much. Other people here have
no problem using Calc for budgets, analysis, planning, charting, and all
sorts of other uses (no macros that I know of, however).
increasingly popular, and OOo does everything the majority of office
suite users need. Strong support for ODF is the only way they have a
chance to regain those lost users.
It is certainly incompatible with Word documents with embedded Excel
documents. But then, so is MS Word if you don't have the whole Office
pack, and so are different versions of MS Office. Perhaps this will
change as MS is forced to provide more documentation on their formats.
But either way, it makes no practical difference to me - I've rarely had
to look at such documents, and in most cases it was just someone being a
smartass.
Of course, different people use programs in different ways - if you make
a lot of use of advanced features such as macros and integration between
programs, then you'll have a lot more trouble converting to a different
program suite (and that includes converting *to* MS Office, as well as
converting away from it). Pick the best tool for the job - OOo is the
best office pack for my office, but that doesn't mean it's the best for
everyone.
Not really. OOo is an active choice for us, not just a "free" option.
It works fine as far as I've seen. I've had to help other users here
with occasional problems with Excel that were non-issues with Calc. But
if you don't like Calc, there are other programs that work with the
standard ODF formats (like KOffice - coming soon to Windows if you don't
like *nix).
I'm not suggesting everyone should switch to OOo - I am merely
explaining why it is the right choice for us, and could be the right
choice for others. I think the freedom of choice is important - that's
why it is a good thing that MS will support ODF (as long as they don't
try "embrace, extend, extinguish"), as it gives users more choice of how
to access their data.
I've helped out customers who had old Excel 95 files that they could not
open in newer versions of Excel - I used OOo to open said files, and
re-save them in a newer Excel format. That's my personal experience -
obviously that's going to different from yours.
We're not lucky - we are careful and sensible. But we made the mistake
of trusting data files sent from an American partner company which
turned out to be infected.
Spreadsheets can do an enormous amount without bothering with macros -
the huge majority of users (of Excel, Calc, or any other part of either
office suite) have no concept of what macros are or how to use them.
Yet they make good use of the tools. If you find you need macros all
the time, then either you work regularly with much more advanced
spreadsheets than most users, or you haven't noticed the little
"function wizard" button.
I've seen it happen (you can do some web searching if you want - it was
about a year ago, IIRC) - PC's with particular versions of Office got
stuck as a result of an update (despite automatic updates on Office
being turned off) which caused them to spend many hours at 100% cpu time
on the update process.
Yes, I'm sure you've found the reason why some people choose OOo.
There are also speech-free PDF printers
(<http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/> being the one we use).
But just like Distiller, they work as printers. You lose information
such as links, clickable table of context, references, and indexes.
Distiller can get you some of that information, but it takes work. With
OOo, all you need to do is make proper use of paragraph styles (which
you should do anyway), and you get a fully structured pdf in a fraction
of the time.
I agree that the cost-price is a minor issue at this price level
(figuring out what licenses you need, and what licenses you have, can
cost more in time than the software cost itself). That's why I gave it
as the last reason.
If Calc doesn't work for you, pick something else. It works fine for
me, and others at my company, and millions of others around the world.
I'm sure it has its limits, and I'm sure there are features in Excel
that Calc doesn't have, and that a certain proportion of users want
those features - that certainly applies to the pdf generation feature of
Calc that does not exist in Excel.
I'm curious - what is it that Excel can do that Calc cannot? Is it just
the import/export of complex Excel documents with macros, or are there
things that you simply cannot do correctly with Calc? As I said, I have
had no problems - but I don't use it very much. Other people here have
no problem using Calc for budgets, analysis, planning, charting, and all
sorts of other uses (no macros that I know of, however).
MS are rapidly losing their lock-in with office file formats - ODF is
increasingly popular, and OOo does everything the majority of office
suite users need. Strong support for ODF is the only way they have a
chance to regain those lost users.
negf4tsc7op0d21lars8kmrok30auvevd@4ax.com: