Titan Tech Tip for Tuesday, March 2, 2010
This week’s tech tip was suggested by a teacher here at Thomas, Mrs. Heveron-Smith. She felt that most teachers take for granted that a student has Microsoft Word installed on their home computers, but sometimes this is not the case! So, students, what can you do to avoid having to go out and pay hundreds of buckaroons for the latest version of Microsoft Office? It’s easy, free, and it won’t get you arrested! OpenOffice.org is a full office suite that is compatible with the Microsoft Office suite that is very, very similar to the Microsoft product. I use it exclusively on my home computer, as, for one, I’m cheap! And secondly, it works just as well for a fraction of the price, and in some cases, has more functions than its Microsoft counterpart. OpenOffice.org will run on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but specifically for Mac users, NeoOffice.org offers a more streamlined, faster version of OpenOffice available for your downloading pleasure.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:51 pm EST
I’d like to suggest using Google Docs instead. It’s free (just sign up for a
Gmail account) and as far as I know it can import any MS Doc file. It may not always look exactly the same as the MS original, but OpenOffice has the same problem.
The major advantage is that you can access all your documents in seconds from anywhere you have access to the Internet. I find that to be incredibly useful because I do a lot of writing for my blog and I can work on an article whether I’m at my home PC, on the road with my laptop, or using a work computer.
If you want, you can also collaborate on a document by “sharing” it with someone else. I do that with Google spreadsheets that I create for work. I can also save a local copy and email it to someone.
Some might be nervous about having their documents storied in the “cloud.” But I think there is a greater risk of losing them because of a hard drive failure. There’s also a real simple way to store them locally (actually multiple ways). By downloading Google Gears (also free), you can store and edit your docs offline and your changes will be automatically synced the next time you’re connected to the Internet.
As I said, it’s free and you can probably sign-up and give it a try in less time that it would take you to download and install OpenOffice.
BTW, nice blog. One of these days I’ll have to buy a radio and try using my license. KC2SMJ