This Google notebook has been compiled by Dr Elwyn Jenkins as an adjunct to an article in TechWithoutWires.com "MS Office vs OpenOffice". The notebook features OpenOffice software as compared to MS Office. The bloatware nature of MS products is compared with the relatively nimble OpenOffice. OpenOffice and some of its extensions are listed here as evidence of being able to relatively well replace MS Office with OpenOffice.org software. 

So, I downloaded and installed OpenOffice 2.2, which runs under the Mac OS X X11 server. Functionally it is great, and opens all my old spreadheets and wordprocessor documents like a dream. The spreadsheet even looks visually very close to Excel, and everything that I need is there.

MS are desperate in needing to knock OpenOffice out of the running -- because OpenOffice is now so good. MS are claiming patent violations. 

Following a claim by Microsoft's general counsel that Linux and other open source and free software apps violate 235 of its patents, OpenOffice.org, one of the targets of MSFT's new patent claim called Redmond's actions "desperate" on Monday. Open Office is free suite of open source office applications that includes a word processor and spreadsheet program that can run on Windows, Linux and the Mac. In an interview with Fortune magazine, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith claimed that Open Office violates 45 of its patents.

Just in the same way as there are extensions available for the Firefox Browser environment, OpenOffice allows for extensions. Here is a must have list of extensions. 

As with Firefox, you can add new features and extend OpenOffice.org's functionality by installing extensions. Here some of the most useful ones to try.

Office vs Google Vs OpenOfficeMust-have OpenOffice extensions - Download Squad: "It seems that no list is complete without being labeled as 'Must Have' these days, but we'll let you decide as to how indispensable these OpenOffice extensions listed by Linux.com really are. In the spotlight are extensions that add tabbed windows, a library of maps, more templates, clipart and fonts and even an annotation tool that enhances the suite's built-in Notes feature. For anyone looking to administer a booster shot to OpenOffice, this list is at least a good place to start.

Annotation Tool
SVG Import Filter
Oxygen Office Professional
Tabbed Windows
Photo Album Maker
Multisaver

Visit the Extensions Repository page of OpenOffice.org wiki. More than 21 extensions listed at the time of writing this note.

Some products

Given the prevalence of notebook computers and other mobile devices, it is surprising how often you see people using a notepad and pencil – particularly when you consider how inadequate that technology actually is for editing, sorting, searching, structuring or sharing your notes. Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 was the company’s first attempt to address these issues, and now we have Office OneNote 2007 currently in Beta as part of the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

Why MS Office is not on my recommendation list. To get MS Office I need to go and buy something from a store. I don't know when it was that I bought software from a store. Oh, yes, it was when I bought Windows Vista -- the operating system that I no longer operate.

To get a trial of MS OneNote 2007 I had to download 100MB of stuff, and commit to installing it invasively for a product that will have a shelf life of  90 days.

Microsoft don't get non-bloatware. MS OneNote is bloatware done wrong.

It is actually quite difficult to find a spreadsheet program that gives Excel a run for its money. 

It was the spreadsheet that first made the business world take the personal computer seriously, back in the early 1980s, and since then it has become the tool of choice for businesses everywhere. If you want to work out whether a new project is financially viable, make sense of the latest sales figures, or simply create a table, then you reach for your spreadsheet application.