AbiWord or OpenOffice?

Hello all!

I have a legit Microsoft Office 2003 license and the software through a scheme at work, but I know someone that needs a quick fix for Microsoft Word and I would like to know how the following both compare as a Microsoft Word replacement:

• http://www.abisource.com
• http://www.openoffice.org

Any preferences, pros and cons, etc?

I have already read this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/12/AR2005111200143.html

I value your opinions and would be really grateful if you could help me.

 

I use openoffice. It has most of the features of all of MS word, but personally I have experienced slower load times, even on a core duo laptop. But its free, so I dont care, it works.

 

openoffice has more features, but it's purpose is to look/feel like MS Word. It's also extremely slow
i prefer Abiword as it's great, yet isn't trying to be something it's not.
it's also just a few mb's and lightning fast

 

Best to have both. Use Abiword when possible, OOo if you need some of the advanced features.

 

Thanks!

Can they both open .DOC files and save as .DOC files?

I don't envision it being used for more than word processing, maybe with some sort of table layout like a CV.

 

Both can open and save as >DOC files, but OpenOffice has the advantage of offering .odf, the new opensource file format which is being adopted more and more. And it can export documents as PDF files, which is extremely useful to me. It has better spellcheck/grammar features IMHO.
Yes, a bit slower to load, but not to use, new version has auto-update, and the clear winner in my experience.

 

It's really only slow if you leave Java enabled. Try disabling the java bindings (google) and see how fast it goes.

Abiword is a good replacement for MS Word though, but just Word. OpenOffice.org is a full office suite (sans an Outlook analog).

I would recommend OpenOffice.org 2.0 especially. Also consider getting this because it includes lots of extras that aren't in the default OpenOffice.org install, but it's handy for most people to have (they're used to templates coming with office suites)

 

I have MS Word 2007 Beta 2. It's free.
Plus I have OOo 2.0.3, because it's free. Now the point is, I only need MS Word for compatiblity with existing macros. Somehow I just don't see the macro languages of OOo as simple. And there is no conversion for MS Office macros to OOO macros.
OOO also wins if you have to open and edit a protected document/see the sources. But to be honest, I won't open OOO unless I have to write essays. For simple letters http://www.writely.com does the job.

 

Thanks everybody!

In addition to your posts I found another review that compared these two plus another word processor/office suite. When I find the link again I'll post it for reference.

<EDIT>
Found it:
http://www.goldfishsbowl.co.uk/index.php?p=42
</EDIT>

I'm going to give OpenOffice a go. I downloaded it last night and will install it tonight. I'll let you know how I get on with it.

 

It's never too late to come to a thread discussion but I use OpenOffice. I do not find it slow and it works great. What I would like to get is an Outlook alternative (calendar and contacts) that I can use to sync up with a cell phone or PDA. I may end up installing Outlook if nothing comes up.

BTW, Calc is a superb Excel replacement.

 

Spyware Terminator doesn't like OpenOffice! It's a shame you can't specify folders and files for its resident protection to ignore.

 

see, OOo was originally intended for linux, so they didn't need an email program.
in linux everyone uses Evolution (yes, Evolution, not thunderbird)

 

I don't use Evolution. But then again I don't use Thunderbird either. My email is web-portal oriented, and I like keeping it that way. But if I had to choose between Evolution and Thunderbird (having used both mind you)... I would choose Thunderbird. I just like it better. Plus, my experience with Evolution is fairly limited while I used Thunderbird for quite a while back in the day.

 

I use Pine on linux.

 

OpenOffice has been in use for a couple of weeks now and has proved successful and a great alternative to Microsoft Office, particularly as it's being used as a replacement for Word.

Thank you all for your help!

 

I switched back to Open Office because I couldnt figure out how to set Abiword to save in .doc format automatically.