Word processor

[RogueHart]

i need a good word processor. like ms word but free. cant stand word anyway. need it for school.

does anyone know of any good open source software like this? or something under some kind of open license.

[Joerg]

Abiword, openOffice.org Writer

[VaKo]

Be aware of possible incompatibilities between free Office clones and actual Office. While most freetards would far rather die than admit this could ever happen it was a common issue at the University i worked at. At the very least get hold of the Office 2003/2007 file viewers and make sure everything you want to take to school as a digital file works with whatever they use.

Hate it as much as you want but there a reasons Office is used so much. A: It is actually that good and B: its what everyone you need to talk to will be using (mostly).

[RogueHart]

Be aware of possible incompatibilities between free Office clones and actual Office. While most freetards would far rather die than admit this could ever happen it was a common issue at the University i worked at. At the very least get hold of the Office 2003/2007 file viewers and make sure everything you want to take to school as a digital file works with whatever they use.

Hate it as much as you want but there a reasons Office is used so much. A: It is actually that good and B: its what everyone you need to talk to will be using (mostly).

well the actuality of my situation is much simpler than that and any office clone will suffice.

to put it simply all i really need is a word processor that can spellcheck, track page numbers and word count, ect, ect.

i dont need anything that produces compatible digital files since the work im doing is printed out. the means doesnt matter. its the ends i need. as long as the ends can mimic the real office then the means can be fake.

[VaKo]

If your just printing stuff out on the cheap for school then yeah, fuck it and go for OpenOffice. I still think Office 2007 is a far better product though, its just the case that you might not need it.

[Sparda]

Be aware of possible incompatibilities between free Office clones and actual Office. While most freetards would far rather die than admit this could ever happen it was a common issue at the University i worked at. At the very least get hold of the Office 2003/2007 file viewers and make sure everything you want to take to school as a digital file works with whatever they use.

pdf electronic submition ftw.

pdf = no font issues

pdf = actually a standard

pdf = no image rendering madness

OpenOffice exports to pdf

[VaKo]

Aye, if nothing else works, PDF will.

[Joerg]

Afaik pdf is not an open standard.

[Swathe]

I think office 2007 is better than open office, but thats not paying for it. I wouldn't buy 2007 lol

[Sparda]

Afaik pdf is not an open standard.

http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1141

[Joerg]

Sparda, thank you for updating my knowlegde database.

[MRGRIM]

We recently upgraded to Office 2K7, but we looked at OpenOffice.org and I was actually quiet surprised by how much stuff is actually there, the learning cover would be no greater than moving from 2003 to 2007 as 2003 to OpenOffice.org.

That said I am still impressed with my overall experience of Office 2007.

As for exporting to PDF, I belive Microsoft have a plugin for Office 2007? (Wasn't it sheduled to be released before Adobe went nuts ;))

Anyway we use CutePDF here (Installs as a printer, then you print to it and it asks you where you want to create the PDF)

http://www.cutepdf.com/

[Joerg]

Actually yes, I obtained a copy of it.

[VaKo]

As for exporting to PDF, I belive Microsoft have a plugin for Office 2007? (Wasn't it sheduled to be released before Adobe went nuts ;))

You mean this? Works like a charm and its free. Adobe should have quit its kvetching and let MS include it as part of the base office install.

[pants123]

I use a Mac app called Writeroom personally (http://hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom), but that's for the Mac only.

Great for doing schoolwork and such though. Shuts out everything else on your screen.