A Review of OpenOffice and AbiWord

With every new ugrade option that comes along, computers get more impressive. They offer faster download speeds, smoother graphics, and more memory than ever. However, many people rely on their computers for the simplest of all electronic tasks: writing.

Microsoft Office is the standard for desktop publishing and writing. Does that mean you have to spend upwards of $400 just for a glorified text-editor? Of course not. There are many free options available on the Internet that will work just as well for the average student or professional writer! This article will cover two of the most well-known opensource alternatives to Microsoft Word.

OpenOffice, available from openoffice.org, is probably one of the most well known free alternatives to Microsoft Office. It has won many awards, and with good reason. OpenOffice is not just a text editor; it is a "software suite" that contains several programs.

For many people, the selling point for OpenOffice is its support for documents created in Microsoft Office. It can read files with the .doc extension. This means that when your coworker sends you a memo he created in Microsoft Office, you can view and edit it. OpenOffice can also read documents created in other programs.

The interface of OpenOffice is similar to that of Microsoft Word, so there is not a steep learning curve for new users. It offers most of the same features that Microsoft Word uses. It has a spellcheck, highlighting, and custom styles and formatting. As an added bonus, OpenOffice allows you to export a file directly as a pdf file. If you've ever used a windows based text editor, the icons and menu commands should be pretty easy to understand. However, OpenOffice has more to offer than a text editor.

Besides its word processing program, the most useful feature for students and educators is probably its "Impress" program. "Impress" allows the user to create simple PowerPoint presentations. It lacks some of PowerPoint's advanced features. I've also noticed that it doesn't support the same animations or text effects. However, if all you need for your presentation slides is text and pictures, this is a great free alternative.

Another powerful contender is AbiWord. This program can be downloaded from abiword.com. One of the immediately obvious advantages is that AbiWord offers a version of its software for Mac and Linux. If you have to edit documents on computers with different platforms, this program is an obvious advantage. Its interface is simple; it uses icons and a menu base similar to the one in most Windows text editors. It also features many of the same features found in high-priced text editors, including spell-check, word count, and automatic correction. Like OpenOffice, AbiWord offers support from MS Office documents and can export text files in several different formats. AbiWord does not have as many "bells and whistles" as OpenOffice. For some users, this may be a selling point- AbiWord's learning curve is less steep than many other free text editors. Some people want "just a text editor" without all the extra features or programs offered by software suites.