Anyone use freeware alternatives to word?

[Bebpo]

I gotta get a real word processor on this computer (been using wordpad) to write a paper.  Don't feel like "acquiring" word/office.  Looked around and found OpenOffice project & Abiword.  Grabbed Abiword and so far it seems ok.  It doesn't seem to work with tables/graphics made in Word, but for simple typing & spell check it seems ok? 

Anyone have experience with these freeware word processors?  Just wondering if there's anything I should know before I fuck up my final paper.

[Brehvolution]

OpenOffice always worked fine for me.

[recursivelyenumerable]

I really didn't like OpenOffice back when I tried it (four-odd years ago, 2.0?) but maybe it's gotten better.  I'd rather use Google Docs, really.  Or there's always LaTeX ...

Actually, for a short-term solution you can just download the Office 2010 beta.

[tehjaybo]

Yeah, Open Office is pretty much the standard.  Other than that, I dunno.

[Bebpo]

Ok, will check out OpenOffice.

[recursivelyenumerable]

I always preferred Abiword over OpenOffice, too.  (on Linux/GNOME)  But this was back in 2002-4, I'm under the impression OpenOffice has gotten a lot more development since then.

[Bocsius]

Is the consensus still that OpenOffice's word processor is decent but stay away from other applications as they are pure crap?

I have Office, so it matters little to me. But just for information's sake.

[recursivelyenumerable]

I only ever really used the word processor.  My impressions at the time were that it was basically everything I disliked about MS Word, but more so.  i.e. even slower, even more bloated, even messier, even harder to find things.  It even had a "Clippy" (an ugly lightbulb IIRC).

[Great Rumbler]

I've noticed that documents in OpenOffice are about a third the size of similar Word documents. I've been using it for a while now and it suits my purposes.

[The Fake Shemp]

I just use Google Docs.

[Reb]

Yeah, used to have open office, now I use Google docs.
I did buy MS Office eventually though.

[Bebpo]

Ok, tried Open Office Writer.  Seems fine.  It does a better job than Abiword at reading current docs.  For example:



In Abiword the table doesn't show up.  It just lists the words one after another with no formatting.



But OOW still fails a bit here with graphics.  Border is not supposed to be off like that.  Abiword doesn't even show the graphic or the border, so OOW is an improvement, but not 100%.


Maybe I should try Google Docs next.

[Bebpo]

Yeah, uh, google docs is not working for me in firefox at all.  I click new document and the pop up page won't load correctly >_<

[MCD]

"Actually, for a short-term solution you can just download the Office 2010 beta."

listen to recursive.

[Polari]

I don't think Google Docs is going to import that formatting anyway, that OpenOffice does as well as it does with .doc is a minor miracle.

[Bebpo]

How long will the Office 2010 beta last?  I don't want it to stop working the day before I finish my paper.

I'm definitely leaning towards that. 

Encountering formatting errors between word/wordpad/open office transferring.  I open the .rtf made in wordpad in open office, change all the text to times new roman, put spacing on double and it's 3 full pages, but I can't save it into a .doc file without it going back to single spacing.

So I copy and paste the words to a notepad .txt to drop the .rtf formatting, then copy & paste into open office and change all the text to times new roman and put spacing on double and it's 2 1/2 pages.  Looking at the two side by side I can't tell the difference.  Text size/style/formatting seems identical, but one is longer than the other.  >_<

[MCD]

Does the beta version of Office 2010 expire after certain time?

The beta version of Office 2010 will expire in October 2010. Users can choose to download the trial or buy the full version of Office 2010 at that time.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/faqs/default.aspx

[Fragamemnon]

if you are doing any tables or basic layout stuff, run, don't walk, to the office 2010 beta.

stuff like abiword and openoffice IMO really only works for doing the most very basic of word processing tasks. Though it's not surprising that open office can't even space paragraphs properly, I've never had a good experience using it or any of its derivative works.

[Bebpo]

Does the beta version of Office 2010 expire after certain time?

The beta version of Office 2010 will expire in October 2010. Users can choose to download the trial or buy the full version of Office 2010 at that time.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/faqs/default.aspx

Good times!

[BobFromPikeCreek]

I used Open Office pretty much all through college. It's great for simple papers, but more complex formatting will start to give you some trouble. Still, for the price, it's pretty amazing.

[Beezy]

Does the beta version of Office 2010 expire after certain time?

The beta version of Office 2010 will expire in October 2010. Users can choose to download the trial or buy the full version of Office 2010 at that time.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/faqs/default.aspx

Cool, I'm gonna have to get this.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I see that some Comic Sans is being used

[max_cool]

I used Open Office pretty much all through college. It's great for simple papers, but more complex formatting will start to give you some trouble. Still, for the price, it's pretty amazing.

Undergrad and law school, and I still use it at home.

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

I'm gonna have to check out the Office 2010 Beta eventually. Office 2007 got borked and wouldn't reinstall because of some registry horseshit on my Windows 7 rig when I updated from beta to final.

[Tristam]

I use Jarte because it's extremely light and fast (and tabbed!), but consequently it's light on features as well. Table-making is a joke. But if you just wanna write stuff, it's great.

I, too, was disappointed with OpenOffice, 'cuz it seemed even slower and more bloated than Word.