Open Office versus Libre Office - feedback? Comments?

[RetiredAt63]

I'm setting up my new (to me) computer (good-bye Windows XP Pro, hello Windows 7), and am considering switching to either Open Office or Libre Office.  Both look like they can handle my needs (basic word processing and spreadsheets).  Has anyone used the new (4.x) versions and how do you like them? 

If I switch, I will be using them to do minutes for a group I belong to (the joys of retirement and having time, I am now the Secretary).  All the old minutes, etc., are in Word, and everyone will expect anything I write to also be .doc files (not .docx, a lot of members have not upgraded).  So any issues with conversions would be of particular interest.

Thanks for whatever feedback comes this way!

[sheepstache]

I wish I could offer more feedback but it's difficult when I've had absolutely zero problems with either of them or with transitioning between.

[Alfred J Quack]

No big problems, only what I think is iffy compatibility between Open Office and MS Office. Also, getting used to the GUI is a pain. After playing with Kingsoft OFfice on iPad I installed Kingsoft Office (2013) on my PC, which is also free. Comes with a Writer, spreadsheet and presentation application but GUI is comparable to Office 2010. Instantly recognizable and compatible with .doc, .xls and .ppt files, no compatibility issues discovered yet...

[Thegoblinchief]

LibreOffice is considerably better in my opinion but both definitely work.

OpenOffice is controlled by Oracle post-Sun Micro's acquisition. It's still open source and free, but Libre seems to have far greater support in the wider open source community. In the long run, the gap will get even wider.

Personally, though, I use Google Drive for most everything. I find it's version of Excel even easier to learn and the cloud functionality is a major plus when I own and use 4-5 different systems (three computers, iPad, smartphone) regularly. I also used to do a TON of peer editing using it.

[RetiredAt63]

I hadn't heard of either Kingsoft Office (not sure I trust software coming out of China, not sure I trust anything from the U.S. either, sorry) or Google Drive.  Any other comments on either of these?

[Thegoblinchief]

Since you mentioned it's minutes for a group (missed that when reading the thread first), try Google Drive first. Makes it incredibly easy to share folders with people. That way you're not constantly needing to send e-mail+attachment with every new doc.

Depending on how your group is structured, you can control whether those you've shared have read-only, commenting, or full editing privileges. If you've used Word, you can use Drive.

[Spork]

I've used Open Office (and before that: Star Office) for years... back since I was running it on SunOS.  I now use LibreOffice -- mostly because that's what gets distributed with most Linuxes -- but also because Oracle has become such a thorn.

I've never had any issues other than minor formatting here and there but I AM NOT A HEAVY HITTER OFFICE USER!!!  A big office user might have more issues than me.

[Rural]

I'm a major fan of Google Drive, both for the applications and simply as an auto-synching cloud storage system.

One caveat which applies to all the options (with the possible exception of LibreOffice, which I haven't used): none of them has a spreadsheet functionality that's as powerful as MS Office. If you do anything less than heavy-duty scientific calculations, you'll never know the difference, but if you're out on the edge of spreadsheets' capabilities, neither OpenOffice nor Google Drive's spreadsheet app will serve.

[Daley]

Actually, OpenOffice hasn't been under Oracle governance for a couple years now at least, and the community is now managed by the Apache Foundation. It's improved a lot over the past year, some of the improvements from LibreOffice have been merged back, and a lot of the IBM Lotus Symphony code has been released to Apache for merging as well, so the UI is starting to diverge from the older OOo/LibreOffice builds and becoming an office suite of its own. That said, the LibreOffice 4.2 release has been nice... especially on the Calc end.

[Spork]

Hmmm.... didn't realize that.   FWIW, (again: not a power user) I really have not found a huge difference between OO and LO.  I am just lazy and take the default package that comes with whatever distro I happen to be running.  That probably means for those that want the superduperscientificfunctions like Rural... You may be equally disappointed (or maybe even equally surprised that they're fixed).

[Nords]

I just downloaded LibreOffice and prefer it to OpenOffice.  Cleaner, faster, no surprises.

I think it'll take the OO community a long time to revive from the Oracle debacle. 

[ritchie70]

I last touched OpenOffice or LibreOffice a couple years ago and was seriously underwhelmed. Major file compatibility problems in a quick evaluation open of some of my documents, so I just gave up on it.

Pulled down Kingsoft Office a few weeks ago and have played with it briefly - it's definitely a Microsoft Office clone, prior to the tabbed interface. Haven't tried to do anything meaningful with it, but it looks like has promise, especially as a free office for someone who's used to the older Microsoft interface.

[Rural]

Hmmm.... didn't realize that.   FWIW, (again: not a power user) I really have not found a huge difference between OO and LO.  I am just lazy and take the default package that comes with whatever distro I happen to be running.  That probably means for those that want the superduperscientificfunctions like Rural... You may be equally disappointed (or maybe even equally surprised that they're fixed).

In the interest of full disclosure... The superduperscientist is my husband. I'm a more normal Excel user, and I think I'd do fine with Google Drive if need be. I do like that I can use it for online surveys and have the data automatically put into a Google spreadsheet.

[FunkyStickman]

LibreOffice is considerably better in my opinion but both definitely work.

OpenOffice is controlled by Oracle post-Sun Micro's acquisition. It's still open source and free, but Libre seems to have far greater support in the wider open source community. In the long run, the gap will get even wider.

Personally, though, I use Google Drive for most everything. I find it's version of Excel even easier to learn and the cloud functionality is a major plus when I own and use 4-5 different systems (three computers, iPad, smartphone) regularly. I also used to do a TON of peer editing using it.

This. I run Libre Office, I recommend it to everybody I know. It just works. Google Drive is for stuff I want to collaborate on.