Open Office – Open-Source Productivity Suites

Open Office is open-source and free software that is usually installed on Linux PCs. It was developed by Star Division in 1999 on a volunteer basis to compete with the Microsoft Office suite and its prices back in the day.

Sun Microsystems bought Star Division in the same year, and in 2000 Open Office started to be available for free download to show the development community a new software that was an open alternative to Microsoft Office.

In 2010, Oracle bought OpenOffice.org and kept developing the source code, creating Apache OpenOffice. From now on, the program’s interface is similar to the one that Microsoft Office used in 2003.

Its last update brought different Open Office versions similar to the MS Office suite, for example, Calc, Writer, Open Office Impress, Draw, Base, and Math. These are free software alternatives to Microsoft Office PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Word, among others.

Even though you can get it for free, this software has fewer functions and more limitations than MS Office. Also, users can have difficulties getting used to the platform because of its old design. 

However, Microsoft Office suite experts can get used to it quickly because it has similar commands and shortcuts.

Main Features

Here’s a rundown of the main features of the Open Office Open-source software.

Productivity Tools Without a License

You don’t need to have a license to use the Open Office apps. The open-source development community ensured that you could use and distribute it at 0 cost.

Open-Source Philosophy

You can modify the software as you want to power users' experience even more. Its philosophy can make this productivity suite a great asset when it’s developed by other people.

Multi-Platform Available

You can use the Open Office suite in different hardware architectures and operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, or Sun Solaris.

Different Languages Available

The open-source code allows having a translation into over 40 languages. It also supports Complex Text Layout and other resources to improve your spelling, like grammar checking, and dictionary usage.

Compatibility

Open Office has several compatibilities with regular formats such as Microsoft Office, HTML, XML, and PDF, among others. This is one of the key features why people use this alternative software.

Voice in Open-Source Suites

The best thing about open-source software is that you have a voice. You can make better software by participating in the community. Find security issues, come up with smart decisions and use the product you have developed collaboratively.

Microsoft Office – The Reliable Suite

Microsoft Office suites are a series of commercial products to increase productivity. Some of these well-known programs are:

• MS Office PowerPoint.
• Microsoft Access.
• Microsoft Visio.
• Microsoft Word.
• Microsoft Excel.
• Microsoft Publisher.

For Microsoft Office users, they represent a way to complete tasks and communicate with other people. And as such, the Microsoft corporation has made sure to provide the best user experience possible so that people can use their Microsoft Office licenses to fulfill their productive potential.

Tech-savvy programmers prefer to use Microsoft Office thanks to all the possibilities of this commercially licensed software.

Now, MS Office charges for a one-time license because developers went for-profit model instead of free software. This allows them to improve faster and solve issues more efficiently than Open Office.

Also, using a profit model lets them have professional call centers with a support and benefits service for all users who need a hand with their programs.

Main Features

Below, you can see the main features of the software from the Microsoft company that you will find useful when using this software.

Documents Co-ownership

In the Microsoft Office software suite, you now have the co-authoring feature. This allows you to share documents and work with other co-workers simultaneously without having to send the document and wait for a response.

It’s a feature that we have previously seen in Google Docs, and now the Office system includes it in the Microsoft Office productivity features.

This also allows you to share files and have real-time comments to solve problems immediately. It’s available only for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word documents.

Improved UI

Forget the traditional style interface. With a new and modernized user interface, start an experience where you can enjoy your new productivity software. Live a new clean and clear style with neutral color palettes and soften window corners.

These upgrades make you think about what you will get in the next major release.

Complex Functionalities

Microsoft Office suite is an expert in providing complex functionalities and reading tons of heavy data. There’s an equation editor called Excel that lets you read complex documents and simplify them.

With all the updates, Excel quickly became an important piece for both people and companies that use hard data and want to create a sheet with more advanced features such as macros.

Open Office

Some users simply have a deep conviction that OpenOffice will become a mature platform with major releases thanks to the available open forums. 

Open-source suites differ a lot from others like Microsoft Office. There are big philosophical differences that don't let OpenOffice attract loyal adherents and large corporations to get corporate sponsors and actual value to potential users.

Since Apache Open Office is community-action driven, there isn’t individual innovation, so the actual problems of people that put their trust in the software aren’t solved easily. It can be quite hard to use since it looks similar to Office 2003, so some people deeply distrust it.

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is proprietary software. This means that it is commercial software that pays shareholder dividends and can fund product development to keep providing value to all licensed users. There isn’t a specified number of how many copies they sell, but the higher, the better.

Solving problems is the aim of the company, whether it is from purchasing clients, small nonprofit organizations, qualified nonprofits, and more. So, even though open-source options like OpenOffice are free alternatives, they aren’t as complete as they should be according to the open standards of other software companies like Microsoft Office or Office 365.

Now, the bad news is that this product can be quite expensive for tons of people, so they can’t get it from official sites. 

However, there are ways to get a significant discount and obtain the official serial key with a lifetime coverage period. The best way to achieve this is by using a third-party seller, a single vendor like RoyalCDKeys, that provides original keys to get Microsoft Office 2021 Pro Plus Key Retail Global at a third of the price.

The activation happens directly on the website; you only need to get the key and use it on the computer you want to link.