Microsoft Office vs. Open Office? [Poll]

 

microsoft office vs open office

Last week we discussed do you buy software or prefer to use a “cracked” version? We only received 729 responses which was about half the amount of responses we got on our previous poll.

I will chalk the poor results up to the fact people that do pirate software are scared of getting caught. So today’s poll will be a little tamer and you open source lovers will love it!

But let’s take a look at last week’s results now:

microsoft office vs open office

It seems that the majority of you that answered are pirates! Arrrr! Only 10% of responders said that they would NEVER ever download pirated software. Good to know!

So without further ado here is today’s poll:

As always if there is not an answer to suit your response, leave it in the comments. We want to see how many people are still using Microsoft Office. A lot of companies are embracing Open Office so where do you stand?

Tagged: • • •

Karl L. Gechlik

Karl L. Gechlik here from AskTheAdmin.com doing a weekly guest blogging spot for our new found friends at MakeUseOf.com. I run my own consulting company, manage AskTheAdmin.com and work a full 9 to 5 job on Wall street as a System Administrator.

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  • just

    MS Office is tooooo much better! is a good investiment.

    man.. Photoshop is $$$ ok… but, is unique!

  • http://macslice.info Kevin

    it’s all about iWork.

    • Bob

      lol

  • Famf

    I use Open Office because it’s free and it works.

    But MS Office is a lot better.

  • Mat

    fb2k for music. vlc for video.

  • Tom Boito

    NeoOffice and iWork

  • http://www.rickety.us rick@rickety

    I use Google Docs a lot now. Otherwise OpenOffice.

  • http://grey280.heliohost.org grey280

    I use WordPad for quick editing, OpenOffice on my not-main computers, Office 07 Home/Student on my main computer for fancy stuff. And Google Docs for stuff that’s just text that I’m liable to work on remotely. It’s the mix that’s important.

  • Derrick

    Google Docs

  • miles

    MS Office 2003 Baby.

    I’ve TRIED 2007, but can never find the rite functions and options I need. 07 has a nice visual interface, but in Office 2003: I know in where the 3000 different features can be found!

    • JK III

      Same here; I simply hate the new interface of Office 2007.

  • http://thenonhacker.deviantart.com thenonhacker

    The original is the best, and always keeps its best!

    Microsoft Office! — Because the rest are just pure copycats.

    • Timothy Davis

      Original? hah!
      Wordperfect is THE original, before there was Windows or GUIs or email there was Wordperfect.
      If anything MS is the copycat, they are always a day late and a dollar short.

  • http://www.btsquarepeg.com vistasp

    I’ve been using OpenOffice for years (no MS Office on my system) and it’s more than enough for my needs. No great eye-candy but it works just fine.

  • TS

    I voted other: I use Qjot and Spread32 (both are really basic on features, but for the majority of my editing and viewing doc and xls, perfect). If I need something more powerful or ppt, then I’ll open OOo. If I have MSO, I’d use it over OOo, but for default, I prefer quick opening to power.

  • theoldrang

    If you haven’t tried the latest release of Open Office (3.2)…

    It comes up in seconds (very quickly).

    Most people really don’t need all the gee-gaws (and potential legal problems??) of the Redmond ware. A simple RTF format program is all most need… if not just a text editor.

    The few really tricky features of the costly texter, are almost never used. By their own admissions, Microsoft says most never get used by most.

    But, the tattle-tale features are always on for the uninformed.

  • the old rang

    If you haven’t tried the latest release of Open Office (3.2)…

    It comes up in seconds (very quickly).

    Most people really don’t need all the gee-gaws (and potential legal problems??) of the Redmond ware. A simple RTF format program is all most need… if not just a text editor.

    The few really tricky features of the costly texter, are almost never used. By their own admissions, Microsoft says most never get used by most.

    But, the tattle-tale features are always on for the uninformed.

  • meldasue

    If you really know what you’re doing, Open Office just can’t compete. It doesn’t surprise me that organisations are going with the cheap option with no regard for the people it would most affect (the administrative folks who make their documents look good and the number crunchers who spreadsheet their results into perspective). Moreover, you get into horrid compatibility problems – I’m still converting .docx to .doc for some of our agents, even though MS has had a tool to do that since Office 2007 was released.

  • Myke

    If I’m not using Abiword or Gnumeric then I’m using Google Docs.

  • http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/advanced-acai-review-does-advanced-acai-really-work-1778693.html Advanced Acai

    i like open office because its free..i have a free 60 trail with microsoft office..not sure if i want to just delete that now or buy it.

    which one do you think is better?

  • Eamon

    I use MS Office in work and at home. I use Open Office when I’m using Linux at home – but MS Office 2007 is a much better product. But most of all I use Google Docs to store all my personal “office” files.

  • TD

    NeoOffice then full Openoffice when it went native on macs. Of course had Office once, heck, I had WordStar once!

    Buying MS Office over and again is like buying a new typewriter every few years. Please… there has been nothing in Office for 12-15 years to justify their price increases…

    I also moved to OO because we have 2 mac laptops, a pc and a pc server in our household, and we can integrate our lives better. Try being a private household and asking Microsoft about licensing for such an arrangement. I did! Their pricing structure proves they do not want my business. I imaging more families will realize this, if not now, soon.

  • http://agelock.ro/max-dictionary-online dictionar german

    Although I love open source, Open Office “has a lot to learn” until they will reach the level of MS Office

    • JK III

      Seconded.

  • Paul

    I have to use OpenOffice on Linux Mint.

    • Myke

      Why’s that? Try Abiword or Gnumeric. They are bit more perky.

  • Lisa Munro

    Open Office works fine for simple word processing, but it has absolutely nothing that can compete with OneNote. My fondest wish is that someone, somewhere, will create a free and open source version of OneNote that is just as awesome.

  • Spiralbound

    I use both, but only because MS Office came with my computer. I specifically went and downloaded Open office. If I had to make a choice, I’d go with the free Open Office as it’s just as good as MS Office.

  • BOB

    Use both Microsoft and Open office because I use Windows and Linux. Also, both have features the other doesn’t have.

  • http://bit.ly/jaal_webdev pthesis

    While MS Office is more advanced and has more features, I’m really impressed with Open Office, considering it’s free. I’ve only used the word processor so far, but it’s been able to do everything I need.

    The one program I use frequently in MS Office that I haven’t been able to replace with anything nearly as good is OneNote.

    I hope both companies keep up the good work.

  • Abby

    I have Open Office on my Notebook & Microsoft on my main computer. Will now have to look into iwork, google docs & NeoOffice. (just to see what they are about)

  • tigerx

    Always MS Office. If user knows how to use, MS office is worth of investment. Plus many open softwares are coded with Java (a hell slow language), the biggest turn down for me.

  • Karl Gechlik

    After you get over the hump that is the interface on MS Office 2007 it is awesome. But if you do not need all the features it has to offer you for a cost it seems OO is great for you. Keep the comments coming and let us know what you can or can not do with either of the suites.

    And those of you looking for OneNote for Linux check out this post I did on AskTheAdmin.com a while back:

    http://www.asktheadmin.com/200…

    Let me know if its a good fit or not.

  • http://www.asktheadmin.com Karl Gechlik

    After you get over the hump that is the interface on MS Office 2007 it is awesome. But if you do not need all the features it has to offer you for a cost it seems OO is great for you. Keep the comments coming and let us know what you can or can not do with either of the suites.

    And those of you looking for OneNote for Linux check out this post I did on AskTheAdmin.com a while back:

    http://www.asktheadmin.com/2007/07/microsoft-onenote-for-linux-2.html

    Let me know if its a good fit or not.

  • JK III

    OpenOffice has a lot of work to do to catch up with MS Office. There are many examples where open source alternatives are as good as, or even better than their rival market kings, but this is not one of them.

    I would love to use OpenOffice, but too bad I can’t use it due to its slow speed and sluggish interface.

  • Coolio G

    Microsoft Office is so much better than OpenOffice when it comes to user interface; for everything else, just use OpenOffice.

  • alexandrius

    Office 2010 is FREE!

  • Schvenn

    Both.
    OO exclusively, if I could, though.

  • Eamon

    If you are only using Office for simple tasks then OO is perfect. If you want more advanced features then MS Office is better even though OO might claim to have similar features MS Office’s advanced features have more polish. In my view a pivot table in Excel is superior than the pivot table facility in OO.

  • Mike

    I am a fan of Open Office. I use it on all (both) of my personal computers. We have MS Office 2007 at my workplace. I find it confusing.

    I have found that OO is much more likely to be able to open strange file formats including .docx

    I have also used AbiWord in an occasional Linux distribution. It’s an ok word processor. I haven’t used it regularly enough to have a solid opinion on it.

  • Both

    Both.
    OO exclusively, if I could, though.

  • http://drewillis.edublogs.org/ Elaine Willis

    Google Documents

  • Joe Vega

    Google Docs 98% of the time
    OpenOffice for more complex tasks.

    On a related note I convinced my wife to switch to OpenOffice for writing her police reports a couple of years ago and she’s satisfied. The choice was to use a free capable office suite, or pay for Office every time she buys a new laptop.

  • Niefer

    Excel is perfect. Excel is #1.

    So:
    #1 – Excel
    #2 – None
    #3 – None
    …
    #10 – Gnumeric
    #11 – OpenOffice Calc
    #12 – Spread32

    So:
    Ms Office is #1.

  • Pubudu@TechHamlet

    MS office might have the looks, but i think Open Office have everything that we need! and its easy to get, free!… i love it :D

  • http://www.techhamlet.com Pubudu Kodikara

    MS office might have the looks, but i think Open Office have everything that we need! and its easy to get, free!… i love it :D

  • Kurtis Miller

    Hmm… even though the poll has checkboxes and lets you check more than 1, it won’t let you submit it…

    Because the obvious answer is – BOTH! I use Office 2007 for work and OpenOffice for home (or when I boot into Linux).

  • http://www.asktheadmin.com Karl Gechlik

    Keep the answers coming in OO is in the lead with MS right on its coat tails!

  • Trinae Ross

    I love Microsoft Office 2007, the integration of Word, Outlook, Access, etc is hard to beat. However, it seems that the price continues to balloon with nothing noteworthy justifying the costs.

    OpenOffice.org is a capable product. It isn’t perfect and there is a learning curve involved if you are use to Word, etc. That isn’t to say that OOo is an inferior product, it’s just different.

    If OOo can ever integrate a mail client as robust as Outlook, then OOo will be my #1 office suite. Until then, I will continue to nuzzle the teet of Team Redmond.

  • http://www.fspressonline.org Trinae Ross

    I love Microsoft Office 2007, the integration of Word, Outlook, Access, etc is hard to beat. However, it seems that the price continues to balloon with nothing noteworthy justifying the costs.

    OpenOffice.org is a capable product. It isn’t perfect and there is a learning curve involved if you are use to Word, etc. That isn’t to say that OOo is an inferior product, it’s just different.

    If OOo can ever integrate a mail client as robust as Outlook, then OOo will be my #1 office suite. Until then, I will continue to nuzzle the teet of Team Redmond.

  • mchlbk

    Open Office for linux and Portable Softmaker Office for Windows. (http://www.portablefreeware.co…

    Actually I prefer Softmaker Office as it’s light weight while still having all the important features + more.

    (There’s a non-portable version as well but I’m paranoid when it comes to installing stuff on Windows.)

  • mchlbk

    Open Office for linux and Portable Softmaker Office for Windows. (http://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?id=1463)

    Actually I prefer Softmaker Office as it’s light weight while still having all the important features + more.

    (There’s a non-portable version as well but I’m paranoid when it comes to installing stuff on Windows.)

  • Michael

    I use OO, Google Docs and MS Office. I like MS office for the advanced features and I am surprised when I see how few people know how to use it proficiently.

    I spend most of y time in Word with MS office and the features are hard to beat. I want to learn OO more completely, because I suspect it has many of the same features as MS Word, but less obvious.

    Google docs is good for cloud access and I am spending more time there these days, so, until there is a good Open Source replacement, I will likely continue my mixed approach.

    I am always on the lookout for a better solution and I love this kind of exchange because I learn something new about other user experiences, thanks!

  • Carl Coutu

    Given the choice MS vs Open Office. OO is free and has and is improving constantly. So it gets my vote. My real preference is WordPerfect, I’ve used it for years in both business and for personal use. It just can’t be beat in my book, but then that’s why there are choices. MS Office definitely is not the best, just the biggest as MS tends to give it away to get rid of competition. Unfortunately WordPerfect may go away as it is losing market share as they have been for years.

  • ShakiestNerd

    I agree with all the comments saying that MS Office is better. It’s probably about 10 years ahead of Open Office. It is what my job provides for me.

    But, at I home, I use Open Office for several reasons.
    - I don’t have to be a pirate.
    - With 3 Windows, 1 Linux box at home OOO’s cross platform capabilities are key.
    - It can read/write MS Office files well enough to be used.
    - Don’t really need all the advanced features of MS Office in the home environment.

  • http://www.imscrum.com Andy Barnes

    I voted for OO as am a big proponent of open source but it has to be said that MSOffice does take the edge really. I have but mostly use Office. I do a lot of converting .doc and.xls to html before marking it up properly for web and open office really doesn’t output anything as well as office. Especially: with office, the tabbed interface in spreadsheets is retained in html whereas OO gives a messy text menu at the top of page and insists on labelling every sheet.
    The one saving grace of OO is the ability to save to .pdf This is a big plus on older office versions (not sure if 2007 does it now?)

  • http://home.comcast.net/~rlk107/ Dick

    I use both.

    I’m still using an MS-Office suite that was bundled with the first ‘modern’ system that I purchased in 1996. The numerous Excel and Word modules that I created are still in use.
    For current modules that I receive, I use Open Office to work with them (I don’t normally need to send out MS Office files).
    If I had to do that, I’d probably use Google Docs.

  • Saba Kamran

    My company and I both use Open office rather than MS- Office just because its online and files can be shared/viewed and edited at the same time by several users. But personally I love MS-Office and the features it offers.

  • Terry T

    At my last job, Our Engineering and Testing departments ran Sun Solaris and other boxes. We needed a way to collaborate on doucments between the different platforms. Microsoft never bothered to port Office to Unix/Linux, so our only choice was Open Office (or in our case the paid version, Star Office).
    With Star Office, we were able to share Word and Excel documents between Windows, Mac, Unix and Linux seamlessly. The only issue we ever had was that some advanced Access functions did not work on the Unix units.
    If a company is not using Open Office or Star Office, they are passing up a chance to get the performance of the Microsoft Office Suite at a substantially less cost.

  • DC

    Corel WordPerfect remains my word processor of choice. Nothing – and I do mean *nothing* – comes close to matching it for ease and accuracy of formatting. Word’s half-baked attempt at “Reveal Codes” doesn’t even come close to the real thing (believe me, I know, as I’m forced to use – and support – Word 2007 at work).

    My single major complaint regarding WordPerfect is that its formatting doesn’t handle well (in fact, it will usually paste completely unformatted) when copied & pasted into online rich text editors (FCK Editor, TinyMCE, etc.). I’m currently running WordPerfect X3 but don’t think that’s changed in X4. So, I write in WordPerfect, copy-&-paste into Word, then copy-&-paste from Word into the online rich text editor. It’s a nuisance but still better than just working directly in Word.

  • Thomas

    I answered the poll that MS Office is better.

    Currently I do not use MS Office. That is because I cannot afford it. I am very familiar with OpenOffice and MS Office. I used MS Office at work for several years aand OpenOffice at home. I am often frustrated by OpenOffice because it does not have some of MS Office’s more advanced features (such as a Grammar Checker).

    The biggest frustration with OpenOffice is its lack of an easy facility for writing Macros. I am not a programmer but became quite proficient at Visual Basic For Applications and could effectively write and edit Macros in MS Office. So far I have not found an easy way to do this in OpenOffice.

  • Udu Ogah

    I had to wean myself from MS Word and thankfully, unlike some who left comments here, I do not use the very advanced features so I’m quite happy with it, after my move to Ubuntu Linux.

    For my school work however, I use Latex(Miktex and Texniccenter on Windows; mactex and texshop on Mac OS X; TexLive and TexmakerX on Linux). No word processor comes close to the quality of documents latex renders. Admittedly, the learning curve is steep but once you get a grip of it, you’ll enjoy the ease and plenty automated features.

    I guess even though Word is great, for conscience sake, i had to sacrifice the added bling/ease of use and learn an alternative package rather than use pirated software.

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  • jonjon

    I use open-office
    mostly calc for spreadsheets
    what a turture, its so bad
    i get used to it
    but its so clunky

  • http://www.youtube.com/LBSociety Elfin Slade

    i finally quit liking OO because it opens some of my text files as spreadsheets. the “file type” feature on the open dialog does not do anything. what sucks more is the impossibility of hyperlinking the cells. OO is sufficient for basic writing while using its proprietary file format, but it is not yet a contender for real work. neither is micro$rap any more – win2k and office 97-2K3 were the only good software they produced.

  • Mike

    I’ve got a 60-day trial of Office 2007 on my netbook, but I have moved to OpenOffice. While I’d rather use Office 2007 for all my Access databases (replete with the forms, queries, and reports I created over the years), Excel spreadsheets, and heavily-formatted Word docs, I just don’t want to spend all that money for another copy of Office. I like to use different computers, so it would get too expensive to install Office on all of them.

    That said, I’d consider installing Office on my next computer if I could get a good deal on the full version (not Home & Student, as most of what I do is for work or freelance business). For the time being, though, it’s OpenOffice – and I have been able to open and edit all the documents I’ve needed to in the the nearly two months I’ve been using the free Microsoft alternative.

  • newecreator

    OpenOffice It has more features I like (PDF and Flash export)

  • newecreator

    OpenOffice It has more features I like (PDF and Flash export)

  • Timothy Davis

    Original? hah!
    Wordperfect is THE original, before there was Windows or GUIs or email there was Wordperfect.
    If anything MS is the copycat, they are always a day late and a dollar short.