Free word processor Abiword!

[c627627]

Go to your local computer store and ask how much Microsoft Office costs?
When you get an answer don't forget to say "sheeesh" because it's enough $ to feed a third world family for 10 years.

 

[yodayoda]

Originally posted by: c627627
Go to your local computer store and ask how much Microsoft Office costs?
When you get an answer don't forget to say "sheeesh" because it's enough $ to feed a third world family for 10 years.

wait a minute, you buy software? this does not compute...

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: c627627
Free is good.
Consensus is that the best word processor ever made is WordPerfect and version 11 has just been released.

What can you do with monopoly power?
- Convince the majority to abandon a superior product like WordPerfect and switch to inferior one like MS Word and have them pay several times more for it. That's what.

I personally never liked wordperfect al all. I don't know where you are getting your 'concensus' data, however both products have, and have almost always had, the same level of functionality for most tasks for the average user.

I prefer word.

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: AJPatel
Why the hell do people post free Linux programs on a message board? Go get a clue. Real people know about this stuff.

< /flame>

uh oh.... people who arent linux geeks aren't REAL people now.

I suppose we all have to find some reason to hate other people eh? You must find race, sex, or gender tired and worn out as a reason for hate, so now your going to base it on knowledge of free linux apps.

WTG dude, u r 1 l337 hax0r

 

[Zepper]

Looks like a better history of StarOffice/OpenOffice needs to be here.
. I found this at: www.openoffice.org -

Historical background
. Star Division, the original author of the Star Office suite of software, was founded in Germany in the mid-1980s. It was acquired by Sun Microsystems during the summer of 1999 and StarOffice 5.2 was released in June of 2000. Future versions of StarOffice software, beginning with 6.0, will be built using the OpenOffice.org source, APIs, file formats, and reference implementation.
. The OpenOffice.org source code initially includes the technology which Sun Microsystems has been developing for the future versions of StarOffice(TM) software. The source is written in C++ and delivers language-neutral and scriptable functionality, including Java(TM) APIs. This source technology introduces the next-stage architecture, allowing use of the suite as separate applications or as embedded components in other applications. Numerous other features are also present including XML-based file formats and other resources.

. I would add that versions of the the original Star Office from Star Division in Germany were available for a number of OS platforms including: Win, 'nix and I think even OS/2 as that was quite popular in Europe. After Star Div. decided to make StarOffice free for personal use, all versions remained free for personal use until Sun's SO 6.0 in which Sun added proprietary, 3rd party modules such as the spell check/thesaurus etc.
. Wlith 6.0, the "free" code split into OpenOffice.

. Just as an aside, WP is NOT a POS and for those that would like to try it w/o spending a bunch O money (I really shouldn't do this...), 9software has WP Office 2002 (ver.10) for $15.
:sun:

 

[c627627]

Originally posted by: Zepper: Just as an aside, WP is NOT a POS and for those that would like to try it w/o spending a bunch O money (I really shouldn't do this...), 9software has v.10 for $15.
:sun:

It's not like we had to dignify his comments (did you see his adolescent sig? ), but even the Professional versions of WordPerfect 2002 are selling for around that much nowadays (OEM of course).

 

[Pretty Cool]

MS Word 2000 and 2002 OEM are only about $30 each. If you must have Word, this pricing is certainly affordable to almost everybody. University students often receive an even bigger discounts. For those in need of Office, MS offers MS Office for Students and Teachers for about $90 after rebate.

For many of us, we could care less about which word processor is the best. As long as we can exchange files without any formatting problems, we are satisfied since we probably use only a fraction of the capabilities in these word processors anyway.

 

[kindest]

another supporter of word.
I dont mind it, its small and fast.
All tho I hate it when it corrects me on grammar.

 

[yhelothar]

hmmm i like how in ms word.. it can correct grammar and spelling for all the languages in the world... very helpful for my french class...

 

[dascud]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
hmmm i like how in ms word.. it can correct grammar and spelling for all the languages in the world... very helpful for my french class...

I am pretty sure all word processors have that capability. For those using openoffice you can download language packs and dictionaries for various languages here

 

[yhelothar]

i just installed corel word perfect...
i don't see what's so great about show codes
anyone care to fill me in?

I am pretty sure all word processors have that capability. For those using openoffice you can download language packs and dictionaries for various languages here

even grammar? i only see spelling on that site...

 

[c627627]

"WordPerfect's Reveal Codes feature allows users to see exactly how formatting codes are applied and this helps sort out formatting problems because you can see where features start and stop. Microsoft decided that this mechanism was far too complicated for us to understand, so they hid it from us."

What I'd like to know is

Originally posted by: SilentRunning: Never ever send a Word document to a WordPerfect user electronically if you have deleted something you don't want them to see, because WordPerfect sees all.

Nice. I'd like to test that. How is this done in WordPerfect?

 

[taurean]

Originally posted by: hyderabadi
I consider myself a Linux person and M$ Office is the only M$ software I use. No other office suite (on Linux or any other OS) comes close to it. I used to use Corel's WordPerfect. It was good but M$ Word is better. (Yes, I do have a PC running Windows XP, just for M$ Office.) I used to think FrameMaker was cool. That was before I switched to M$ Word.

Please see: http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-07-22

 

[trikster2]

Originally posted by: kindest
another supporter of word.
I dont mind it, its small and fast.
All tho I hate it when it corrects me on grammar.

WOW

This is the first time I have EVER seen in print someone calling an office product "small"

 

[HarryK]

Originally posted by: c627627
"WordPerfect's Reveal Codes feature allows users to see exactly how formatting codes are applied and this helps sort out formatting problems because you can see where features start and stop. Microsoft decided that this mechanism was far too complicated for us to understand, so they hid it from us."

What I'd like to know is

Originally posted by: SilentRunning: Never ever send a Word document to a WordPerfect user electronically if you have deleted something you don't want them to see, because WordPerfect sees all.

Nice. I'd like to test that. How is this done in WordPerfect?

EDIT
Security and Microsoft Office

"Word documents keep text from older versions invisibly in the document. The recipient can use a plain text editor to go through the document and read deleted or revised material, possibly revealing information you didn't want him to know. "Fast save" must be turned off before the document is begun to prevent this, and it must be kept off"

Indeed, I had fast save turned off, but after turning it on I would type something, save the doc, delete the words, save the doc again, close it and then open it with a Hex Editor and I could find the deleted text in there.

I repeated this 3 times and all three seemed to be stored. With 'fast save' turned off, I couldn't replicate this. I wonder how many deletions get saved? no wonder Word documents are so damn bloated.

 

[OrlandoTiger]

Originally posted by: jamesd1343
anyone ever try THIS free office alternative to MS? Looks decent...

It looks interesting, Ive downloaded it to save for future tryout.Registration is free but has to be done within the program.

If anyone has installed this,would you please post the number so I can save it in case the site isnt around in a few months to get it from...
thanks

 

[c627627]

HarryK, that's incredible.
You used a hex editor but how is this done when you open MS Word docs in WordPerfect?

Of all the reasons why MS Word is inferior, this has got to be the crown jewel.

I mean, can you imagine in business environment someone reading all your deletions? Earlier in the thread, it was pointed out that even Law Firms are now switching to MS Word, well, name one Law Firm which will decide to keep using MS Word after this is revealed to them?

Did you know that confidentiality agreements have been put into question after it was revealed that Microsoft error reporting contained actual document data. Anyone using Microsoft software on a machine connected to the internet shared info they were working on with Redmond if their program crashed and an error report was sent to Redmond. It doesn't matter what MS does with this info. If confidential documents are shared in any way, you can forget about "But Microsoft will not share that data with anyone" argument in court.


Of course you need MS Word to write simple stuff and to share files because most people use it but to up and argue it's superiority is nothing but giving into conformist hype of convicted monopolists.

 

[random]

Originally posted by: c627627
Go to your local computer store and ask how much Microsoft Office costs?
When you get an answer don't forget to say "sheeesh" because it's enough $ to feed a third world family for 10 years.

HAHA

 

[dannybek]

Sorry for all the anger and resent I caused Anandtech members to go at each other. I never meant it that way.
-Daniel

 

[Jinny]

the 602 software suite is really good. nice and small, i like it..

 

[OrlandoTiger]

Originally posted by: dannybek
Sorry for all the anger and resent I caused Anandtech members to go at each other. I never meant it that way.
-Daniel

Daniel dont worry about it.You did many here a service posting a free program.Anything MS related your going to find mostly those who love it and those who loathe it and a smaller crowd in the middle with me.I dont have word on my main rig mostly for the reason c627627 cited.

As for the deletions being visible from word files that could be embarrasing for most anyone,but for law firms and business it could be very serious and many would have a coronary if they knew

Thanks for the post Daniel,the community will survive and in a few weeks all will be under rug swept.

 

[ivan2]

fast save is off by default, i dont see its a big problem cuz if you dont mention it most ppl would not even know there's something like that exists.

 

[Zepper]

Originally posted by: trikster2

Originally posted by: kindest
another supporter of word.
I dont mind it, its small and fast.
All tho I hate it when it corrects me on grammar.

WOW

This is the first time I have EVER seen in print someone calling an office product "small"

------------------
Same here, tricks!
LMAO... Word 2k system req's: Disk Space: 147MB Minimum- SMALL??? FAST??? Try it on a minimum requirement system (Pentium 75 w/ 24MB RAM and a 2GB, 5400rpm HD) and tell me how fast it is...

That's about the dumbest thing I've seen today.
.bh.
:moon:

 

[CyberZenn]

Originally posted by: Jinny
the 602 software suite is really good. nice and small, i like it..

I used 602 for a year or so, before switching to OpenOffice.org. Yes, its small and fast and it natively reads and writes in MS word formats. Unfortunately it is, at least while I used it, comparitively unstable. Things like unrecognized key combinations and rapid menu navigation often led to a crash and, since it doesnt autosave, I lost data on several occasions. Also the free version is lacking in some very useful features (thesaurus, etc). If you are running a very low resource system that cant handle OOo, the 602 suite is a decent choice for non critical work, but save early and often.

 

[dascud]

Originally posted by: Zepper

Originally posted by: trikster2

Originally posted by: kindest
another supporter of word.
I dont mind it, its small and fast.
All tho I hate it when it corrects me on grammar.

WOW

This is the first time I have EVER seen in print someone calling an office product "small"

That's about the dumbest thing I've seen today.
.bh.
:moon:

For Word 2002 these are the requirements. . Not a small footprint by any means but defntly not reason enuf to call anyone dumb.

Computer with Pentium 133 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor; Pentium III recommended
Memory RAM requirements depend on the operating system used:

* Windows XP Professional, or Windows XP Home Edition
128 MB of RAM plus an additional 8 MB of RAM for Word

Hard disk space requirements will vary depending on configuration; custom installation choices may require more or less. Listed below is the minimum hard disk requirement for Word:
* 150 MB of available hard disk space

An additional 115 MB is required on the hard disk where the operating system is installed.