click to enlarge
The suite has many things to offer, starting from language. The wide-spread use of the suite enables it to be a truly multi language program; you can install the program in Tamil, Basque, Hebrew, in virtually every other language.
Moreover, the program is not a hog when it comes to using resources. From clicking on the program icon to the working state takes a couple of seconds at worst, but this is only a start-up issue. The programs work flawlessly and responsively afterwards. In all OOo programs, the interface is very simple, but also intuitive. If you are migrating from another Office program then you can be pretty much sure that you will not have difficulties with the interface. The program has been in development for over 20 years, therefore it is stable and very consistent. The help files are sufficient to cover the majority of questions you may have, but if you find one that is not answered, the online help system is incredibly deep. The file format compatibility, especially with OOo 3 release is very good, so after the installation you can just File → Open your file and keep going. One thing to mention though, OOo can open Microsoft Office 2007 formats (docx, xlsx, etc.), but not save them. Except for this, you can save your file in possibly any other format that exists.
The suite is not limited to some basic office functionalities. There is always room to expand, which you can do by installing extensions. "What extensions?" you may ask. Anything from thesaurus to customized hyphenation is available and waiting for you at http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/.
Let's start by looking at the individual components that make up OOo..
