Top Linux Applications - Office Suites

Written by: Neil Henry • Edited by: Michele McDonough
Updated Oct 6, 2009 • Related Guides: Linux | Openoffice | Microsoft Office

Referencing the best office suites on the Linux platform. For word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations and more, these top open source office apps rival and even surpass Microsoft Office for functionality, speed, reliability, and as we discuss, come with minimal compatibility issues.

Introduction

There are some outstanding open source office suites available for Linux users, which to say are in the mold of Microsoft Office is a gross disservice. Developed and tailored for specific user requirements throughout the open source community, many of what follow offer so much more than the standard Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Database and Presentation functionality set of the all powerful Microsoft Office, which, as great as I think it is, does have its limitations, and over-complications. So let's take a look at what is available for the Linux user.

OpenOffice - The No.1 Linux App?

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To open up our Linux Office Suites reference guide, we must look first at the most popular and like-for-like competitor to Microsoft Office - OpenOffice.org. In this exceptional, in-depth article, Tolga Balci takes a look at OpenOffice.org (OOO) and its component modules - Writer, Calc, Impress, Base, Draw and Math.

Rightfully claiming to be "the leading open-source office software suite", OpenOffice has an impressive array of features, a small install footprint and isn't close to being the resource hog of its friendly foe in Windows!

For a similar point of view, Jack Wallen rates OpenOffice as the most popular "must have" Linux app in the first part of his excellent series on Top Linux Applications. In Linux Applications: OpenOffice, Jack offers his opinion on OOO, which comes as default on any Linux distro and has excellent interfacing for migration and conversion to and from Microsoft Office.

OpenOffice Compatibility & Installation

On the subject of OpenOffice and MS Office compatibility (a subject that concerns many would-be converts), in Exploring the Compatibility of Microsoft Word and Open Office Writer Rob Dubas discusses the areas of seamless compatibility between the two, but also highlights where, at times, there is a complete breakdown in communication between the two, first on looking at the basics - .doc format, fonts, layout/formatting.

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In the second part of this series - Compatibility Between Microsoft Word and Open Office Writer: Advanced Functions, Rob looks at deeper compatibility issues concerning tables, images, breaks, columns and track changes. He also intimates at how, without the help of WINE, you still may encounter problems with the most complex of formatting and image based documents.

Even though OpenOffice comes as default on the major Linux distros, for upgrade and restore purposes Josef Nankivell looks at the release of OpenOffice 3.0 with its enhanced feature set. His article on Installing OpenOffice on Ubuntu provides a step-by-step guide to the upgrade/restore process on the most popular of Linux distros.

For further OOO install reference material, Rob looks at Installing Open Office.Org on a Debian system. This simple beginner's guide should help you get started with OpenOffice. These steps will help you to simply download, decompress, install, and run OOO. There is also guidance for desktop integration tweaks and file associations with Gnome and KDE.

Wanting to take OpenOffice mobile? Or simply didn't know there was the ability to run a portable version of OOO? In OpenOffice.org Portable On Linux? Berry Van der Linden looks at how easy and effective the portable OpenOffice 3.0 release is, asking, for office productivity on the go, does it work and how productive can you be?

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