How is Microsoft word different from Open Office Word Document?
Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at
8:28 am
Open Office Word Document is free. Microsoft isn’t. Micrsosoft is around 0 for my computer. What’s the difference?
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There are huge interface differences, and many specific feature differences. The latest versions of each product can open and save each others files, but the files go through translators that mess things up – especially graphs and charts.
Microsoft Word uses a different programming language from OpenOffice, so automation is not compatible between the two products. Word add-ins won’t work in OpenOffice, for example.
Formatting, themes, and styles are treated differently by each platform. Mail Merge is handled very differently by OpenOffice and Word.
You can download genuine, not pirated Microsoft Office 2010 beta for free, which will run until October 2010:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/download-office-professional-plus/default.aspx
You don’t mention whether you are using Mac or PC. The Mac version of Microsoft Office is very different from the Windows version, and is different from OpenOffice, as well. There’s a 30-day free trial here (you need a Mac, of course, to use this):
http://www.microsoft/com/mac/
You can put both OpenOffice and Microsoft Office on your computer, so go ahead and try both programs and see which one you like better. Certainly the Microsoft product has a lot more features, but you might like the old-fashioned interface of OpenOffice. Put both of them through their paces.