Ubuntu Linux - Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely. Open Office for Windows can be downloaded by clicking here. This will give you the opportunity to try Open Office out for yourself and allow you to compare it to Microsoft Office.

According to its mission statement, the OpenOffice.org project aims "To create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format."

OpenOffice.org aims to compete with Microsoft Office and emulate its look and feel where suitable. It can read and write most of the file formats found in Microsoft Office, and many other applications; an essential feature of the suite for many users. OpenOffice.org has been found to be able to open files of older versions of Microsoft Office and damaged files that newer versions of Microsoft Office itself cannot open.

OpenOffice.org is a collection of applications that work together closely to provide the features expected from a modern office suite. Many of the components are designed to mirror those available in Microsoft Office. The components available include:

• Writer — a word processor similar in look and feel to Microsoft Word and offering a comparable range of functions and tools.
• Calc — a spreadsheet similar to Microsoft Excel with a roughly equivalent range of features.
• Impress — a presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint.
• Base — a database program similar to Microsoft Access
• Draw — a vector graphics editor comparable in features to CorelDRAW.
• Math — a tool for creating and editing mathematical formula, similar to Microsoft Equation Editor.

If you have a question about Ubuntu Linux that you would like to see answered here, please e-mail Dave with your question. Any opinions expressed in this FAQ are the sole opinions of the original author. All registered trademarks mentioned in this text are the property of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged.