How to Install and Use Open Office 3.0 Program Suite

Open Office is a program suite very similar to Microsoft Office except for the price. Open Office is completely free. This is not a shareware program but a fully functional Office Suite. Open Office is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Files can be saved in multiple formats so that they can be used on all three Operating Systems. Follow the steps below to download and install an Office Suite that's in many ways better than MS Office and you can't beat the price.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. 
    

   Go to http://www.openoffice.org/ and from there you can find out more about Open Office 3.0 and download the install package. The file size is about 145 Mb and will take you a long time to download on a dial-up line.

2. 
    

   When the download has completed, launch the install program and all the files will be extracted to a designated folder. Go to folder where the extracted files are located and double click on the setup file. Follow the on screen instructions during the Open Office install process.

3. 
    

   After the installation has been completed, double click on the OpenOffice.org icon located on your desktop (if you choose to have an icon appear on the desktop) and fill out the short form. You have the option to register OpenOffice or not to register. When you have finished, launch OpenOffice.org and you will be presented with the Welcome Screen.

4. 
    

   WRITER – Text document creator that resembles Microsoft Word. This is a powerful word processor that can be use to create and view multiple documents at once. You can customize the menus and tool-bars by clicking on Tools, Customize. From here you have complete control in how you want Writer to look. To access Help at any time just press the F1 key from any screen.

5. 
    

   PRESENTATION – is a powerful presentation software similar to Microsoft's Power Point. With the easy Presentation wizard, you can have a presentation started in minutes.

6. 
    

   DATABASE - is similar to Microsoft's Access database program. You can create a new database with a few clicks with the Wizard setup. Your database can be a collection of recipes, mailing list, contact names, and just about anything else you can think of.

7. 
    

   TEMPLATES – with this program you can create fax cover sheets, letter head, labels, master documents, and anything else that you may need to set up to be used as a master layout.

8. 
    

   SPREADSHEET – this is a spreadsheet program just like Microsoft Excel except it's easier to use and has features you won't find in Excel.

9. 
    

   DRAWING – with this program you can create 3D objects, fontwork for graphical text art, layers, insert pictures, objects, bitmaps, etc; there is so much you can use this program for. There is no direct correlation to a Microsoft program that does everything this program is capable of doing.

10. 
     

    FORMULA – is a powerful program that can be used by high school and college students to create and solve mathematical formulas. This program can be integrated with Spreadsheet and Writer. There is no Microsoft Office equivalent to this program.

[bebobesq]

on 10/1/2009 I tend to favour SSuite Office’s free office suites. Their software also don’t need to run on Java or .NET, like so many open source office suites, so it makes their software very small and efficient.

http://www.ssuitesoft.com

[Jaybeew]

on 1/26/2009 Thanks for the tips.

[ursaminor]

on 11/28/2008 Thank you so much for this article! I did download Open Office and don't understand why everybody doesn't do the same. It's excellent. However, I didn't really know which part did what, and your article outlined all the different sections very well for me. I wish I could give you dozens of stars for this article! But here are 5 stars, which is the best I can give.