OpenOffice.org Features

Getting Started with OpenOffice.org 2.x

Chapter 1: What is OpenOffice.org?

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• What does OpenOffice.org include?
• The advantages of OpenOffice.org

• How does OpenOffice.org compare?
• Features
• New features in version 2

• Minimum requirements
• Getting the software
• How to get help
• A short history of OpenOffice.org
• How is OpenOffice.org licensed?
• What is "open source"?
• Frequently asked questions

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The following tables list some important features of OpenOffice.org and compare them with two leading office suites, Microsoft Office 2003 (MSO) and WordPerfect X3' (WP).

Styles and formatting

Feature	OOo	MSO	WP
Navigator	yes	limited1	no
Styles and Formatting window	yes	yes	no
Keyboard support for paragraph styles	yes	yes	no
Support for page, frame, and list styles	yes	no	no
Word completion	yes	Excel only	no
Spelling and language proofing modules	70+	50+2	25
Formula or equation tools	yes	yes	no

¹ "Outline View" in Word offers a subset of the features of OOo's Navigator.

² Requires an additional license for the the Multilingual User Interface Pack.

Interoperability

Feature	OOo	MSO	WP
PDF export capability	yes	yes1	yes
Flash export capability	yes	no	yes
XML export capability	yes	yes	yes
OpenDocument XML format	yes	no	no
Import/Export Microsoft Office files	yes	yes	yes
Import WordPerfect files	yes	yes	yes
Import Lotus 123 files	yes	yes	yes
Connect to external databases (MySQL, Oracle, Access, etc.)	yes	yes	yes
Languages available (localizations)	40+	35+	30
Supported operating systems	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris	Windows only2	Windows only
Unicode language support	yes	yes	no

¹ Requires additional third-party software, such as PDF Writer or PDF Converter.
² Microsoft Office: Mac is not feature compatible with Microsoft Office 2003.

Programmability

Macros are programs that automate tasks and can be embedded in a document. The following table lists the languages available for macro development in each office suite.

Language	OOo	MSO	WP
Basic-derived language	OpenBasic	VBA	VBA
Beanshell	yes	no	no
Java	yes	no	no
JavaScript	yes	no	no
Python	yes	no	no

Beyond simple macros, some office suites can be extended to include new features. This capability usually takes the form of plug-ins. In the case of OpenOffice.org, it can also be done through changes to the source code.

Feature	OOo	MSO	WP
C and C++	yes	yes	yes
Java	yes	no	no
Python	yes	no	no
Source code available!	yes	no	no

Security

Feature	OOo	MSO	WP
Digital signatures	yes	yes	yes
Strong encryption	yes	yes	yes
Secure paths for macro execution	yes	yes	no