Cyborg

Oh one warning about OpenOffice some things such as embeding video files in thier powerpoint equivalent will not appear if you try it on Microsoft Powerpoint.

So im not sure if it has similar issues on over programs but if you need the files to be the same at home as at work its something to bare in mind.

TechBoy

I have used OpenOffice 2.0 to work on files that came from Microsoft Office itself. It is pretty good for Excel files, and reasonably good for Word files. It still messes up Word files with lots of embedded graphics. They don't show up in the right places, if at all. However, for average day-to-day documents, I have found that I can edit them in OpenOffice, write them back in Microsoft Office's format, and they are completely usable for my Windows-constrained colleagues.

BTW, you are right about file size. HUGE difference. OpenOffice's native format is about 50% to 75% smaller for the same content as MS Office's. So, when I am working away on my files on my machine, I keep them in the native format, and only "export" to MS Office format when I need to "publish" them to co workers.

Desiree

Dispite all the new ones that they may or may not come out with... I STILL havent learned how to use Microsoft office myself... I know most jobs require you know how to use Microsoft excel but I just dont get how to do it. In Highschool we used Microsoft power point and excel But i do believe that was the class I got kicked out of for not knowing how to use excel.

technt77

I'd recommend learning. If you have to learn it, pick up one of those "Excel for Dummies" books -- they really help.

Desiree

HAHA i mean I dont know maybe Ill have to do that

technt77

I am hoping that you didn't take offense to that because I didn't mean any offense. I just meant that these area really great books.

Desiree

No I didnt ha I put the wrong face thingy on theyre I cant get my regular smiley face to work for some odd reason besides the fact that I have Highspeed internet and this page keeps freezing and taking forever to load i think somtthing is wrong with my computer... it wont load icons and or pictures on websites either it gives me a blank box with an x in it

moromendas01

For basic school stuff, I'd advocate using Parallels. It lets you run Windows within a Window in OS X, so you can have fast as well as easy access to your windows apps.