OpenOffice.org For Dummies [Paperback]

Gurdy Leete (Author), Ellen Finkelstein (Author), Mary Leete (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764542222 | ISBN-13: 978-0764542220 | Publication Date: December 10, 2003

• Uses the straightforward For Dummies style to show Linux and Windows users how to use the OpenOffice.org desktop productivity suite
• OpenOffice.org has a user interface and feature set similar to that of other office suites and works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office
• Explains how to download, install, and set up both the Linux and Windows versions of OpenOffice.org
• Organized by the four key desktop applications provided in the OpenOffice.org suite: Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), and Draw (graphics)
• Other topics covered include creating and formatting documents with Writer, using templates and styles, creating spreadsheets with Calc, manipulating spreadsheet data, creating a presentation with Impress, and creating and editing images with Draw

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Start using this free and easy productivity suite today

Draft and print documents, design cool presentations, create detailed spreadsheets, and more

Ready to leave your other Office? Open this friendly guide and find out how OpenOffice.org opens up your options! You can collect your thoughts in Writer documents, crunch numbers with Calc spreadsheets, draw great graphics, and create presentations that will really impress ‘em.

All this on the bonus CD-ROM

• Full versions for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X of the OpenOffice.org desktop productivity suite

Discover how to:

• Use OpenOffice.org with other office suites
• Format and edit documents
• Manage data in spreadsheets
• Design and create Web pages
• Put together picture-perfect presentations
• Create and edit graphics

About the Author

Ellen Finkelstein has written numerous best-selling computer books on AutoCAD, PowerPoint, and Flash. She consults on Web site and presentation content and organization, and maintains a Web site of free tips and tutorials at www.ellenfinkelstein.com. She works at home so that she can help her kids with their homework between paragraphs of her current book.

Gurdy Leete is an assistant professor of art and the director of the programs in digital media at Maharishi University of Management, where he has taught computer graphics and animation for the past 11 years. Gurdy has written extensively on computers, graphics and software. He is also an award-winning graphics software engineer, and is a coauthor of the Multitile plug-in for the free GNU image manipulation program, the GIMP. A selection of Gurdy’s computer art is available for download under the terms of the free software license, the GNU GPL, from his Web site, www.infinityeverywhere.net.

Mary Leete has published widely on computers and other subjects. She has a masters degree in Professional Writing and ha s taught writing at the university level. She also has.a B.S. in computer science from Rutgers University and worked for several years as a database and spreadsheet programmer. Mary used OpenOffice.org exclusively to help design and build the Leetes’ new home. She used Draw to create numerous plans, Calc for budgets and expense accounting, Writer for endless correspondence and Impress to give seminars on the joy of being your own contractor after it was all finished.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies (December 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764542222
• ISBN-13: 978-0764542220
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #853,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I tried it and liked it., January 20, 2004

By 

Christian Einfeldt "Digital Tipping Point guy" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: OpenOffice.org For Dummies (Paperback)

I'm an attorney who uses OpenOffice.org (OOo) every day in his law practice. I don't usually read a user manual like one would read a novel, but I actually read OOo for Dummies cover to cover because 1) the book is readable, 2) I learned how to use features that I didn't even know existed in OOo. For example, I'm going to travel to Oregon for business, and learned that I could put a map in a background for a spreadsheet to coordinate my travels there, after reading in OOo for Dummies that such was possible. I never would have thought of that. :-) This Dummies book also gives simple, easy step by step instructions for doing stuff. There are several books on OpenOffice.org, and I have bought them all. Each of them has a different use, so you really are not wasting your money if you buy all of them. However, if you don't want to buy them all, OOo for Dummies is good for any user who wants ideas as to how they could use OOo, and it's good for users who really need a clear step-by-step explanation of how to do stuff. Even though it is a "Dummies" book, this book is also good for intermediate users who knew how to do stuff and forgot. This book is also a good way for users (like me) who can't figure out how to download the program from http://www.openoffice.org and who need to get software on CDs, as a CD is included with the book. If you haven't used open source software before, OOo and this Dummies book is a good way to try it. Also, I think that you will be really surprised how powerful this free software program is. You can do some very sophisticated stuff with it, such as graphics, web pages, drawings, etc. I was using another major office suite before I began using OOo, and I found that I could do everthing I wanted with OOo.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but not as in depth as I would like., September 2, 2005

By 

B. Laue (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: OpenOffice.org For Dummies (Paperback)

The book covers the major aspects of the software suite, but it really doesn't get into the details of the programs. For that, I recommend a Dummies book on the Microsoft version, since they don't have an in-depth book on the OpenOffice.org version of the software applications. For what it is, an overview of the suite, it is very good. I highly recommend it as a fantastic starting point. I paid a paltry $7 for the book, delivered. How can you go wrong with a price like that? Truth be told, I believe it would have been worth the cover price of $24.99. It is an excellent book to start with, but you'll want to dig deeper after you make it through this book. I hope the authors will consider making full-blown Dummies books for Impress/Presentation, and Calc/Spreadsheet, and the Writer/Text Document applications, too.

I highly recommend OpenOffice.org to all non-profit organizations, as well as for-profit companies: save yourselves $200-$500, per computer, along with the upgrade/compatibility issues, and dump Microsoft. You will be glad you did. Cheers!

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book and a terrific resource for our organization, April 27, 2004

By 

draden (SLC, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: OpenOffice.org For Dummies (Paperback)

We are a company that pride our selves on being cutting edge, if not bleeding edge with open source software solutions. We had used MS office for years but as OOo has gotten more advanced we
started migrating over to it as a great alternative.One of my main job duties here is actually the OOo expert. I field any questions, do training, and I am basically the PR front for our now 800 users. I just ordered 20 copies of your book so I can lend them out to users with concerns and questions. It is a great book and a terrific resource for our organization.