Customer Reviews

OpenOffice.org For Dummies

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

All supplied material for review of this book said it was new and up to date but did not give the version number of Open Office that was covered. When I received the book I was frustrated and well into it when I found it was for version 1.1. The Open Office I have is 2.2. The data base portion is not even mentioned in this book. I found that I wasted a lot of time. If any of these books do not show the version number of the program they are working with I would not buy them!

Amazon.com should discontinue this book. I got it for Christmas and it is hopelessly out of date. It was published in 2003 and geared for the 1.1 version of Openoffice. The 3.0 version has been released.

I bought the Kindle edition of this book, so I don't know whether my comments apply to the paper version. I found the book to be hopelessly out of date and misleading at many points. One glaring example is the omission of Base; the book even states that OOo doesn't include a database application! The author uses MS Office XP as the basis for comparison, for heaven's sake. Both suites have undergone major revisions since this was published. I would have expected a corresponding updating of the book. Very disappointed.

As a newcomer to Open Office I thought this book may be useful but I found it out of date.

Should be more in depth....and along with another reviewer I would like to see more in depth books covering the individual applications...such as the spreadsheet and presentation applications....

Have not had much time to read the whole book but I was not very impressed with the spreadsheet section.....although it is helpfull....I was hoping for more detailed and in depth help....

I was very disappointed in the OpenOffice for Dummies. I was specifically looking for the "Base" portion of OpenOffice and it was not mentioned at all.

I also purchased OpenOffice 3 and the information I wanted was included, although not in as friendly text as I expected the Dummies to be.

Best book on the subject but spends a lot of time on stuff 90% of us will never use.