Customer Reviews

Point & Click OpenOffice.org

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I should have read all the reviews before purchasing this book. I would have noticed that it provides an excellent overview of the wonderful suite of programs known collectively as OpenOffice.org. However, had I paid attention to previous reviews, I would also have realized that the book lacks in-depth coverage of the various programs.

Point & Click certainly is well-written and easy to follow. You will get started in no time with this book. However, once you start having nitty-gritty questions about how to do this or do the other, you will not find the answers here.

First I want to thank the author for publishing this book since written references for OOo 2.0 are few and far between. It provides a good general introduction to select capabilities of OOo.

Beyond the above, I was very disappointed that it didn't provide more "meat." In particular I wanted information on Base, i.e., how to create, maintain, and report information from a database generated exclusively from OOo. The author does give a quick look into the reporting function and some insight into other capabilities. As well, a continuous case example would have been beneficial.

Yet, there is no information as to how to create a database in Base including editing of input data for accuracy. The author starts by directing the reader to get an existing database created from MySQL! I don't use MySQL. I use OOo!

If the buyer wants a "quick start" reference, "Point & Click OpenOffice 2.0" will do the trick. Even at that the price in the $20 range is excessive for 195 pages of generalizations.

Wow, what a pretty cover! Certainly entices you to thumb the pages. It is clearly meant to portray OpenOffice as something easy. But what about the actual contents of the book?

The chances are good that you are already acquainted with Microsoft Office, and have thus invested some time in garnering expertise with its sundry parts. If so, none of the concepts in this book should be new to you. The ideas of writing and manipulating text in OpenOffice Writer, by cutting and pasting, or changing fonts, for instance, have exact equivalents in MS Word. But more than just the ideas, the actual operations are just as straightforward. This way, if you migrate, you can carry over much of your hard earned expertise.

Some OpenOffice proponents might claim that its usage is simpler. Perhaps. Keep in mind that the slender length of this book is because the authors deliberately eshewed a comprehensive explanation of OpenOffice. Instead, they cover the most common aspects that you are likely to need.

The book also stresses that OpenOffice can read and write documents written in Microsoft's doc format. This compatibility means you can try out OpenOffice with actual data files with no risk.

With the price of office software suites continuing to go up one of the more common questions these days is whether there are alternatives that provide a strong word processor and spreadsheet application. OpenOffice is one of the most popular of the alternatives and has the additional advantages of including a slide show presentation program and a database application program with the suite. In addition it is able to open Word and Excel documents as well as save documents and spreadsheets in those formats.

The book includes coverage of all the basics of installing and working with OpenOffice and all of the products included in the suite. There is no real heavy stuff here but instead covers all the most common tasks and how to accomplish them. The software is a lot more feature laden and powerful than what is covered in this book but Point and Click OpenOffice.org is the perfect place to start if you want to know how to get everyday tasks done right away. Point and Click OpenOffice.org is recommended to anyone new to OpenOffice and includes a CD with version 2.0 for Windows and Linux and 20 instructional videos.

OpenOffice.org 2.0 may be free, but it's anything but substandard: Robin Roblimo Miller's Point & Click Openoffice.org! explores the features of this powerful program and shows how to use existing skills to make the most of it. From creating Flash slide shows for the web to using sophisticated database structures and using Firefox, the instructions also come with OpenOffice 2.0 for Windows and Linux systems alike plus the latest Firefox web browser and Thunderbird email software for easy installation and tasks.

I recently received a draft manuscript copy of the book Point & Click OpenOffice.org by Robin "Roblimo" Miller. This is a nice book geared towards helping the non-techie in your life realize that they don't have to dump a ton of money on Microsoft Office...

Contents: First Things First; OOo Writer: Text Documents with Pizazz; OOo Impress: Slide Shows That Will Impress Almost Anyone; OOo Draw: Documents with Imagination; OOo Calc: Spreadsheets and More; Slick OpenOffice.org Writer Tricks; Draw: Not Your Father's Drawing Board; OOo Impress: Smooth, Sophisticated Slide Shows; Make Calc Spreadsheets Dance for You; OOo Database "Front End": Your Free Pass; Sharing Files Between OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office; OpenOffice.org as a Community Effort; About Firefox and Thunderbird; Light up the World Wide Web with Firefox; Thunderbird Saves the Email Day; About the CDs; OpenOffice.org Resources; Index

The main thing to keep in mind with this book is that it's not meant to be a comprehensive tutorial guide to all the products in the OpenOffice suite. At 200 pages, you're not going to go very deeply into any one area. But that's OK. What this book does is show average users of Office how OpenOffice.org can give them nearly (and in many cases, all) the same capabilities as Office without the huge cost. In fact, they make a point of the ability to open Microsoft files and save into Microsoft formats, enabling you to interact with your friends who are plugging away with the "other" software. They also touch on the support for the OpenDocument format which is starting to become a requirement in some organizations. Since Microsoft doesn't (yet?) support OpenDoc, OpenOffice.org is an easy way to transition over. The thing that all readers will come away with is the knowledge that if you've worked with Microsoft Office, the learning curve for OpenOffice.org is nearly nonexistent. If you know one, you can easily adapt to the other...

I'm not sure I would have included the Firefox and Thunderbird material in the book, as it's not directly related to OpenOffice.org. I understand why they did it, as OpenOffice.org, Thunderbird, and Firefox make up the main alternatives to Microsoft (Office, Outlook, and Internet Explorer) in the typical Windows desktop environment. Still, it's a bit off-topic. No harm, just off-topic...

So... If you have a student who wants something more than Notepad for school reports and who doesn't want to trade running Office for eating Top Ramen for months at college, turn them on to this book. Same goes for Uncle Joe who wants "that software I use at work" but who doesn't want to pony up hundreds for a legal copy. The alternatives will be clear, and your student will be able to afford a pizza once in awhile...

I bought this to learn more about Open Office. In the end, I was disappointed with my purchase. I expected more information to assist me in understanding Open Office. I did not return it because maybe I just expected too much help.