V1.1 - not convincing

[Doubter]

Tried the version 1.1 but even some simple keyboard shortcuts don't work properly. If I want to play with OO it I can use the mouse but working with it efficiently is a different matter and sometimes the keyboard can speed up the work quite a bit.

Example: <Alt>ET can stand for 'Cut' or Sheet (Move/Copy, Select, Delete). I can imagine that it would be quite an easy task to check for duplicates and reprogram them in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately Microsoft seems to care just a little bit more about such details.

The integrated HTML Editor is basically a good thing. But when I copy and paste certain web pages too OO it just crashes and wants to send a report to somewhere. I am glad that most open applications can now be recovered at restart but this is not what I would call a stable program.

According to the roadmap on the OO web pages I had the impression that they were rushing to get V1.1 ready because its release was overdue. But I'd rather wait just a little bit longer to get a major release stable than demonstrating once again that most people would be better off using MS Office.

Sorry, no insult intended ...

[DannyB]

There are plenty of people who for whatever reason don't like OOo and won't or simply can't use it.

I hope they find something that they are happy using and can afford.

On the other hand, there are plenty of people for whom OOo does what they need and is at the right price.

Some Microsoft advocates that I talk to always seem like they are trying to convince me that I should be using Microsoft Office. Your post did not sound that way. But with the people I am describing, after all the debates are finished, it seems like what it always comes down to is that somehow they are bothered by the fact that myself and others find OOo perfectly adequate.

For everyone, including you, I hope (1) that you find something you can afford that suits your needs, and (2) that OpenOffice.org either is now or will become the software that satisfies number 1.

As fore me, and macro programming, OOo is the most fun toy I've come across since Hypercard.
_________________
Want to make OOo Drawings like the colored flower design to the left?

[Doubter]

Thanks for your reply. I get your point and I have to admit that I should not expect more for the price of OO. On the other hand there are programs out there which are either shareware or freeware and they are actually working (e.g.: WinZIP or IrfanView). You might argue that these are much less complex than OO but I'd have to respond that there is also much less manpower involved. Whatever, I hope the OO concept will eventually prove successful, with OO pleasing not only the adventurous and those with more time to spare than myself.

Just one more experience: When I saw that colored image on the left side of your post I remembered that I had unsuccessfully tried OO Draw a few releases back. So I gave V1.1 a chance to demonstrate its improvements: I created a few simple objects and one 3D object, then I decided to center-align the 3D object. After that OO had duplicated it on the screen and appeared to be in urgent need for a redraw. Rather than looking for a redraw function (which should be obsolete in 2003), I have minimized the window. And, after maximizing it again OO had 'captured' a web page as background with the 3D object perfectly centered on the screen. All other objects had disappeared. No major problem - I eventually got the proper screen just by scrolling the window back and forth. Maybe we can blame this on a MS - WinXP graphics driver. ; )

So I guess OO is not ready (yet) for the mainstream of users. However, people hostile to Microsoft might be stubborn enough to ignore the questionable results of some (not all) OO functions and still be happy with their 'bargain' ...

In general I still wish Sun Microsystems good luck with their OO and StarOffice projects/strategies. Their current stock price does not suggest that they are terribly successful at the moment. If this is going to change I'll know that it is time to give OO another try. Till then!

[DannyB]

[SergeM]

I use starOffice for three years ago and I have no particular problem with it.
I only have problem when I work under Linux with a police FOO and I take this document under Windows whithout this FOO police. I crash two times StaOffice but I understand the problem and then I work differently.
I never have problem with OOoDraw. Few years ago, I used Draw (Micrografx). Now I prefer largely OOoDraw. The fact that it is completely integrated in the Office is for me important. With Microsoft Word, I only use Draw tools with Word 2. With Word95 this tools was not present and remplaced with a Draw tools wich I never use... and of course you can't modify your old drawing works.
The principle I learned from these experiences is that I want to use a Draw tools which can save with his proper format. It's for that reason I used Micrografx Draw, and now I use OOoDraw. Now if I want to write a math formula in my drawing, this is absolutly not a problem.
The migration from Word to StarOffice take me probably one year. I know that before. It's a choice like the choice to discover Linux.
I have already written that one of the difficulties I encountered with OOodraw is that we can not see and manipulate the vanishing point of a 3D Shape. Is it a wish ? I use it only one time to draw a picture (see http://perso.wanadoo.fr/moutou/accueil.htm) and I think I will continue to use OOodraw without that.
The problem with Software is that the best are those you know. Of course the comparaison is difficult without deep knowledge of the other software. For me too, and then I try to speak only about experience...
_________________
Linux & Windows OOo3.0
UNO & C++ : WIKI
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Using_Cpp_with_the_OOo_SDK
In French
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/FR/Cpp_Guide

[maxqnz]

[peakquester]

agree. speaking just from several years of general use, m$'s word97 seems capable of remarkable instability for something of its reputation, let alone weird format change bugs -- no wonder they invented the format paintbrush, had to so people could clean up after pastes etc. and support? heh, rumor has it they're slating even recent os's for de-support.

then there's the issue of patronizing a company that acts that obnoxiously too, but maybe that's just me
_________________
eat dessert first: life is uncertain

[cpmac]

I changed from SO 5.2 to OOo 1.1.4 because I found draw in 5.2 was unstable.
OOo often crashes . I don't know why. Sometimes it's because I imported a wmf into draw or because I selected the Circle tool. Or it just crashes when I'm using some other program.
I miss the schedule of SO 5.2 I'm thinking of going back to it. That would of course mean saving all my OO files to xls or rtf to reopen them in SO 5.2.

cpmac

[8daysaweek.co.uk]

Doesn't SO use the same file formats as OOo? So no need to convert.

BFN ,
_________________
James
www.8daysaweek.co.uk - A User-Focused OOo site

[RGB]

[cpmac]

As for the file format OO opens SO files but saves them in preference to an XML format that takes up less room.

My OS is W98 SE
cpmac