Teachers should really give OpenOffice.org a look: Office XP compatible, lots of extra features, Mac/Win/Linux variants, and PDF export functions. It is also multi-lingual, multi-system, and uses openly accepted formats.
It is a highly suitable tool for Teachers everywhere and well worth the download from OpenOffice. Its website says: “Ooo is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute.”
I’ve been using it on and off since version 1.1 and our school is now solely using Ooo as our shared platform. It takes a little while to get used to it, but reports from Office 11 is that the new ribbon takes even longer. There are one or two problems that we noticed: the Word Table Drawing Tool isn’t there, and I find it very useful for drawing regular grammar tables! Oh, well. And Ooo has some funny errors that reset font changes for some words or others every time you open it.
But for our school, it’s generally the right match for our needs. The conversion process from Office isn’t plainsailing as tables, paragraphs and so on have to be redone. But with such good software, and a flexible licensing program, we’re not going back to Office.
For me, though, the licensing is the part I like best: no activation needed, no problem on installing the same copy on my home machines, my school machines or on my USB Key. Now trying doing that with Office 11! You might manage one or two depending on the licensing, but a USB Key install – hah! Not likely.
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