Apache OpenOffice or LibreOffice?
By Carmela
@Carmelanirel2 (8085)
United States
December 17, 2015 6:46am CST
I went shopping a couple months ago when I got my computer. I wanted Microsoft Word but saw that it has changed. No longer a disk, it more more like a subscription, which stinks, because I'd rather install it on my computer than to pay a subscription every year or few years.
So, I used my Word Document in my OneDrive. It is somewhat similar to Microsoft Word, but still missing some features (either that or I can't find them) and my biggest pet peeve is the editing process, it is more difficult. I took a Microsoft class and much of the buttons are different from Word 365 and I just don't feel comfortable using it.
So I decided to download an alternative. I had OpenOffice years ago and didn't like it (though I am sure it has improved since then) and my recent alternative I had a couple years ago was LibreOffice, which I hated because the help feature and forum was useless. I've looked at reviews for both and from what I can see, OpenOffice is better, not as outdated as LibreOffice as you can see from these two reviews.
OpenOffice:
LibreOffice:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2418419,00.asp
However, I'd like some customer reviews. I am looking for something that is as close to Microsoft 365 as I can get (which again I believe is OpenOffice) I will be using this for a lot of writing, for writing a query, synopsis, and editing novels. I don't want something that is laggy or not user friendly.
Does anyone here use either program and what are the pros and cons for what you have?
@DaddyEvil or @Asylum I know you are really good with computers, but don't know if you are knowledgeable about Writing software, but thought I'd mention you, just in case.
Lagging slightly behind Microsoft Office in features, Apache OpenOffice has a lot of functionality and flexibility, as well as tight integration among components. It's also free and open-source.
6 people like this
6 responses
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
17 Dec 15
I use both OpenOffice and LibreOffice (but not on a daily basis) and I find them very similar. I am not sure which I would choose between them, if I had to, but probably LibreOffice.because it is (or was when I last looked) slightly newer than OpenOffice.
They are both quite similar to MS Office 7 (and 10) and, since I am more familiar with those versions than any other, I feel quite at home with the menu system. They do all I need to do and are compatible with each other and with the MS document system (.docx, .xlsx and PowerPoint) the only thing which isn't compatible, really, is the macro system, as far as I am aware, and if you have a document or spreadsheet which relies heavily on macros, you would have to spend some time manually converting them.
4 people like this
@Carmelanirel2 (8085)
• United States
17 Dec 15
Really? From the reviews it said that LibreOffice is out of date. What about support? When I had LibreOffice and was having problems, there was only a forum where no one replied to my question and there was no "LibreOffice" contact info.
2 people like this
@topffer (42155)
• France
17 Dec 15
@Carmelanirel2 Kingsoft Office came pre-installed on my Android phone and is a lot better than LibreOffice on Android (unusable), but I would prefer LibreOffice on a laptop.
3 people like this
@Carmelanirel2 (8085)
• United States
17 Dec 15
@topffer Yeah, I caught that, I'm using a desktop computer, so I don't think that would be a good option.
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (174208)
• United States
17 Dec 15
Okay, I am very familiar with OpenOffice, but not the newest incarnation of it, Carmela, so I honestly can't advise you on the newest version.
What I can tell you about it is that I was using OpenOffice to do the pre-set-up conversion and then uploading the eBooks for several clients a year, or a year and a half ago. Every time I had one of the eBooks set up and converted it over to PDF format, the eBook glitched in one way or another. EVERY time!
The first time I actually sent it to the client for review before submitting it to the publisher. She immediately called me and started ranting about shoddy performance of my contracted duty! I checked my pre- sent copy and found no mistakes, so ask her to send her copy back to me. I couldn't believe the mishmash I found when I opened that eBook in OpenOffice!
It turns out that while Word and OpenOffice can open and display the files either one makes, the Word program does not treat the symbols and commands received from an OpenOffice program the same as it does something received from another Word program. They were incompatible. I had to buy Word and reformat everything to fulfill my contracts.
I don't use OpenOffice anymore.
Maybe Asylum can give you good news, or at least he may know more about the new OpenOffice than I do.
Sorry to disappoint you, Carmela.
3 people like this
@Carmelanirel2 (8085)
• United States
17 Dec 15
@Asylum I don't know where @DaddyEvil sent his work, but I used Smashwords and after editing, I just upload it to the site to be approved. It is saved in Word, but I am not going to use Smashwords anymore since I am looking for an agent, but I would like something suitable for an agent.
3 people like this
@Carmelanirel2 (8085)
• United States
17 Dec 15
Oh, that isn't good. I think I remember now the problem I was having with LibreOffice and that was how to remove the paragraph thingys (The name escapes me, but trust me, I took the class on how to remove these) for my e-book and I got no feedback. I ended up going to the library and opening my story on Word to remove them there. So if OpenOffice has this problem, I don't want that.
And you didn't disappoint, you may have saved me from downloading something I can't use. 
And maybe @Asylum does know or he has a secret alternative no one else knows about..
And maybe @Asylum does know or he has a secret alternative no one else knows about..2 people like this
@topffer (42155)
• France
17 Dec 15
LibreOffice is just a fork of OpenOffice. However it is evolving, the two projects are very different now, and the last version of LibreOffice (5, from August 2015) is a lot better than the previous versions. 5.2 which is announced for next year, will bring an alternative interface for Writer. A good reason to prefer LibreOffice to Apache OpenOffice is the number of developers involved : between March 2014 and March 2015, Apache OpenOffice received 381 commits from 16 different developers, while LibreOffice received 22134 commits from 268 developers, so Apache is a dying project while Libre is very active, with a new public version every 2 or 3 months.
2 people like this
@Carmelanirel2 (8085)
• United States
17 Dec 15
That would be a factor too, but I think I will still download both and see which one works best for me.
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (17239)
• China
19 Dec 15
I have not used both Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice except ms word.
1 person likes this
@Carmelanirel2 (8085)
• United States
20 Dec 15
Hi, it's good to see you again. Yes, I would really love to use MS Word, but I can't, not now anyway.
1 person likes this
@Carmelanirel2 (8085)
• United States
17 Dec 15
You were able to save Word on a flashdrive? I tried that back when I had Word (the older version too) but it didn't work for me. Of course I'm not surprised about that. 
@Bluedoll (16770)
• Canada
17 Dec 15
@Carmelanirel2 The older application was only 46 MB
Word backed up to a storage device? In training was given Microsoft Specialist clearance. What can I say they were good to me.
1 person likes this
@Carmelanirel2 (8085)
• United States
21 Dec 15
Since I am focused on cleaning my house now, I have not had a chance to test each one. However, I did notice that OpenOffice has a very similar format to Word, but if I go to edit or save or open and it doesn't work right, then I might go for the other one.
1 person likes this
@Carmelanirel2 (8085)
• United States
27 Dec 15
@simone10 They are both free, if I had to pay for software like this, I would use Microsoft, since that is what the school used to teach us.
@simone10 (54180)
• Louisville, Kentucky
26 Dec 15
@Carmelanirel2 Are these programs free or is there a fee to use them?
1 person likes this
