The much awaited Version 3.0 of OpenOffice.org is now available. OpenOffice .org is an open source office suite that is best known as a free and superior alternative to Microsoft Office. You can download the complete software package from here.

I love OpenOffice.org. It is stable, easy to use, and runs on Linux, Windows  Mac and other operating systems. Another reason why I love OpenOffice.org so much is the fact that it is free. This means that you can download it for free and install it on as many number of computers as you like. You are also free to make as many copies of OpenOffice.org as you want and share them with other people.

I’ve been using OpenOffice since 2004 and I’m fully satisfied with its performance. I use it mainly for word processing and preparing spreadsheets and multimedia presentations. Here is a list of the major components of OpenOffice.org and their MS equivalent.

Function

Microsoft Office

OpenOffice.org
Word processor

Word

Writer
Spreadsheet

Excel

Calc
Presentation

PowerPoint

Impress

Aside from the applications I’ve listed above, the OpenOffice.org suite also comes with the following components: Base - A database program similar to Microsoft Access, Draw - A vector graphics editor comparable in features to early versions of CorelDRAW, and other apps for creating HTML and XML documents.

I promise you there is not much adjustment to make when you shift to OpenOffice.org because its user interface and feature set are identical with that of MS Office. You do not have to worry if you already have documents you’ve created using MS Office because OpenOffice.org can open and read them with a very high degree of accuracy.

If you want to keep your data compatible with MS Office, you actually have the option to save files you’ve created with OpenOffice.org in a format that MS Office can read. You need this when you regularly share files with people who only use MS Office or when you need to open your documents in another computer that does not have OpenOffice.org.

I think it is also good to keep in mind that the mission of OpenOffice is “to create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format.” We can all be part of a community whose goal is to shatter all forms of monopoly and deliver a sophisticated and dependable yet free multi-platform office productivity suite.