320 CHAPTER 21 MAKING THE MOVE TO (Web hosting mysql)
320 CHAPTER 21 MAKING THE MOVE TO OPENOFFICE.ORG As such, it matches Microsoft Office almost blow-for-blow in terms of core functionality. See Table 21-1 for a comparison of core packages. Table 21-1. How the Office and OpenOffice.org Suites Compare Microsoft Office OpenOffice.org Function Word Writer Word processor Excel Calc Spreadsheet PowerPoint Impress Presentations Visio Draw1 Technical drawing/charting FrontPage Writer2 Web site creation Access Base3 Database 1 Draw is a vector graphics creation tool akin to Adobe Illustrator. Creating flow charts or organizational diagrams is one of many things it can do. 2 Writer is used for word processing and HTML creation; when switched to Web mode, its functionality is altered appropriately. 3 Writer and Calc can be coupled to a third-party database application such as MySQL or Firebird; however, Office.org also comes with the Base relational database. You should find the functionality within the packages is duplicated, too, although some of the very specific features of Microsoft Office are not in OpenOffice.org. But OpenOffice.org also has its own range of such tools not yet found in Microsoft Office! OpenOffice.org does have a couple of notable omissions. Perhaps the main one is that it doesn t offer a directly comparable Outlook replacement. However, as discussed in Chapter 27, the Evolution application offers an accurate reproduction of Outlook, with e-mail, contacts management, and calendar functions all in one location. In Ubuntu, you ll find Evolution on the Applications . Internet menu. Evolution isn t directly linked to OpenOffice.org, but it retains the overall Ubuntu look, feel, and way of operating. OpenOffice.Org Key Features Key features of OpenOffice.org, apart from the duplication of much of what you find in Microsoft Office, include the ability to export documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) format across the entire suite of programs. PDF files can then be read on any computer equipped with PDF display software, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. In addition, OpenOffice.org features powerful accessibility features that can, for example, help those with vision disabilities use the programs more effectively. For those who are technically minded, OpenOffice.org can be extended very easily with a variety of plug-ins, which allow the easy creation of add-ons using many different programming languages. Although OpenOffice.org largely mirrors the look and feel of Microsoft Office, it adds its own flourishes here and there. This can mean that some functions are located on different menus, for example. However, none of this poses a challenge for most users, and OpenOffice.org is generally regarded as very easy to learn.