CHAPTER 21 MAKING THE MOVE (Mac os x web server) TO OPENOFFICE.ORG
CHAPTER 21 MAKING THE MOVE TO OPENOFFICE.ORG 321 File Compatibility As well as core feature compatibility, OpenOffice.org is also able to read files from Microsoft Office versions up to and including Office 2003, the latest version of Office at the time of writing. When a new version of Office comes out with a new file format, future versions of OpenOffice.org will support it. This is just one more reason why you should regularly update Ubuntu online in order to make sure you re running the very latest versions of each program. Note It s fair to say that many people still use the older Office file formats, even if they re using the latest version of Office. This is done to retain compatibility with other users who may not yet have upgraded. Although file compatibility problems are rare, two issues occasionally crop up when opening Microsoft Office files in OpenOffice.org: VBA compatibility: OpenOffice.org isn t compatible with Microsoft Office Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). It uses a similar but incompatible internal programming language. This means that Microsoft macros within a document probably won t work when the file is imported to OpenOffice.org. Such macros are typically used in Excel spreadsheets designed to calculate timesheets, for example. In general, however, only high-end users use VBA. Document protection: OpenOffice.org is unable to open any Office files that have a password, either to protect the document from changes or to protect it from being viewed. Theoretically, it would be easy for OpenOffice.org s programmers to include such functionality, but the laws of many countries make creating such a program feature illegal (it would be seen as a device to overcome copy protection). The easiest solution is to ask whoever sent you the file to remove the password protection. For what it s worth, OpenOffice.org s has its own form of password protection. If you find that OpenOffice.org isn t able to open an Office file saved by your colleagues, you can always suggest that they, too, make the switch to OpenOffice.org. They don t need to be running Ubuntu to do so. Versions are available to run on all Windows platforms, as well as on the Apple Macintosh. As with the Ubuntu version, they re entirely free of charge. Indeed, for many people who are running versions of Office they ve installed from borrowed CDs, OpenOffice.org offers a way to come clean and avoid pirating software. For more details and to download OpenOffice.org, visit www.openoffice.org. Once your colleagues have made the switch, you can exchange files using OpenOffice.org s native format, or opt to save files in the Office file format. Figure 21-1 shows the file type options available in OpenOffice.org s word processor component s Save As dialog box. Note OpenOffice.org also supports Rich Text Format (RTF) text documents and comma-separated value (CSV) data files, which are supported by practically every office suite program ever made.