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With exceptions, of course. At my earlier job we had around 6000 PCs, all of which now run OpenOffice (I still have some contact with the techs there so I know a bit of what they're doing), not because they can't afford MSOffice (they did run it up to recently but started the switch before I quit), but because that money is better spent elsewhere.

I just read through the article and the only type of business it tells to steer clear of OpenOffice are offices that use "highly formatted documents or complex Excel functionality"

I apologize for thinking that Java was thinking they were doing people a favor. Now lets talk about toolbars again. The OpenOffice debate looks to be one of those things where neither side will ever change their minds, so there is no sense continuing it.

Yeah trust me, the only ideological argument in this thread is lukipela's. Don't worry about it, he's the same as a Linux, MS, or Mac zealot, rational argument won't sway him.

For the rest of you, you can very well use OO.org or LibreOffice, especially for home use, even if someone sends you an occasional MS file formatted document, it handles them fine. Most people don't use much of the functionality in these apps anyway, having them is like having a TI-85 calculator to do balance your checkbook, there's no reason to spend a huge outlay of cash on them.

And as for TCO, the true cost of having Office will become apparent to anyone who's had a BSA audit. They've typically been very unforgiving of a few instances of non-compliance even when tons of the desktops actually were licensed.

It was terrible. I don't know why I said it.

@lukipela
Here's your "good reason":
I'm a friggin' surgeon. I make ~$200,000 a year (before taxes). I could afford to fund a whole classroom's license for MS-Office if I wanted to. MS-Office is as bloated as the guy that keeps pushing it on TV (or used to. Whatever happened to him?). I like Open Office because it's lean and doesn't make me add anything I don't want to add. 400MB for OO as opposed to 3GB for MSO2010? Yes sir, that's for me.

I guess when people buy a non-microsoft product, they have no trouble finding the custom install button but when it's an MS product, they become blind can't see the same custom install button.

For example I have office 2007 Ultimate installed. Total space: 600MB. Installed: Everything but groove and the pro version of outlook. HD req on their website claims 2GB needed.

I still get all those service pack and security updates for 2007. Some even add in new features. My 600mb quote is the current size even after receiving patches and service pack updates for a year and a half. I haven't noticed a performance drop.

Well bully for you. I didn't think MS would have kept up support for 2007 this long. They'll probably drop it by 2013.

I think 2003 is still supported, or its support died last year. 2007 will be alive until at least 2015, that's for sure.

EDIT: Free or not, you can't really compare LO with Office. ;)

EDIT2: Oh and the very thought of LO requiring Java is a BIG turn off. ;)

Lol, "One out of X doctors recommend Open Office". Ha!