An open-source alternative to MS Word

[zuludelta]

Hey Steve,

Enjoyed your latest column, noticed that you mentioned that you couldn't find any worthwhile open-source alternatives to Word. I've been using the OpenOffice suite for over 5 years now and it's probably the best open-source application I've ever used to substitute for "paid-ware." As far as I know, it does most everything Word is generally used for (didn't find a word processing task it wasn't up to in my previous job as a research assistant/academic journal editor) and it uses a similar interface. It's compatible with all the popular file formats (can even publish files directly to .pdf) and has some fairly advanced desktop publishing features as well. The online help/tech support system is huge, easy-to-negotiate, and updated regularly by an active community. You should check it out.

[dancj]

I found Open Office very useful when I had a corrupt Word document. I simply open3ed and saved it in Open Office and it was fixed!

[MartinRedmond]

I find it bizarre that a word processor is still so buggy with all the processing power given today.