Libre vs Open Office

[CardsFan]

Just want some opinions from some users. I have been using MS Works for the past 9 years. Use is low and simple. Got a new laptop, and, of course, Works no longer works.

Several here have recommended these two free suites, so I just wanted to get some opinions.

I have downloaded Open Office, and can open my Works Spreadsheets, but not documents. Not a real big deal as most documents were just one use. The spreadsheets are the ones I go back to.

Any other pros/cons for one over the other?

 

[RunningBum]

My understanding is that they came from the same source. Libre is more frequently updated and has a few more features, such as it can write .docx files, while OpenOffice can just read them. Perhaps a power user would find Libre better. Being updated less often, it's possible that OpenOffice is more stable.

You should be able to open documents with OpenOffice. It may be that you didn't download that part of it. Libre comes with everything; OpenOffice lets you pick what you want in case you want to save space, or just know there is something you'll never use.

I started with OpenOffice years ago and have found no motivation to change. If I found a reason to, I wouldn't hesitate to jump to Libre.

 

[W2R]

I use Open Office and have been doing so for many, many years. It provides me with exactly what I need and want in an Excel clone (and I really don't know or care much about the other functions). Since I love it so much, I have zero desire to try Libre.

That said, I've heard people say that they prefer Libre.

My guess is that whichever you pick, you can't lose.

I haven't used MS Works since dirt was young, and TBH I have no files in that format. So, I really can't comment on its ability to read MS Works files.

 

[RunningBum]

Oh, I was thinking MS Word documents, not Works. Can't say if either handles those. I'm sure there's a list of types each handles documented somewhere. Do the google.

 

[CardsFan]

Thanks for the comments.

At W*rk I used MS Office, but at home Works was free, so I never bothered to spend the money to upgrade for home use.

Sounds like Open Office will work fine.

 

[easysurfer]

Besides difference in name, I have difficulty telling the difference between the two.

 

[onthe8ball]

As a longtime software developer, I can add my two cents. I would recommend LibreOffice to anyone who is needs to pick one from scratch, but if you already have OpenOffice and it's doing the job for you, you're ok keeping it for now (may not be true forever).


RunningBum is correct, the two biggest advantages of LibreOffice over OpenOffice are (1) it can both read and save Microsoft's latest document and spreadsheet formats ("docx" and "slsx"), while OO can only read them, and (2) LibreOffice is actively supported with frequent releases while OO is basically dying off, last major release 4 years ago and last bug fix 8 months ago.



The main reason is that when Oracle acquired Sun years ago, it also took over main support for OO, and Oracle is the kiss of death for open-source software. They later donated it to the Apache Foundation which has had trouble finding enough developers to keep supporting it. For more history, see these WikePedia entries:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_OpenOffice
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibreOffice

 

[Uncle Lumpy]

LibreOffice all the way. As onthe8ball said, LibreOffice is under active development with a large number of participants working on the code while OpenOffice is just waiting to die. Bug fixes and security updates are few and far between with OpenOffice and at this point, I wouldn't trust it on my computer.

Lumpy

 

[Lakedog]

Have used LibreOffice for a few years (since switching to a Mac). No experience with OpenOffice. LibreOffice has worked very well for my needs since moving from MS docs/spreadsheets.

 

[donheff]

I keep a copy of Libre Office installed although I rarely need it. Libre Office is maintained by the open source community whereas Open Office is the fork that Sun and then Oracle took over. I am leery of anything that Oracle is involved with.

 

[Totoro]

LibreOffice all the way. As onthe8ball said, LibreOffice is under active development with a large number of participants working on the code while OpenOffice is just waiting to die. Bug fixes and security updates are few and far between with OpenOffice and at this point, I wouldn't trust it on my computer.

Lumpy

+1

 

[CardsFan]

OP here, Thanks all.

I know Open Office will open an xlr file and will not open a wps file (because I have downloaded and tried.)

Before downloading Libre, does any one know if it will open either? Opening and saving xlr files in the new format is more important than wps.

Edit to add: I have searched the interweb, but cannot get a definitive answer.

 

[MissMolly]

So I Googled it and the very top result:

 

[CardsFan]

So I Googled it and the very top result:

I found the same in my search. But it says to open in excel and save in ODT. I don't have excel, hence my question.

 

[Freedom56]

I have Libre Office on one of my Linux (Ubuntu) computers. It's pretty good and can read/write MS Office documents.

 

[GravitySucks]

From ask libreoffice.

Yes, LibreOffice can open .wps files ( If you mean files with a .wps extension that were created by MS Works or MS Works for Mac ). Both LibreOffice Writer and LibreOffice Calc have an import filter for .wps files.

I moved from OpenOffice to LibreOffice about 10 years ago. Works great for me!

 

[CardsFan]

From ask libreoffice.

Yes, LibreOffice can open .wps files ( If you mean files with a .wps extension that were created by MS Works or MS Works for Mac ). Both LibreOffice Writer and LibreOffice Calc have an import filter for .wps files.

I moved from OpenOffice to LibreOffice about 10 years ago. Works great for me!

Thanks. But I have not found an answer on the xlr file (spreadsheet). Those would be the most time consuming to recreate. Everything I have seen is ambiguous.

Anyway, no big shakes to downloading both.

 

[Lakedog]

Thanks. But I have not found an answer on the xlr file (spreadsheet). Those would be the most time consuming to recreate. Everything I have seen is ambiguous.

Anyway, no big shakes to downloading both.

Yes, on xlr files. I looked back at some of my older spreadsheets, and they are xlr files that I am using with LibreOffice.

 

[CardsFan]

Thanks. Looks like I will try Libre