Are there free alternatives to OpenOffice? This question, which reflects uncertainty over the future of the free and open source office productivity suite, has gained some urgency in the wake of Oracle’s latest decision to sue Google over the use of Java in its Android operating system.
I NEVER thought I would one day be running software from Oracle on my personal computer. Until recently, the database giant just made products aimed at large corporate customers, not individual PC users. In fact, Oracle’s chief executive, Larry Ellison, had once made a big to-do about how personal computers would one day be replaced by glorified terminals that would get their applications from huge servers connected over a network. So I was a little amused to see the Oracle logo pop up when I ran the latest updates of two programs that I use quite a bit, OpenOffice.org and VirtualBox, on my Linux-based PC at home.
THE baloney detector on my computer went crazy this week when a reader wrote: “When it comes down to it, I still have to go to Windows to get work done because so many apps are just either not available under Linux or the choices and maturity of the apps are far, far inferior.” The comment left me puzzled. What kind of “work” did this guy do that he just had to run Windows? To put this nonsense to rest, I compiled a list of common applications that you might need at work and specific Linux programs that will do the job. And none of the programs I mention here are by any stretch of the imagination “far, far inferior” to their Windows counterparts. In fact, a number of them are not only open source and free, but are cross-platform to boot.
Is Linux more secure than Windows? The quick and easy answer is yes. Most viruses and malicious software today are written to target Windows systems and will not affect Linux or Mac computers. If you’re going to work – and play – in a Windows world, you better get protection.
FOR Linux users, running a new Windows 7 PC feels a bit like getting all dressed up with nowhere to go. The operating system itself is attractive, but there aren’t that many built-in applications to get you started. A recent upgrade of our office computers gave me the opportunity to compile a checklist of things to do to get a new Windows 7 PC ready for prime time.
COMPANIES that want to save on software licensing costs can get an excellent office productivity suite by using OpenOffice.org, a free and open source alternative to MS Office. Here are a few tips to help people who are making the switch.
HOW do you make amends without admitting you’re wrong? How do you offer millions of your customers a solution to a problem you say hardly matters? Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs gave it a good shot at a press conference Friday (http://bit.ly/jobs_antennagate) aimed at addressing user complaints that gripping the new iPhone 4 in a certain way would dramatically reduce signal strength.
THE beta 1 version of Firefox 4 released last week has a distinctly unfinished feel to it. I suppose this was to be expected, given the browser’s beta status, but after the dramatic improvements that Firefox went through going from Version 3.0 to 3.5 and 3.6, the jump to 4.0 seems almost anti-climactic.
THE recent kerfuffle over the iPhone 4 “death grip” highlights how a simple problem can be blown out of proportion, not only by media hype but by a woefully inadequate response, in this case, from Apple.
A YEAR ago, I wrote about Xara Xtreme 5, the fastest graphics design program I’d ever used. This week, I tried the latest update and found that the program, now renamed Xara Photo and Graphic Designer 6, has lost none of its snap, even as it gained a new look and a number of features.
I love OpenOffice, the free and open source productivity suite that does pretty much what I used to do with MS Office. But one feature I sorely miss is a real title case command that will capitalize every first letter in a group of highlighted words. Now I know OpenOffice wonks will point to the obscure “font effect” secretly tucked away in the bowels of the Style window, but I have two problems with that: 1) It’s unnecessarily complicated and 2) it doesn’t always work!
I RECENTLY received two hilarious videos that my nephew Thomas created using Photo Booth on the Mac. Unfortunately, the files were in Apple’s .mov format, and I wanted to burn them onto a CD as .avi files that my DVD player could play.
Digital Life is a blog that features a technology column by the same name that appears every Tuesday in Manila Standard Today, a national daily from the Philippines. This blog gives readers easy access to the column, which started in November 2002. Copyright 2009 Chin Wong.
Made the switch to Linux? Tell me about it here and get your own penguin! Click here for a high-resolution image.
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