Well, here is an early look at the next version of OpenOffice. This could be very interesting for those of you who are very nerdy and uses OpenOffice instead of most of us humans use - Microsoft Office. Well, sure the latest version of Microsoft Office is giving a lot of users problems with their ribbon thingy but I think once the users start to get used to “Ribbon”, everything should be okay, even for the most fussy of users. And I think that Microsoft Office 2007 is a big step up from the previous versions of Office. Tons of great features and functions, which I think is a good upgrade for most users. And most of my users agree, the newly added features are worth it to pay for the upgrade price. I think for this once, Microsoft has really put in some effort in producing such a polished product. Well, for someone who hates Microsoft, I am pleasantly surprised. Oh, just damn the Ribbon!

For those who are using OpenOffice, you would be glad to know that OpenOffice version 3 is in active development. Yes, I am always a fan of open source software, which means this is also at the top of my list. The reason why I am not using OpenOffice is because most of the staff in my office are incapable of using anything other than Microsoft Office. Too bad, since OpenOffice 3 looks really good. And it is free (as in open source). One plus point is that it’s interface looks a lot like Microsoft Office 2007. The major problem in introducing any new software into an office environment is always resistance by the staff. And when you are forcing the office staff to learn something new or at least try a different software, you will bound to face opposition. And not to mention, everyone is using Microsoft Office without “much” complains.

For me, I am a realist. There is no point introducing a software into your company when you know that a lot of the users will not be using it anyway. They have Microsoft Office installed already. And truth to be told, most of the staff are not very IT savvy and will probably hate the IT department to death if we did really went ahead and forced everyone to use OpenOffice which they are unfamiliar with. Free? Well, sometimes free is always good. My boss thinks that such free software are always unreliable and are made by people who wants to steal information and do evil things.