Apache OpenOffice is the free office suite par excellence. A set of packages that cover all needs and that is also completely free and compatible with the most popular formats of word processors, spreadsheets or database managers.
The Apache Software Foundation is the organization behind OpenOffice. Hundreds of volunteers work at ASF to offer important business solutions in open source, and always free of charge, for fields such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, IoT or Deep Learning, among many others.
What is OpenOffice
The essence of Apache OpenOffice is to offer a package of open source office applications to everyone for free. In fact, it is the leading application in the industry. With the ambition of wanting to reach as much of the population as possible, it is a suite that is compatible with the most widely used operating systems and is available in many languages.
The open source model allows all developers to participate and programmers who wish to report bugs and requesting new features, in short, continually improving applications. This is the way OpenOffice has worked since it was created more than twenty years ago. The way of using any of the OpenOffice programs is free, that is, it does not matter if the use that is going to be given is private, commercial or educational.
packages
Writer
Is he word processor of the suite and the most popular suite application along with the spreadsheet. It is easy to use and includes all the functions you may need to write any type of document and have a professional appearance. In addition, it includes a series of templates for different types of documents that will make your task easier.
Calc
It is the spreadsheet OpenOffice, intuitive and easy to get the most out of it. Not only can you perform the most basic operations you can imagine but you can also generate pivot tables to cross data. Other very interesting options that put this program at the height of the best known are the Scenarios, which allow working with the analysis of different hypotheses. Or the Solver component that solves value optimization problems.
Impress
It may not be one of the best-known packages in the Apache Foundation suite, but it is no less interesting for that. Impress is the free alternative to Microsoft Power Point. With it you can make very attractive and dynamic presentations. Impress is made up of a wide assortment of objects, diagrams, and drawing tools.
Draw
It could be defined as a tool for design of technical plates and posters. We can add 3D objects and modify them in all their aspects with the specific Controller designed for this tool. It is possible to work with the dimensions and the order of the layers to carry out the project exactly as it is planned.
Base
It is the manager and database administrator of OpenOffice. As with Microsoft Access, in OpenOffice Base you will design different databases to work with all types of users and carry out all types of reports. Base has different database engines: MySQL, Adabas D, MS Access and PostgreSQL.
Math
We are facing one of the best math equation editors From the market. Its main purpose is to edit equations for text documents, although it can be used with other types of documents or independently. There are three ways to create formulas: by typing marks in the editor, by double-clicking in the equation editor, or by using the Selection menu on the top bar.
How much does it cost?
OpenOffice is fully gratuitous, as well as all its extensions and added applications. It is the philosophy of the projects developed by The Apache Software Foundation, created in 1999. The fact that it is a free suite is due to the hundreds of volunteers who work for the organization in a totally selfless way. We must not forget that the world’s leading office suite, Microsoft 365, has a cost of € 69.00 in the annual subscription for a particular user.
The development stream with the open source philosophy is not new, much less exclusive to OpenOffice. There are other applications like LibreOffice, which is another free office suite. We can also use an image editor, substitute for Photoshop, like Gimp. OR Krita, which is a free freehand drawing app.
Download and install
To install OpenOffice you just have to visit the application web at OpenOffice.org, you have the Spanish version with a minimalist initial menu. In the second section you will see the link to I want to download OpenOffice.
Operating systems
OpenOffice is available for all versions of Windows, Linux and OS XAlso, if you want to work with Android you can install it through the More platforms / Operating systems drop-down menu.
Windows
The minimum requirements to work in the Microsoft environment are:
Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows 2003.
256 MB of RAM.
650 MB of hard disk space.
1024 x 768 resolution at 256 colors.
Mac – OS X
If you have the Apple operating system, the requirements to install OpenOffice are:
OS X 10.7 (Lion) or higher.
Intel processor.
512 MB of RAM memory.
400 MB of disk space.
1024 x 768 pixel resolution in 16.7 million colors.
GNU / Linux
Linux kernel version 2.6 or higher.
Glibc2 with a version 2.5 or higher.
256 MB of RAM.
400 MB of disk space.
1024 x 768 pixel resolution with 256 colors.
Languages
You will be surprised by the range of languages available for OpenOffice, it is another advantage of open source applications (which are easily translatable into all kinds of languages in the world). In addition to Spanish, English, German or FrenchYou can install OpenOffice in Basque, Asturian, Galician, Catalan or Valencian.
Installation guide
Windows
- Check that the requirements for use mentioned above are met.
- Install Java JRE if you are going to run Java dependent processes.
- Download Apache OpenOffice.
- Run the file as Administrator.
- Unzip and install the downloaded files.
- Update the version of OpenOffice: choose if we delete the previous version or prefer to keep both.
- Run Apache OpenOffice to make sure everything is correct.
Mac OS X
- Check that we meet the minimum requirements.
- Download Apache OpenOffice.
- Make sure that we have enabled the option to install third-party applications in System Preferences.
- Install the downloaded file as an ordinary application.
- Run Apache OpenOffice to make sure the process has been successful.
GNU / Linux
- Check the minimum requirements for installation.
- Download the version chosen for Linux.
- Unzip the files and create the installation directory with tar -xvzf “linux package name” .tar.gz
- Add the directory as a “local repository” for your GUI package manager.
Download extensions and templates
Although a priori it might seem that OpenOffice is a very basic suite and that it has been developed simply to cover the most basic aspects of each of its packages, nothing is further from reality. At The Apache Software Foundation they have developed a extensions portal where you can download countless extensions for Open Office. You can install all kinds of “add-ons” such as currency converters, file exporters to special formats, dictionaries, image galleries and a long etcetera.
Parallel to this free store, we have another for downloading templates. With more than 250 templates You can develop in a few clicks, thanks to them, mortgage calculation documents, task lists, calendars, activity records, rental contracts, etc.
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