VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[DaveChristi]

This isn't NEW news, I just thought I'd share this little cost-saver with you.

Six months ago (or so) I reformatted the recording station at the humble DCP studios. A fresh install of all that I need and getting rid of all that I do not.

When it came time to re-install MS Office, I couldn't find the disc. CRAP! What to do? Bum a copy from a friend and hope that "Big Brother" in Redmond, WA doesn't find out? NAW. This IS a business after all. Bootleg software has no place in a business.

PAY another small fortune to Mr Gates, Inc? NAW. This IS a business after all. Frivolous spending has no place in a business.

On a recommendation from a business associate, I installed OpenOffice.org. Since then, I've gradually installed this Open Source office suite on almost every computer in the house (the Mrs hasn't embraced this new proggy yet).

MS Office has been dismissed. There is a minimal learning curve with OpenOffice.org and there are all the programs I need.

Writer = MS Word
Calc = MS Excel
Impress = MS PowerPoint
Base = MS Access (database)

F conversion is native in the software, and it runs on Windows, Linux and Mac. It opens all my old MS Office docs and saves in those formats as well. The upcoming v3.0 release will be compatible with MSOffice 2007 XML docs.

Oh... and it's FREE. Free for personal AND business use.

FWIW, I haven't really missed MS Office. It took a little getting used to, but I can't see going BACK to MS in the near future.

(Oh and for you graphics geeks, open source software offers GIMP for a Photoshop replacement and InkScape for an Illustrator replacement and Blender for a powerful 3-D redering platform)
_________________
Dave "Christi" Felton
The Character Voice Actor

[allensco]

Hey DC! Congrats to you! I've been using OO for several years...since finding it in a Linux install I did years ago. I love it and no one has ever had a problem opening any document I send them that was created with OO. I have it on ALL my computers.

A

[dhouston67]

Another OO user here. I especially like the fact that I can export to F without having to install a virtual printer, or even load F printer drivers.* Click, done. Love it.

*Which I now see that you already mentioned, so... um, yep. Love that F export.
_________________
Great Voice. Great Choice. For Voice Talking and stuff.
http://davidhoustonvoice.com
Do That Voice! - The DHV Blog

[Yoda117]

Another OO fan here.

Save for a single issue with the "Presenter" a, which didn't read well with , I'm a huge fan
_________________
Voiceovers by Gregory Houser
Philadelphia based Voice Actor

Blog - A man, a martini, and a lot of microphones

[glittlefield]

Well, I hate being a "me too" kind of guy, but it's gotten a lot better than it was five or six years ago!
_________________
Greg Littlefield
VO-BB Member #59

[Jeffrey Kafer]

I try not to have any office software on my DAW. So I often use good old wordpad or notepad. For .doc files, I can usually open them in google docs, but it often has a hard time with formatting.
_________________
Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Moe Egan]

I <3 Open Office. It's on all our puters here too!
_________________
Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
~~~~~

[Audiogal]

I've heard folks mention this before...good to hear of so many satisfied users. Does it have something like Publisher also?
_________________
Mary

[Yoda117]

[SoundsGreat-Elaine Singer]

Thanks for reminding me - I just used O-O Writer to produce a F invoice. Why didn't I think of that before?
_________________
Elaine
The Youthful Mature Voice (Emeritus)
Senectitude is not for the faint of heart.

[bobsouer]

[Lance Blair]

My Office is always Open.
_________________
Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!