For a while, students and nonprofit organizations' choice of office suites was limited to Microsoft Office or ... Microsoft Office. But in the last couple of years, a viable open-source option has emerged: OpenOffice.org. Should you consider OpenOffice? Will it make sense for your users and organization? What are the differences between these two office suites?

I was asked a few days ago by a friend to install some software so he can edit some projects he had for school. Of course he requested to have Microsoft Office (Microsoft marketing department is not sitting idle, ist it?).

So I explained that he will need to have a license for that. If you're a U.S.-based nonprofit, Microsoft Office 2003 is also free or almost free. On the other hand, OpenOffice is free and available to anyone.

So what exactly is the difference between them and why someone would choose between them? Let’s look deeper into the problem:

Open-Source Applications are often free as well as their updates. An commercial software will require you to pay for the software as well as for the major upgrades or updates.

Open-Source Applications are source free which means that anyone can tinker with their code and try to make it better and better. On the other hand, the company owing the commercial software has every reason to improve their software as their profit lies in the number of copies sold.

As a last note, major open source software for example like OpenOffice, Sunbird and Thunderbird are portable so you can use them on other platforms (Linux, Mac) too.

Some may say that they are used to the way that Microsoft Office looks like (not in Office 2007 anyway) other may feel attracted to the fact that not bound by a license is liberating. Your choice….

Both packages have the same array of application:

Microsoft Office 2003 has Word, Excel, Outlook and Powerpoint to name the important ones.

OpenOffice has Writer,Calc, no Outlook standalone version but relies heavily on Sunbird (calendar) and Thunderbird (email) as well as Impress.

So in the end, both have what you need on your day by day basis.

There's more support for Microsoft Office 2003 than anyone can possibly use: dozens of books, official support from Microsoft itself, sanctioned support from people who have earned Microsoft licenses, professional call centers, and a Web full of sites that contain tips and guides for modifying, configuring, and using Office 2003 software. OpenOffice.org's support is more community driven, and generally free, with a documentation project and discussion forums led by volunteers. It's easier to find Microsoft Office training and support, but it's likely to cost more. It depends what you prefer.

And let’s look for a bit at the system requirements as not everyone is able to keep the pace with today’s tech development.

Open Office on Microsoft Windows

Operating system - Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2 or higher), Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista
Memory - 256 Mbytes RAM (512 MB RAM recommended)
Hard disk - At least 650 Mbytes available disk space for a default install (including a JRE) via download. After installation and deletion of temporary installation files, OpenOffice.org will use approximately 440 Mbytes disk space.
Display - 1024 x 768 or higher resolution with at least 256 colours

Microsoft Office 2007

Computer and processor - 500 megahertz (MHz) processor or higher
Memory - 256 megabyte (MB) RAM or higher1
Hard disk - 1.5 gigabyte (GB); a portion of this disk space will be freed after installation if the original download package is removed from the hard drive.
Drive - CD-ROM or DVD drive
Display - 1024x768 or higher resolution monitor
Operating system - Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack (SP) 2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, or later operating system2


Regarding the future, both Microsoft and Mozilla are committing themselves on their office suites. Microsoft is working to bring new versions on the battle field while Mozilla is getting gain strong backing from large sponsors like Sun for example. So you can be sure that we will see a long battle from which we can all benefit.