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Microsoft has an inexpensive version of Office 2004 for anyone who is a student or a teacher or who has one in the family.
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

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'Office' software suites (free and cheap) for OS X computers


Sept. 21, 2005


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, The Post-Standard

   Mac OS X users who want to own an "office suite" but don't want to buy Microsoft Office have three software suites to choose from.
   Two of them are free and the other is inexpensive, but all three have technical drawbacks of one kind or another. Considering the discounted price of the real thing -- Microsoft Office 2004 for the Macintosh sells for as little as $130 for the student-teacher edition -- these three competitors are not likely to take much market share from Microsoft's flagship suite.
   But if you don't want to spend a cent on Office-compatible software, you might want to try NeoOffice/J, an Open Source (and therefore free) set of programs based on the highly regarded suite called OpenOffice. (The official name of the software is "OpenOffice.org," a needlessly confusing name.)
   NeoOffice/J can be downloaded from www.planamesa.com/neojava/en/donate.php. It's easy to set up and use. The word processor is especially well designed, but the other NeoOffice/J components -- particularly the Excel-compatible spreadsheet application and the PowerPoint clone -- are a little weak.
   NeoOffice/J is a Java application. If you've never run a Java app, try this one out. Java is a cross-platform programming language that works on just about any operating system. It's been quite slow in gaining ground against normal programming methods. (Don't confuse Java with JavaScript; the latter is used mainly by Web browsers to handle certain tasks.)
   If (and only if) you've used the X11 windowing interface in Unix or Linux, you could choose the original OpenOffice software suite, written for X11. Apple has an X11 system of its own and there are others that work fine on modern Macs, too. Get the original suite from www.openoffice.org.
   Another Java application is ThinkFree Office, a suite with a friendly look and feel. As with NeoOffice/J, the word processor is the most powerful part of ThinkFree Office and the spreadsheet and presentation software are not up to Microsoft's level. You can get it from www.shop.avanquest.com/usa/list.php?subcat=180. It costs $50.
   My recommendation is to skip these programs and pay for the real thing. Microsoft has a special version of Office 2004 for anyone who is a student or a teacher -- or who has a student or a teacher in the family. (The policy sounds too liberal to be true, but it's quite true.)
   You can find the student-teacher edition at retail stores and on the Web. A check on Amazon.com two weeks ago showed a price of $97.99 after rebates. Unlike the standard version of Office 2004, which allows only a single installation, the student-teacher version comes with three licenses; it can be installed on three computers at the same time.
   Finally, you should not assume that you need Microsoft Office if all you really need is a good word processor with a competent spell checker and thesaurus. TextEdit, the unassuming word processor that comes with OS X, uses the excellent spell checker built into your Mac's operating system. If you have Mac OS X 10.4 (called Tiger), you also have a handy thesaurus. Press Cmd-Ctrl-D with your cursor on any word for the dictionary, then click the "More" button for the thesaurus.