Apache OpenOffice Vs LibreOffice

We bring you the pros and cons of using Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice.        Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice have descended from OpenOffice.org. Over the past couple of years, nearly all Linux distributions have made LibreOffice as their default office suite. But in the past one and a half year, OpenOffice has been relaunched into a newly organized Apache project. This gives free software users two options in place of one. As cited on datamation.com, here’s looking at a comparative of the two apps. Differences in the Apps – Many features in LibreOffice's and OpenOffice's applications are similar. In Draw, there is no difference, in Impress, the main difference being that LibreOffice's latest release includes support for controlling a slide show from an Android device. The selection of slide backgrounds is different between the two and either selection should be sufficient. In case of Writer, the most popular application, the differences are basically in a minor key. In LibreOffice, the status bar at the base of the editing window has a word and character count. Also, LibreOffice's comments can be anchored to paragraphs rather than a single point. LibreOffice also has a simplified Find field, which is the same as that in a web browser. Formats and Fonts –Major differences come under the category of format and font support. For exmple, OpenOffice still supports saving to formats. It can open .docx files, but, unlike LibreOffice, cannot save to it. LibreOffice also offers font support with the latest version supporting OpenType which is the preferred format for modern fonts as it has support for multiple languages and advanced typography. Neither OpenOffice nor LibreOffice interact best with Microsoft formats when a document is mostly text and has a minimum of tables, draw objects, and complex formatting. But in case you want to exchange native and Microsoft formats, LibreOffice has certain advantages. It can not only read and write to recent Microsoft formats, but also does font handling, which removes any need for font substitution. Extension Policies - OpenOffice as well as LibreOffice can support well-rounded collections of extensions that can be downloaded and added within minutes to enhance or change features. In many cases, an extension that can work with one will work with the other too. The difference being in LibreOffice you don’t need to install the most popular extensions as it comes installed with them. They are already enabled or integrated. The extensions include Lightproof, a basic grammar checker; Report Builder for summarizing and printing from data bases; Presentation Minimizer for reducing the size of presentations; Wiki Publisher for blogging, and Presentation Console for delivering slide shows, as well as a number of others. These extensions are available for OpenOffice as well. In OpenOffice, you don’t need to be aware of them and make efforts to locate them. Interfaces in Transition - Both OpenOffice and LibreOffice are suites that come with a robust set of features, but have interfaces that are stuck in the mid-1990s. In the latest version, OpenOffice's has limited its changes to the side bar. This feature has to be specifically enabled in LibreOffice from Tools -> Options -> LibreOffice -> Advance. The sidebar consists of features for manual formatting. At its best, the sidebar is a simplified version of some of the tabs for formatting characters and paragraphs, like Border tab in all applications, and the Format tab for spreadsheet cells. LibreOffice offers the task pane in Impress, while is similar to the sidebar, summarizing many of the steps in slide design in the names of its tabs. However, it is the Writer editing window where many of LibreOffice's interface enhancements have taken place. It has a word and character count in the status bar at the bottom of the window, and the cramped sub-menus for managing and editing templates have been changed with a stream-lined interface in which buttons replace drop-down menus. Making a Choice LibreOffice has a small but a big advantage. While Apache OpenOffice was being formed, LibreOffice got talent around the world who wanted the code. The main advantage for LibreOffice is what can be termed as the license-drain. While the Apache License is compatible with LibreOffice's GNU General Public License, the Less GNU General Public License is incompatible with the Apache License. While LibreOffice can easily borrow code from OpenOffice, OpenOffice cannot borrow from LibreOffice. This situation may vary especially as Apache OpenOffice benefits from huge name recognition in comparison to LibreOffice. Yet LibreOffice has instantly earned wide support and has an active community that has done more in three years than OpenOffice.org managed in twelve