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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Applications > OpenOffice vs. NeoOffice

OpenOffice vs. NeoOffice
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applesbiggestfan
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Nov 2, 2008, 04:07 PM
 
Hey, I'm probably going to get Office:mac 2008 but if I am unable to get that I am going to get either:
- OpenOffice.org
- NeoOffice

They are both mac compatible, but NeoOffice is native to Mac.
If anybody here has tried them or knows anything about both programs please tell me your opinions.
I used OpenOffice in my previoud notebook and it was very Microsoft Office-like.

But I have not tried NeoOffice but I am thinking about it because on the website they say that it is kind of an improved OpenOffice and that it's native to Mac.

But it's run by donations and volunteers which makes we kind of lean to OpenOffice.

Which one is better, or do you have any other suggestions?
the program has to be:
- Mac compatible
- Similar to Microsoft Office
- Preferably .docx compatible
- Good overall

Cheers!
     
Cold Warrior
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Nov 2, 2008, 04:09 PM
 
NeoOffice is pretty good. I have it and Office 2008. NeoOffice seems a bit faster than Office 08.
     
applesbiggestfan  (op)
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Nov 2, 2008, 04:11 PM
 
Great fast reply

1- Have you ever tried OpenOffice?
2- Is NeoOffice similar to Office08?
3- Is NeoOffice .docx compatible?
     
Cold Warrior
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Nov 2, 2008, 04:21 PM
 
1 - never tried OO
2 - yes, very
3 - yes, at least for the Word docx and Excel docx I checked it with.
     
applesbiggestfan  (op)
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Nov 2, 2008, 04:25 PM
 
Alright, thanks!

If I don't get office:mac 2008, I'll get NeoOffice.
     
Cold Warrior
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Nov 2, 2008, 05:01 PM
 
There's no reason you can't have both: NeoOffice is free.
     
seanc
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Nov 2, 2008, 05:15 PM
 
I'll pop into this thread to mention that Open Office is now OS X native rather than having to run through X11.

Edit: It's just been pointed out that it's in the wrong place, moving...
     
wataru
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Nov 2, 2008, 11:31 PM
 
OpenOffice.org (3 and newer) and NeoOffice are both very nice. I have them both, and I can't really decide which is better.

Between the two and Office 2008, I actually find that Office performs the worst in terms of speed. If you need it for compatibility then you might not have a choice though (note that Office 2008 doesn't support VBA).
     
besson3c
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Nov 2, 2008, 11:37 PM
 
Check out OpenOffice 3. Now that it is native to the Mac, I'm not sure what NeoOffice's future will hold.
     
dustrho
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Nov 2, 2008, 11:41 PM
 
OpenOffice3 is clunky and slow, much slower than NeoOffice. I have both of those plus Office 2008, and I prefer to use NeoOffice.

Chris Rhoads / Forum Admin & Webmaster of Sandtroopers.com
     
JKT
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Nov 3, 2008, 08:07 AM
 
Given that the developers of NeoOffice were the only one's who gave a rat's arse about getting OpenOffice.org onto the Mac for the majority of OS X's existence, which is in stark contrast to anyone running OpenOffice.org (who did bugger all until the past two years or so), I personally think that they deserve the Mac community's support. OpenOffice.org would never have been on the Mac for the past 7 years if it wasn't for them and it is arguable that it wouldn't be here now if they hadn't laid the ground work for OpenOffice.org and gained the software mind share in the Mac community. Also, they have demonstrated that they produce good quality code and, unlike the OpenOffice.org crew, they don't ship their software as a release version if it isn't ready.

Fwiw, the .docx support and Word Perfect support in OpenOffice.org came from the NeoOffice developers first, not OpenOffice.org. Features-wise, NeoOffice also supports more OS X technologies such as the iMedia browser, spelling checker, etc.

OpenOffice.org are 8 years late and simply do not deserve any credit or support for that. They've demonstrated even less interest in the Mac platform than MS.
     
dustrho
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Nov 3, 2008, 08:53 AM
 
Well said JKT.

Chris Rhoads / Forum Admin & Webmaster of Sandtroopers.com
     
Big Mac
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Nov 3, 2008, 09:23 AM
 
Seconded.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
applesbiggestfan  (op)
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Nov 3, 2008, 01:43 PM
 
I agree.

NeoOffice is what I call Mac native because it has always been only for Mac.
while OpenOffice only made theirs Mac compatible, but they were not originally designed to work flawlessly on Mac.

I read some benchmarks that show that NeoOffice is in most cases the fastest overall...

Which is why I am going for NeoOffice.
     
EndlessMac
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Nov 10, 2008, 04:48 PM
 
Sorry to bring back this thread but I would like to add that NeoOffice is dedicated to Mac whereas as OpenOffice seems to be more focused on Windows and support for Mac is more of an after thought. Sure OpenOffice works on Macs but it does feel like they don't put as much effort into it as they do with the Windows version. Let me quote the NeoOffice developers:
1. Our code is more stable - Our code has been in use by several hundred thousand users on a daily basis for a few years now and during that time, hundreds of uncommon bugs have been found and fixed. In constrast, OpenOffice.org's code is brand new and only lightly used so they will have lots of bug fixing work to go through. It makes no sense for our users to go through that pain again.

2. Our code is as fast and in some cases significantly faster - While we were fixing bugs over the last few years, we also spend considerable effort eliminating speed bottlenecks in the code. In contast, OpenOffice.org's native Mac code is not optimized particularly in the areas of text layout and slideshow presentations as you can see in our performance comparison in the following NeoWiki article:
I prefer NeoOffice myself and found it better than OpenOffice for Macs. OpenOffice is great on Windows and that's what I prefer when using Windows but for my Macs it's NeoOffice.
     
applesbiggestfan  (op)
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Nov 11, 2008, 04:30 PM
 
Yeah I got NeoOffice and I really thought it was cool.

I used if for a while but yesterday I finally thought of copying Office:mac 2004 from my friends Macbook.
     
EndlessMac
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Nov 11, 2008, 06:11 PM
 
Originally Posted by applesbiggestfan View Post
Yeah I got NeoOffice and I really thought it was cool.

I used if for a while but yesterday I finally thought of copying Office:mac 2004 from my friends Macbook.
It all depends on what a person needs and wants because NeoOffice fulfills what I need from it. I do have Office X on my Mac but I didn't think it was worth upgrading to the newest version because like I said NeoOffice works for me. It also reads Office files well enough for my liking so I haven't had too many complaints and very little reason to get the latest version of Office but of course every one has different needs so if you feel you need Office then go for it.
     
wataru
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Nov 12, 2008, 03:42 PM
 
Originally Posted by applesbiggestfan View Post
Yeah I got NeoOffice and I really thought it was cool.

I used if for a while but yesterday I finally thought of copying Office:mac 2004 from my friends Macbook.
As long as you realize that your use of Office 2004 in this instance is illegal, since you don't own it.
     
IronPen
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Nov 13, 2008, 04:42 PM
 
Originally Posted by EndlessMac View Post
Sorry to bring back this thread but I would like to add that NeoOffice is dedicated to Mac whereas as OpenOffice seems to be more focused on Windows and support for Mac is more of an after thought. Sure OpenOffice works on Macs but it does feel like they don't put as much effort into it as they do with the Windows version. Let me quote the NeoOffice developers:


I prefer NeoOffice myself and found it better than OpenOffice for Macs. OpenOffice is great on Windows and that's what I prefer when using Windows but for my Macs it's NeoOffice.
Interesting. I don't take their comments as not taking OpenOffice on Mac seriously, they just seem to be stating the obvious. I have tried them both, but I haven't done a thorough evaluation because I rarely use Office apps, but I saw little difference in them. For me, OpenOffice 3.0 seems to launch faster, which is a big plus for me. I think they are both good products and it's good to see them being actively developed.
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EndlessMac
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Nov 13, 2008, 05:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by IronPen View Post
I don't take their comments as not taking OpenOffice on Mac seriously,
I didn't say the NeoOffice developers were saying that OpenOffice developers weren't as dedicated to Macs, I was personally saying that based on my own opinion. I was quoting the NeoOffice developers to support my own opinion.

Anyway a simple example of this is that OpenOffice 3.0 isn't available for PPC Mac users as of yet while the latest version of NeoOffice run on both Intel and PPC Macs and has been doing so for sometime now.

I agree that it's good to have choices but from my point of view NeoOffice just seems more dedicated to Macs.
     
IronPen
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Nov 13, 2008, 06:09 PM
 
OK. That was my misunderstanding. And I wasn't aware of the PPC thing. NeoOffice is being developed by a group specifically dedicated to the Mac, as I understand it, so I would say they are more dedicated to the Mac than the OpenOffice group since the Mac is their focus. Kudos to them. Cheers.
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JKT
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Nov 14, 2008, 05:26 PM
 
Fwiw, with the latest patch, NeoOffice now supports Services as well.

Also, I believe that there is in fact a PPC version of OpenOffice.org 3.0, but it isn't promoted or made easy to download for whatever reason.
     
LarryMcJ
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Nov 20, 2008, 11:56 AM
 
I've just spent three full days evaluating the differences between NeoOffice, OpenOffice 3.0 and StarOffice 9. First, forget StarOffice 9 as it's nearly identical to OO 3.0, adding only a few different colors, Sun support (three incidents) and enterprise licensing (probably the only reason for it's existence).

I have to agree with many previous comments here...that NeoOffice is far more Mac native, but I wanted to try out both side-by-side. In short...everything you can read in way of comparison tables that are all over the Internet about both products are mostly true, and NeoOffice wins hands down in far too many ways to elaborate on here.

NeoOffice isn't going anywhere just because OO 3.0 recently launched with Mac support. The NeoOffice folks are some of the most dedicated professionals I've ever talked with. Their forum support for NeoOffice is second to none (nearly instant replies to anything you post), while I've been waiting for four days now for "any" reply to the messages I posted on the OpenOffice forum. Believe me...most folks will need support with either product and NeoOffice at least has it.

I thought I wanted OpenOffice 3.0 merely because I always think I need to be on the bleeding edge of everything I use, but after three days I was so convinced that the NeoOffice's stability, much prettier UI, ability to convert MS Office docs "correctly", and embedded spreadsheets in Word documents (OO 3.0 can't do this) that it was a no-brainer to go with NeoOffice.

NeoOffice 3.0 will be out in the near future and will tighten up the small gap on features, but even without this, NeoOffice 2.2.5 is still (IMHO) the clear-cut winner. It doesn't take much effort to dock them both and try out your favorite tasks to see which suite you like best.

Again...I went into this experiment wanting OpenOffice 3.0 to win...but it just didn't.
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NeXTLoop
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Nov 25, 2008, 02:13 AM
 
I have to throw my vote in along the same lines as most others in this thread. I've used NeoOffice almost since its inception. Like a lot of others, I gave OpenOffice a wholehearted try, thinking that it would have a good chance of surpassing NeoOffice.

At the end of the day however... NeoOffice wins hands down. Its far better integrated with OS X than OpenOffice. Once NeoOffice hits 3.0, it'll just be that much better.

No contest... NeoOffice is the better choice.
"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." - Steve Jobs
     
Shades of Gray
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Nov 25, 2008, 04:15 PM
 
And for clarification, NeoOffice is developed by two people, not a huge development team. Amazing when you think about that.
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