Open vs. Neo

Macworld has a review of OpenOffice 3, which of course has opened the whole can of worms about which is better: OpenOffice or NeoOffice. Fans of NeoOffice seem to think of OpenOffice as an interloper on the Mac scene. A native Mac version has just recently appeared, whereas NeoOffice has been maturing on the Mac for quite some time.

Personally, I’m not a fan of office software in general. I have trouble understanding why text, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings and databases need to be combined into one behemoth. Doesn’t it make more sense to have programs that specialize in each of these areas and do them well? And are only launched when needed?

By creating open source versions of Office, we are in a sense buying into that whole marketing idea from Microsoft that we need to have them all in one, and thus pay more. While I’m glad to see free alternatives, I get the feeling that the best they can do is “good enough,” and that they will never be a true replacement.

Posted Friday, December 12, 2008 in Reviews