Rating: 
Summary: Don't even think about using StarOffice without it
Review: This book saved me more than once. I have had all I can stand of Microsoft products, so I decided to make the switch. But I want the least amount of pain, struggle, effort, and time involved in ramping up and getting something *done* with this software. The companion book gave me exactly what I needed, and it wasn't painful to read, either! I'm actually enjoying it. Strange, I know, but I hope this is a trend -- making technical books *interesting* for a change. I was able to find exactly what I needed from this book. I won't say that StarOffice is a walk in the park -- it can be a pain, but at least this book made it much, much simpler. Finding what you need is a big plus for this book, and yes the index IS useful. (And even funny...)If you're trying to get your company (or a family member) to give up Microsoft, stage an intervention but don't forget to include this book in your "rehab" therapy.
Rating:
Summary: Good stuff
Review: This is the one to have ! It's by far the most complete coverage of Star Office. I like the writing style - it's clear and focused. This book is rare because it does a good job of being both book to learn Star Office with, and also a good reference once you're a Star office veteran.
Rating:
Summary: A standout !
Review: This is the one to have ! It's by far the most complete coverage of Star Office. I like the writing style - it's clear and focused. This book is rare because it does a good job of being both book to learn Star Office with, and also a good reference once you're a Star office veteran.
Rating:
Summary: I'm getting this for all my employees
Review: We just switched to StarOffice at work, with a few rogue openoffice.org copies floating around, and, OK, it was a bit bumpy in the first few months. Some of the vocal people went over my head to the VP and said they needed their Word and Excel back. However, she said we weren't allowed to give up on it without actually making sure that we couldn't do it, so of course it was my job to go down to the bookstore and sit there til I found out how to do everything. There was a huge list of stuff we hadn't figured out: do mail merges, print correctly in Calc, print multiple slides per page, import text files into Calc, do animated slides, do numbered headings and cross references in documents and a bunch of other things the techwriters were fussing about, and I forget what else but at least a dozen other things that no one could figure out. I started with some 5.2 books but then found this 6.0 StarOffice Companion and I found EVERYTHING in this book. EVERYTHING. You can use this at home and make yourself happier, but that's just you. Think about the big picture. If you use StarOffice in a business setting, and your salary actually depends on how the business does, and you go down the hall hearing people cursing at their computers, you will really understand how many thousands or millions of dollars it can cost to have your employees struggling with their software. So I'm paying the measly cost of the book for each of my 34 employees, and I'll get the cost back in about 14 minutes for each of them, because they'll actually be able to work well in StarOffice and they won't be going over my head to the VP. If you're using StarOffice commercially, you MUST get this book. While it's fun to be snooty and talk about how you're Alternative and Open Source and all that stuff, it's really all about whether you can get work done and make money.
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