OpenOffice.org for Dummies

Rating:
Summary: I tried it and liked it.
Review: I'm an attorney who uses OpenOffice.org (OOo) every day in his law practice. I don't usually read a user manual like one would read a novel, but I actually read OOo for Dummies cover to cover because 1) the book is readable, 2) I learned how to use features that I didn't even know existed in OOo. For example, I'm going to travel to Oregon for business, and learned that I could put a map in a background for a spreadsheet to coordinate my travels there, after reading in OOo for Dummies that such was possible. I never would have thought of that. :-) This Dummies book also gives simple, easy step by step instructions for doing stuff. There are several books on OpenOffice.org, and I have bought them all. Each of them has a different use, so you really are not wasting your money if you buy all of them. However, if you don't want to buy them all, OOo for Dummies is good for any user who wants ideas as to how they could use OOo, and it's good for users who really need a clear step-by-step explanation of how to do stuff. Even though it is a "Dummies" book, this book is also good for intermediate users who knew how to do stuff and forgot. This book is also a good way for users (like me) who can't figure out how to download the program from http://www.openoffice.org and who need to get software on CDs, as a CD is included with the book. If you haven't used open source software before, OOo and this Dummies book is a good way to try it. Also, I think that you will be really surprised how powerful this free software program is. You can do some very sophisticated stuff with it, such as graphics, web pages, drawings, etc. I was using another major office suite before I began using OOo, and I found that I could do everthing I wanted with OOo.

Rating:
Summary: great book and a terrific resource for our organization
Review: We are a company that pride our selves on being cutting edge, if not bleeding edge with open source software solutions. We had used MS office for years but as OOo has gotten more advanced we
started migrating over to it as a great alternative.One of my main job duties here is actually the OOo expert. I field any questions, do training, and I am basically the PR front for our now 800 users. I just ordered 20 copies of your book so I can lend them out to users with concerns and questions. It is a great book and a terrific resource for our organization.