Everyone is always looking for an affordable alternative to Microsoft Word. Among the many online and desktop alternatives you can chose from, the OpenOffice productivity suite is a stable
and powerful collection of applications that's free, easy to use, and standards compliant. Included in the software package is Writer, OpenOffice's word processing component.
OpenOffice Writer makes an attractive alternative to Microsoft Word. It provides—for free, a familiar Microsoft Office interface layout along with all the essential formatting
and editing tools needed to create advanced digital documents. Also, the OpenOffice application can be enhanced with software plug-ins created by the OpenOffice.org community.
With the help of other OpenOffice users, you can create simple and complex documents more efficiently.
The issue of compatibility, however, is a slight setback. While OpenOffice users can access, edit and save to the .doc format easily enough, Microsoft Word lacks support for the .odt (ODF Text)
format without the right ODF translator plug-in. When you have to work between Word and OpenOffice formats, you can't be trapped in by the word processor or the formats you use.
Conversion is the easiest solution there is. If you need occasional conversions and want to avoid installing any commercial plug-ins, you should opt for an online data converter.
One online conversion service, the ACI Instant Online File Conversion,
is geared towards converting individual legacy word processor formats to Microsoft Word.
In addition to its long list of supported conversions, the ACI online service can convert OpenOffice to Microsoft Word as well.
This is a quick, cost-effective way to access OpenOffice files. It only takes an Internet connection to work, and is available any time you need it.
