Migrating off of Microsoft Office (Esp. Word)

[Ledgem]

When I switched my laptop over to a Mac system I saw it as an opportunity to use a different word processor and office suite than Microsoft Office. My exposure to Open Office on Linux was minimal, but I decided to run with it. Open Office is still being ported to Mac OS, so I went with what was originally designed to be the Open Office Mac version, Neo Office. It works well enough, but for in-class note taking I've found it to be inferior to Microsoft Word. It refuses to auto-capitalize sentences made under bullet points (even though the auto capitalize option is on), the auto-complete feature was a bit more intrusive than Word's and actually got in the way (I ended up disabling it), and it's very poor about correcting common typos. On the bright side, it's superior about formatting and being consistent, something I had to fight with Word over.

When Open Office is ported over, my woes may end. But until then, I wanted to check and see what people were using as alternatives. Ideally it's something that has versions usable on Mac and Linux (Windows is an optional bonus). If it's free, that's wonderful; if it costs money, I'm willing to pay if it's worth it, so long as it doesn't cost as much as Microsoft Office...

Any suggestions or experiences to share?

[SeijiSensei]

Have you tried Abiword? There's an OS X version as well as Linux and Windows. I've used it from time to time and found it quite useful for ordinary word processing, but I don't know how well it addresses your particular concerns.

For those looking for a spreadsheet alternative to MS Excel and OO Calc, I'd recommend gnumeric. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to have a Mac version, just Linux and Windows.

[Ledgem]

Ah, Abiword! I've heard about it on Slashdot, but figured I'd only try it if NeoOffice or OpenOffice failed me. Based on your recommendation, I installed it and tried it out. It looks very nice (although the icons were discolored for some reason). The problem is that when I type, my processor usage rockets up pretty drastically - I'd guess that it has to do with the auto-spellchecking. Both cores were heading into the 30%+ range; NeoOffice doesn't seem to push them beyond 10% at their highest while I'm typing. Since battery life matters, I'm a bit afraid about using Abiword for long periods of time on the battery. I may work with it a bit more later, but otherwise it doesn't seem to offer anything that NeoOffice can't already do. Thank you for the suggestion, though! (I did note as well that the Abiword FAQ does mention that the OS X version of Abiword is the least polished of the three versions, so it may be a very nice option for Linux and Windows systems.)

[Epyon9283]

Have you tried Pages? (comes with iWork)

If you're having trouble with neooffice chances are you'll have the same issues with open office. OO.org really isn't all that great.

If you want something good for making outlines or taking notes I'd suggest http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnioutliner/ It may have come with your Mac. It came with my old iMac and my MBP but not my new iMac for some reason...

[Dkong1026]

I just use Google Docs or the built in windows notepad.

I don't really care about extra features and junk...

So yeah, I bet that's not the answer you were looking for, but that's my honest opinion about what I use for typing up stuff for school and whatnot.

[killmoms]

Yeah, Pages in iWork is really great. I use it as my main word processing app (though, to be fair, I haven't had to do any word processing in ages).

Haven't had Microsoft Office installed on my Macs in about a year though.