Apps on BCPS Devices

Open Office: an Open-Source Productivity Suite


Anyone who does not have Microsoft Office at home (or even those who do) will just LOVE Open Office! It is a priceless, yet FREE, gift from the international open-source community. Some open-source products you may recognize are: Firefox (a web browser), Java (a program that allows you to play some online games and view 3D images), or Linux (an operating system). How does it all work? The creators of open-source tools share the source code, along with the program, with the entire world and invite anyone to improve the program. Oftentimes, several products are created (and then shared) from that original source code. Open-source is a perfect example of "Sharing is caring"!
For Open Office, go to www.openoffice.org for the free download to begin enjoying the programs, which look similar to their Microsoft Office counterparts. Open Office information and tutorials can be found here, as well. Open Office can open the Microsoft Office products below. In order for MS Office to open Open Office files, be sure to save your Open Office files as Microsoft Office files (that will be one of the choices under "Save as").
Writer (similar to MS Word)
Calc (similar to MS Excel)
Impress (similar to MS Power Pt)
Draw (similar to MS Draw)
Base (database program)
Math (create/edit math formulae)
Click here for 50 Open-Source Tools. Enjoy exploring in the International World of Open-Source!

No comments: