Sams Teach Yourself OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox and Thunderbird for Windows All in One (Sams Teach Yourself)

List Price: $34.99 Discount Price: $15.40

Customer Reviews:

Very helpful introduction to OO. [Posted on 2007-03-13]
As other reviewers have suggested, the 'hype' you read about the Open Office suite is actually true. Especially in regard to sharing files with M$ Office suite. I have successfully passed spreadsheets and documents back and forth between the two without much of a hitch. As stated in other reviews, and in the book, there are differences in how some things are done, and actual capabilities of each of the two suites, but using the book will help immensely in recognizing and dealing with the issues (which, for the most part are minor). The only problem I've had with OO is one of these issues. I inserted a table with three narrow columns and over 200 rows into a designated section of a document. Then I set that section to flow that table into three columns, to save pages. However, whenever I edited the doc after that, I'd have to reformat the section, because it put the column breaks in odd places. MSWord doesn't have a problem handling the same document. I expect this little bug will be dealt with soon...another advantage of using opne source software! Congrats to Mr. Perry on a well written introduction to what I suspect will be the biggest threat to M$ yet.

Open Office. Org 2 [Posted on 2007-07-22]
Ordered to use as reference for computer software, but felt it was not easy to follow, when trying something new on the computer....must read the entire chapter first. Otherwise, very good!

A Great Guide For OpenOffice.org 2.0 [Posted on 2008-03-19]
OpenOffice.org 2.0 is the best Free,open-source productivity software I know of,(think MS Office, but at no charge).If you don't have, or need MS Office,
OpenOffice.org 2.0, is a great, and easy to use alternative.The book takes you step-by-step through projects in the word processing, database,presentation, and spreadsheet packages, so you can learn at your own pace.This book also includes a guide to the BEST web browser on the planet, Firefox!Once you've tried Firefox, you'll throw rocks at Internet Explorer! Interesting thought...of the millions of people that use(and love) Firefox, most of them started out using Internet Explorer:)To sum up, I highly recommend this book.

poor index = poor reference book [Posted on 2008-05-06]
I don't want to study a 600-page tome. I just want a good reference book so I can quickly look up what I need to know.

I don't know how to "cross out" lines in Open Office Writer. (Some people call this a "strikethrough" function).

So I went to the index (a scant 16 pages for so much material -- all of Open Office, and Thunderbird and Firefox too!). I looked up "cross" then I looked up "strike." Nothing. No help at all.

Other issues I've searched for in this book have likewise led to nowhere.

This book's 600 pages may contain much info, but this is a poor reference book for a "quick look up."

Sams, as always a good product [Posted on 2008-08-27]
Been reviewing Sams books since the 60's (first one was a book on tape recorders!). Still a reliable source for a relatively inexpensive book that gets things right most of the time. I am using it with an iMac running OSX and NeoOfffice. So far it has been what I need. I am sure someone with Linux and who wants or has OpenOffice will find it a good ref. and study guide. And the CD has OpenOffice, Firefox and Thunderbird. A good index, table of contents, and "guide", tho I wish the edge tabs were offset instead of all stacked in a line.

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