When OpenOffice.org came in to compete with Microsoft Office, there were some distinctions between the two that made people think twice before choosing either one. Here are some common concepts:

1. Is it free? OpenOffice.org is while Microsoft Office isn’t. This was a MAJOR consideration for those who really couldn’t afford licenses and updates. But of course, when there are hitches, you really can’t complain if you’re getting this stuff for free.

2. Quality Assurance. Microsoft is definitely backed up by a company, so the features, services and other matters regarding their products are always guaranteed to satisfy. OpenOffice.org has a free Source Code that can be freely adopted by other people, so when it comes to troubleshooting, their developers can only do so much to help.

3. Completeness. Clearly there are something that are exclusive to the Microsoft Office counterparts (i.e. animated text in MS Word), but some people consider them unnecessary and prefer the basics covered by OpenOffice.org.

4. Formats used. Microsoft has more rigid formatting so adaptability with other writers isn’t 100% guaranteed, but OpenOffice.org can be made to easily fit into other formats because of its source codes being free.

Generally the comparisons between the two are really based on OpenOffice.org being free and Microsoft charging a small fee. It’s really a matter of priorities to each user.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com