STRIDER72  I would really like to like OpenOffice, but every time I open it up and actually try to DO something with it, it fails me. For example, today I opened an Excel file that shows a 30 year mortage amortization. Change a cell and save. No problem.

Now print: OpenOffice prints the whole long spreadsheet on one page, which is unreadably small. There's no way to tell it to go ahead and fit it to the page width, not height. Huh????

So I try to open the file in Excel again. Now that it has been saved by OpenOffice, it crashes Excel. Just Great. (Yes, I did save it as an Excel file.)

In the past I've tried to use the "Word" part of OO, and have have similar frustrations. IT looks solid until I actually try to do real work with it, and then I end up stumbling over seemingly obvious holes in the software.

*sigh* Maybe by version 4.0 they'll have it worked out.  
(Version 3.1.1)

MYRDINN  After reading the comments, I'm kind of persuaded that I'm the only one with this problem.

And it's a huge one! I've downloaded the software (multiple times, different versions), and I can't open the .dmg file. This file give me the worst crash I've ever seen on Mac OS X. Can't mount the file. Final. I've tried many thing, and everytimes, result is the same : I've to reboot to regain control of my iMac. Weird, isn't it? I did even tried to rename the file, just to see. As soon as the file is selected : crash city! As bad as the first one trying to open the file! This is supposed to be a great piece of software, but I'm stuck with Micro$oft Office, maybe for the rest of my life.  
(Version 3.1)

BURAK  OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 RC1 PPC version is buried here: http://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/3.1.1rc1_20090807/

Scroll down and download

MacOSXPowerPC_install.dmg" (for us english)  
(Version 3.1)

ONE78MAN  If you have no need to create complicated document but you still want more then a simple office suite this is the best choice and if you do not need to deal with Office documents this is then... a MUST! :D  
(Version 3.1)

SOUTHPAWAMI  OpenOffice appears to work fine on my macbook in 10.5.7, whereas it did not work on my macbook in 10.5.6 as commented previously. Just a friendly update.  
(Version 3.1)

AMC3  I have the same MacBook set-up and also use NeoOffice and OpenOffice. Virtually all docs of either of those two apps open and save just fine in each other, and both seem to offer better value that MS Office for Mac. The reason I use both is certain feature sets available in each. Both to me are now pretty much on par, but I find that OpenOffice gets more use because of all the available extensions for it and the fact as each are updated via a pop-up at launch it gives you the option to update the extensions. I hope both continue their development. My 2 cents.  
(Version 3.1)

SOUTHPAWAMI  I have to comment, due to the fact that OpenOffice won't load on my computer.

My computer specs are

MacBook

HFS+ format

10.5.6

320GB 5400RPM Toshiba HD

3GB RAM

The tools I use for maintaining my computer are IceClean, MainMenu, & iDefrag(recently did a full defrag of the HD from a DVD boot.. does improve performance... all programs run fine)

NeoOffice runs great on my computer. I have not tried NeoOffice 3 yet, as it is still going through testing. OpenOffice 3.0.0 & .0.1 used to start downloading OpenOffice as soon as I opened them without consent... attempts at options didn't seem to make a difference. OpenOffice 3.1 went through the install, and loaded up to the nice looking blue rectangle with colors and the Sun Microsystems logo.. after that, it has not loaded any more.

I am sure that many people are not having any issues. I suppose there may be some issue with certain laptops.  
(Version 3.1)

BURAK  Works on PPC as well.  
(Version 3.1)

LUMINOUS  I'm delighted! It's fast, more features than MS Office, 100% compatible and platform independent!

Well, I hoped that MS Office 2008 would finally work as it should, but that is just not a priority in Redmond.   
(Version 3.1)

BILL CLINTON  Wow. This thing is an unbelievable turd. On the first launch, the wizard screen opens _behind_ a Finder window. After working my way through the wizard, the program hangs and I have to force quit it. On the second launch, I type a half dozen words then try to insert an equation and immediately the program crashes--completely disappears. I can hardly wait to see what the next five minutes brings.

I'm on a one-week old MacBook Pro, so it's hard to believe there's anything wrong with my system.

Just awful.  
(Version 3.0.1)

AMNESIAC7  Burned by OpenOffice

OpenOffice.org is a mediocre alternative to Microsoft Office for some tasks.

Cons:

No OS level file locking support

Poor tab support in Word documents

Poor cell formatting behavior in Excel spreadsheets

I got burned by OpenOffice. I stuck my neck out as an IT administrator in my company and made a suggestion to use OpenOffice as an alternative to Microsoft Office in order to save money. Management at my company liked the idea and went along with it; half of the company opted to use OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office… we made it a voluntary thing. Anyway, a year later, with the release of OpenOffice.org 3.0, we start running into many problems that have been identified, and there doesn’t seem to be any initiative to resolve these issues by the developers.

Now, we are back to Microsoft Office only as our corporate standard; and, we have purchased several new licenses of Microsoft Office for everyone.

If you’re thinking about bringing it into your company to save a little money; my advice: don’t waste your time…. buy Microsoft Office.  
(Version 3.0.1)

DLGOETZ  Buggy. Tables have disappeared, text is reformatted. Is nice to work on but as soon as I try to load something I worked on earlier it changes the formatting and some things are missing.  
(Version 3.0.1)

BURAK  You can download 3.1.0 for PPC from http://tinyurl.com/dk9qbf  
(Version 3.0.1)

CITIZENVERN  I think it's a great product with great features that keeps me coming back after trying other programs, but I get consistently buggy behavior with the writing i've been doing this term. I'm receiving doc files, converting to ODT and marking them up with comments. There's some consistent bugginess with text disappearing or "turning into" other text. Nothing gets changed, but there's a visual refresh issue. Another bug: insert comment, try to hilite comment area, text gets weird.

These are hugely annoying at times, but it's never crashed on me or lost data, so annoying is all it is. Hopefully it gets worked out, because I like OOo's commenting method (among other things) better than the other's i've tried.   
(Version 3.0.1)

NICALAND  I can finally stop saying "HOW I DONT LIKE M...OFT" :)))) thanks!  
(Version 3.0.1)

ANTONIOHUANCHACO  very fast with mac intel  
(Version 3.0.1)

KZX72  Why not drop the ".org" and just call the program Open Office  
(Version 3.0)

BRUMM  Hi OPeter,

Are you shure about that?

I think I remember realworld tests were even an G4 450 Mhz clearly outperformed 800 MHz Intels PCs (or 1200 Mhz Intel PCs, I can't remember exactly how much Mhz and have no time to google for that now.)

I thought Apple changed to Intel processors because they were cheaper and because Motorola couldn't produce PPCs faster than 1,4 Ghz or so at that time, and Apples big marketing trick was to make their customers believe that all of a sudden the Intel processors would be faster.

But besides that, it is unbelievable that a 1 Ghz PPC seems to be to slow nowadays for an office app.

I mean - we are not talking about movie editing or 3D rendering, it's just a bit typing and calculating.

As I see it, it just makes no sense to save some money on the software side and spent a lot of money on the hardware side, just to get the same speed as you had with the former apps on former computers.

I thought they would make a a fast and slight office solution contrary to Microsofts bloated Office. And now after so much time and work it is even slower than that.

I don't get it.  
(Version 3.0)

OPETER  EDIT: PPC is no way faster than Intel CPUs. This all was just marketing.

My Mac mini Core 2 Duo CPU blows away any PowerMac G5 Dual configurations in calculation (OK, the integrated GPU is week, but who cares?).  
(Version 3.0)

BRUMM  I've been waiting a very long time for this and donated 30 Euros twice to this project,

but now, what I get is absolutely unuseable.

For example it takes 3 minutes to open a 500 pages rtf file here. Scrolling is unbelievible slow and a simple Search & Replace takes forever.

Any other tips to optimize the performance, beside the java tip?

(btw. NeoOffice is based on Java and much faster...?)

I'm on a 1 Ghz PowerMac with 1 GB RAM - as every longtime Mac user knows PPCs are twice as fast as Intel PCs, so what is wrong here?  
(Version 3.0)

THREEDEE912  I think it might just be a server glitch, but the official OO site has a button that says "Download OpenOffice.org 3.0.0 for Mac OSX PPC in US English", but when you click on it to download from the mirror rotator, you get a 404.

I'm guessing they are planning to release a 3.0 release for PPC, but it's probably a low-priority.  
(Version 3.0)

PAULNOJUSTPAUL  I've been using NeoOffice for a long while but this is a really good solid update to OOo, I'm going to give this a serious try again. Seems a whole lot let less sluggish and more polished than the last one I used.

In case no-one's mentioned it here (sorry for the repeat if they have), if you go into preferences and disable Java runtime environment. You should see a pretty big performance improvement.  
(Version 3.0)

FOLLEREC  Anyone else notice that fonts in Calc seem bigger than they do in NeoOffice?

Default Calc opens with Arial 10 pt. In OpenOffice.org 3.0, I reduce the view to 90% to make it close to equivalent to what is seen in NeoOffice 2.2.5p1.

Am I the only one seeing this?  
(Version 3.0)

WCHNLCC  I wrote the webmaster at good-day.net about the empty folder, and he replied almost immediately, fixing the problem (server must have needed some encouragement) and posting the link so I could get it. The folder is back online for those who would like to download the PPC version (or for Intels too).

http://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/

or

ftp://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/

Thanks to Takeshi Abe and good-day!  
(Version 3.0)

D9  This 3.0 version is a definite improvement over the previous versions/betas. The final release is also much faster at launch, especially subsequent launches. It took about 4-6 seconds to open OpenOffice the next time.

The features of Office are all there and the presentation software is rather robust although it still feels a lot more like Office 2004 than Keynote or Office 2008. The database integration is a nice addition on the absence of one in either Office or iWork. There are bugs and occasional slow responses but OO3 by & large operates without incident, whether a new document or opening an Office document.

All in all, OpenOffice 3 feels a lot like NeoOffice but seems to now be the speedier of the two. While the user interface and advance feature set does not match the offerings of iWork and more importantly, Office 2008, it does well for probably 95% of the needs of most users. The free cost is what makes it a definite recommendation when deciding on whether to choose it or Microsoft's offering...it's hard to justify a need to pay for Office 2008.

/  
(Version 3.0)

NED SCOTT  Lack of PPC support. What good is a free office application if it requires that you have the latest and greatest computer to run it? Swedish and German versions of 3.0 are available for PPC, so what's the deal?  
(Version 3.0)

DGEO  PPC binaries have been suspiciously absent from OpenOffice.org for some time now. Now I see the reason. Is there an official announcement about Intel-only support ? BTW, MacOSX folder at ooopackages.good-day.net is empty, WTF ? I'll continue using NeoOffice instead, even in my x86 MacOSX.  
(Version 3.0)

YOXI  One more thing about NeoOffice (as someone was asking for comparisons) - in v3, NeoOffice will continue to support the PPC architecture. There is and will be no official PPC support in OpenOffice v3, though there are unofficial builds available on ooopackages.good-day.net  
(Version 3.0)

JAMUS  I am glad to see Sun/OOO get 3.0 out. I can't give a huge amount of feedback on the cross platform part, but so far the things I have tried in this Mac version work like they do on the PC side (where I have used OpenOffice quite a bit more extensively).

I have not noticed any unusual slowdowns with it, although it does seem to take a few seconds to close longer than I would expect.

Now that the full 3.x is out, hopefully it can be tweaked and refined a bit on the GUI part. The interface is old school, but some folks like that. You know who you are ;)  
(Version 3.0)

THREEDEE912  Yes, this is the version that doesn't require X11. I found the Release Candidates to be pretty stable, so 3.0 should be fine. For some reason the final 3.0 release doesn't have a PPC version.

As compared to NeoOffice, both are very similar (mainly because NO is based off of OOo). Both have the native printing window and Open/Save, and use the system fonts. I actually find NeoOffice slower at certain things, but that may be because I'm using an old PPC G4.

I'd rate both about the same.  
(Version 3.0)

JOYSTICK  localized version for Intel and PPC:

http://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/3.0.0rc4/  
(Version 3.0rc4)

GAOSHAN  I LOVE this application. Since the first native betas came out I haven't opened Microsoft Word once. I know they say don't use it for production things but I use both Writer, Impress and Calc regularly and have not had any major problems. In a couple of instances, powerpoint files that were displaying screwy were handled properly by Impress... love this thing!  
(Version 3.0rc4)

SMKSENSEI  I've been waiting for 7+ years for this (since I moved to the Mac), so I don't wish to kick a gift-horse in the teeth, but even with a MBP DCP-2.33 and 2 gigs of RAM, this thing has a lot of lags, in scrolling and other areas. (yes, I'm using the Intel version) For now, NeoOffice seems to be more useable, but I anticipate more optimization in the future. Office 2007 support is excellent from what I've experienced.  
(Version 3.0rc3)

ERNIE BEAL  PPC Versions available at: http://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/3.0.0rc2/  
(Version 3.0rc2)

MATTHEW GREEN  i hope this fixes the silly bug where it crashes if you open a file with openoffice without openoffice already running  
(Version 3.0rc2)

FARDILHA  I know this is a really small detail, considering all the enormous work putted in this excellent software, but could it be possible to add some icons for MS docs?

Thanks

Pedro Fardilha  
(Version 3.0rc1)

TWISTERMC  This is great! Works well with Office 2007 documents and look nice.  
(Version 3.0rc1)

ERNIE BEAL  PPC version of RC1 can be found here: http://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/3.0.0rc1/  
(Version 3.0rc1)

I(POWER)MAC  for PPC users: OpenOffice 3.0b2 is also available for this platform; click here and find your localized version in the second part of the list.  
(Version 3.0b2)

ROBERTKIRKWOOD  I use OOo-dev 3.0.0 as my only spreadsheet and word processor and find it very stable and much prefer it to

AppleWorks.  
(Version 3.0b2)

JAN_RYBAR  With Version 3.0, OpenOffice.org is now able to run on Mac OS X without the need for X11. Thus, OpenOffice.org behaves like any other Aqua application. The cool thing is, while the market leading office suite vendor dropped VBA support and the Solver feature, OpenOffice.org recently introduced limited VBA support and includes a powerful Solver component. In addition, OpenOffice.org integrates well with the Mac OS X accessibility APIs, and thus offers better accessibility support than many other Mac OS X applications. Finally, people like OpenOffice.org 3.0 for Mac OS X because of its very good stability and performance. Reportedly, some Mac users have switched to OpenOffice.org just because of its extremely good stability.

INTEL: http://openoffice.bouncer.osuosl.org/?product=OpenOffice.org&os=macosxintelaqua&lang=en-US&version=3.0.0beta2  
(Version 3.0b2)

GAZMAN  1) This is a beta of version 3 so X11 is not required as version 3 will be a native application.

2) The download now link is for the Intel build of the application. A PPC version can be downloaded from http://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/3.0.0beta2/  
(Version 3.0b2)

REDDOG99  I tried looking at the FTP & HTTP downloads and there is NO version 2.4.1 available for OS X What's going on?  
(Version 2.4.1)

R_L_D  the native OOo 3.0 dev build of OpenOffice Aqua works very well here and is totally native; no X11. Much faster than Neo or X11.  
(Version 2.4.1)

MSWFUJOWDFFYC  It's a shame they didn't get onto an Aqua version from the beginning, like they should have.

NeoOffice has sprung up in the meantime, to fill the void, which unfortunately relegates the Mac version of OpenOffice to the realm of Technological Necessity, rather than Realistic Product.

Basically, to Mac users, OpenOffice serves only as the technical underpinnings to NeoOffice, and Windows/Linux counterpart. Obviously, without OpenOffice there is no NeoOffice, but the Mac products produced directly from the OpenOffice effort are not really worth spending much time in.

Let them generate their code for Win/Linux/etc, and simply wait for NeoOffice to adapt it. The results are much more pleasant, productive and Mac-like than the alien X11 version.  
(Version 2.4.1)

SVOOP  Oops, that was the german download, here's the page with the english version:

http://download.openoffice.org/3.0beta/  
(Version 2.4)

SVOOP  Here's the new download link for the OOO 3.0 (native Aqua, Intel only):

http://de.openoffice.org/downloads/quick.html?platform=ooo_beta  
(Version 2.4)

CALL ME YO DADDY  If your on a Mac, NeoOffice is much better. It's based on OpenOffice but supports the Aqua environment and doesn't require X11.   
(Version 2.4)

SVOOP  Official alpha/beta builds of OOO 3.0 native on Mac OS X (aka: no need for X11) can be downloaded here:

http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/download/aqua.html  
(Version 2.3.1)

JOHNNY ROCKET  I've never had a version of OpenOffice that could open the degree plan worksheets from my college properly. They're supposed to be 2 pages, with the notes below the table. But all versions of OpenOffice that I've tried make the notes part of the table and all in the first column so that it goes to 7 pages. Anyone else seeing this problem?

here's a link to one of the degree plan worksheets...

http://www3.austincc.edu/catalog/fy2007/degpsyc01.rtf  
(Version 2.3)

BUCHO  Ceased development? Far from it:

http://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/2.4.0RC2/

I wouldn't recommend using these in a production environment as they're not final, but it certainly appears as though they are continuing development.

If you're looking for an aqua build, just make sure you grab a file without X11 in the title.  
(Version 2.3)

KZX72  This one had a lot of potential.

Too bad they ceased development :-\   
(Version 2.3)

BUBUMAC  We can find up-to-date beta versions of OOo Aqua here :

http://ftp.cusoo.org/MacOSX/INTEL/snapshots_aqua/  
(Version 2.2)

MACROXX  There is a beta version of OpenOffice Aqua which doesn't need X11. I think that it's much better than the X11 version. You can download it here:

http://snipurl.com/openoffice

http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/download/aqua.html

.  
(Version 2.2)

JAMUS  I would love to be able to suggest this to noobies as an Office alternative, but the X11 setup adds that one extra layer of complexity that seems to lose people.  
(Version 2.2)

JONLINK  neo-office is a better/easier user experience right now, especially in the look-n-feel department. BUT the updated timeline for an aqua OpenOffice says we'll only have to wait until May for an alpha version and then the end of '07 for the beta.

As much as I hate x11 I don't like java (aka neo office) OpenOffice either— though the newest version seems to be quite an impovement— so I can't wait to try out the aqua version. OpenOffice is really really great!  
(Version 2.2)

VEGGIEDUDE  Anyone happy with NeoOffice will not be happy using this X11 implementation - its just too crude and unfriendly - not its fault, that is the way of X11. NeoOffice is always going to be one step behind with their revisions, so you'll be missing the latest and greatest features/security fixes but for productivity and Mac friendliness, that is a small price to pay.  
(Version 2.2)

HARRISTYPE  How does this compare with NeoOffice, which doesn' require X11? The new version of NeoOffice is pretty spectacular. Can anyone give some objective comparisons?  
(Version 2.2)

JONLINK  I am obsessively checking to see if the pulibc alpha aqua version is out yet. I can't wait for a decent opensource word processor. and yes, I know all about NeoOffice, I just don't like it... it doesn't feel the same as using openoffice on other OS's.

OpenOffice is amazing.  
(Version 2.1)

HEATHERMASON  Brilliant. Does everything that MS Office does and does it for free. Thank you!  
(Version 2.1)

DP-G4-450GUY  OOOrg 2.1 IS PANTHER COMPATIBLE!

"Mac OS X Version: Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) [Change Mac OS X Version]

OpenOffice.org 2.1 will be the last version of OpenOffice.org to be supported for Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther).

for more information please read the log of the Mac Port meeting on the 10th November 2006 and a blog entry on the issue."

You must be having some sort of wrong-port issue going on - keep watching to make sure you are downloading from the correct link.

NOW - HAVING SAID THAT - the OOOrg community says the new Aqua version coming out requires 10.4.

That sux.

They also seem to think Panther is not widely used anymore - BIG MISTAKE.

Recent polls show some 70% of Mac users on Panther - not that many upgraded to Tiger - not enough incentive to.

But, since they seem to be using something intrinsic to the Finder in Tiger, looks like this is it. Very sad and not well-thought-thru.

Oh, well.  
(Version 2.1)

NAOH  The Bouncer page doesn't seem to link properly to Mac OS X versions.

I used this link with more success.

http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/download/index.html  
(Version 2.1)

MACHUB  :-(

... 2.0.4 for Mac OSX ppc on download page (no 2.1 available for OSX ...)

... would like to try it, but that entry here is misleading info to say the least....  
(Version 2.1)

JKXZDF  Better than anything micro$haft can do.  
(Version 2.0.4)

PHOTEK  I am really looking forward to the day that OpenOffice will break free of X11, a great app that has a long way to go.  
(Version 2.0.4)

FLYING_MEAT  I installed the PPC version on my MacBook (D'OH!) and it ran well.

I installed the Intel version on my MacBook and it ran well.  
(Version 2.0.3)

MR.ASH  Very good software suite and it's free! Works hand in hand with most Micro$oft formats with a few little beauty faults.

Unfortunatlly OpenOffice is not very user friendly and uses the X11 window system. Especialy beginners have lots of problems with OpenOffice. Why isn't there a real OSX version like for Window$ or Linux?

I recommend to try NeoOffice. It bases on Java and OpenOffice and provides a much more user friendly interface. It's almost to have a real OSX app in front of you and it's free too.  
(Version 2.0.3)

IRNBRU001  Neither build works on my intel macmini... Any one know how to make it work?  
(Version 2.0.1)

DOMINO88  Try download the latest update from this link...

ftp://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/SRC680_m169/  
(Version 2.0.1)

PFILIAS  Like Gimp, this runs as PPC and not Intel for me on my MacBook Pro. :(  
(Version 2.0.1)

UMAROMC  I don't want to give this a review based on what I've been experiencing but I'm having serious font display problems with this application.

For one: anti-aliasing does not enable no matter what I do.

Second: The fonts that display correctly (including antialiasing) in NeoOffice revert to another font [in OpenOffice 1.x/2.x) even though font replacement is not enabled. I have a fine serif font and it's replaced with what looks like Helvetica which makes the document look even more disgusting.

I'd love to use this application because it's more responsive than NeoOffice (2.x not 1.x) but if my documents look this disgusting no matter how I change the settings then, quite unfortunately, I have to trash OpenOffice.   
(Version 2.0.1)

NYMPHE  finally....

version 2.0!!!!

the best (free) office alternative  
(Version 2.0.1)

ARTOORO  OpenOffice is the best cross-platform office suite available. I would use Pages but it lacks good formula features and is not cross platform.

I use OpenOffice Calc for business but when it comes to word processing or presentations, iWork is a much better choice unless you require OpenDocument compatibility.  
(Version 2.0)

SZABESZ  This one deserves 5 stars! Anyone giving less simply knows nothing about it.  
(Version 2.0)

ROBINB  Nice options inside. Of course, it's software in developement, but which isn't? Good that this program is offered for free and good compatibility with win32 office-documents.. Takes a while for loading but in other cases OpenOffice is a winner =]  
(Version 2.0)

DP-G4-450GUY  The filename seems to indicate this is for the "Mac-Intels" - so I killed the download.

The official OOOrg site doesn't list this by this filename ... they have the official OS X release as under a

"... PPC" moniker.

If a MacIntel build it should be clarified in the description - thanks.  
(Version 2.0)

APPLECRYPT MODS  installed kde and open office is great! X11 or Aqua, don't care cos there are free office apps : )  
(Version 2.0)

HAMIDLMT  If you don't dig the X11 dependency of OpenOffice, then try NeoOffice.. it's great! NeoOffice is the port of OpenOffice without the need for X11.  
(Version 2.0)

ZOIDBERG  Once they shed the X11 thing, I'll give this a fair shake. For now, it's still too "project" like to be a contender in our office.   
(Version 2.0)

NICECAMAN  I have upgraded to Tiger 10.4.3 from Panther and now I can't get Open-Office to open.

Tried to download it again, which did not work either.

X11 is sposed to be included in Tiger, but no go.

What to do? Ideas anyone?  
(Version 2.0rc3)

ANONYMOUS  This application works really well for me as long as I authenticate locally. Authenticating through AD gives me a UID in the millions, and generates an error message that "/rc" cannot be found.

There might be other factors involved, but this seems to be the case on each machine I've tried it.

Otherwise, I do not mind the X11 requirement at all, since there are some X11 apps I use, and I feel comfortable in those apps.  
(Version 2.0rc3)

ANONYMOUS  Really good program, but PLEASE make a version that doesn't require x11!  
(Version 2.0rc3)

DEKKARD  I've used 00.o since it was called Staroffice on linux and personally, i think its fantastic, but than again , I've never used msoffice. Thsi rc of 00.o2 is much nicer, and more intuitive. I recently did a paper for school with it and the formatting,tableture and helpers are much better. The built in opendocument feature is way ahead of the curve and the export features make it very convenient for me. I could care less that it uses X11 or isn't native.. to the rest of you that keep begging for a cocoa interface.. STOP WHINING! The neoofficeJ team is terribly small and you should be thankfull that they have produced anything at all. But than again if you would like to contribute a few bazillion dollars to rewrite the code.........  
(Version 2.0rc3)

PIETRO CRISTOFOLI  I agree with Anonymous (why so many people like to stay anonymous remains a mistery to me, maybe I'm getting old).

The Openoffice.org project is more important than the suite itself and Apple should support it with funds and developers.

Mac users that are able to do something remarkable for the Mac port of OpenOffice.org or for the NeoOffice/j project should contact these guys and help them.  
(Version 2.0rc3)

ANONYMOUS  For everybody complaining about the UI not been mac-like or aqua, put your money or your time where your mouth is... for Sun, who are behind the OpenOffice.org project, Mac OS X is not a tier 1 platform (only Solaris, Windows and Linux are) and therefore all the development is primarily focussed on those three platforms. The Mac development is purely driven by *volunteers* who get little to no help from Sun with their efforts. On the NeoOffice/J side of things they get absolutely NO help whatsoever from Sun due to political reasons.

The OpenOffice.org Mac people have started a Cocoa project recently, but more than likely this is due to fail because the underlying OpenOffice.org code just isn't portable enough to the Cocoa APIs. Good luck to their efforts though and hopefully they can prove that assertion wrong. At this moment in time, though, the biggest chance of OpenOffice.org getting a native interface is through NeoOffice. There are currently a grand total of 3 developers working on NeoOffice/J (with 1 soon to take a leave of absence). Without funding or user support those 2 will have to stop developing eventually and you most probably WON'T see a native OpenOffice.org on the Mac.  
(Version 2.0rc3)

ANONYMOUS  Good that they're keeping up on this project, but they should really code it in Cocoa. NeoOffice is a bit more tolerable, but all these open source guys have to realize that each type of hardware has its strengths and weaknesses, and if they want to make a program that everybody wants to use, they really must learn to take advantage of the differences in hardware design.

People don't want software that works everywhere as much as they want software that works as efficiently (ie. as fast) as possible.

Open Office is alot like these other ports (Firefox, P2Ps, etc.) that just doesn't take advantages of either the OS or the hardware.

For better office software for the mac, go for stuff that's written to run natively, and was coded using Cocoa.  
(Version 2.0rc3)

ANONYMOUS  its a pity the UI sucks and its in X11.

I use this on linux, where the UI fits as well as the next app and it is such a nice set of programs... heres to hoping one day we get a good version and dump office  
(Version 2.0rc3)

ANONYMOUS  I agree about the fonts. The interface is very hard to read, at least in the java version. I guess I am stuck with OfficeX until we get a native version of this.

Don't get the java version either. It's no better.  
(Version 2.0rc3)

MR. ANDERSON  When will this come directly to OS X? I hate running things through X11.  
(Version 2.0rc3)

ANONYMOUS  Pathetic middle-aged thing (as compared to prehistorical Neo-office).

Sad yo say : what's free is worse nothing.  
(Version 1.1.2)

ANONYMOUS  The Sun/Microsoft settlement specifies that Microsoft won't sue Sun or licensees of Sun's StarOffice suite over patent infringements. But the same isn't true of OpenOffice.

Fear has been mounting in the open source community that Microsoft could start suing users any time for alleged patent violations.

That possibility became even more worrisome to some with a new disclosure by Sun this week regarding terms of its sweeping legal settlement with Microsoft, hammered out earlier this year.ADVERTISEMENT

According to the settlement between the two, Microsoft and Sun agreed not to sue each other or their respective customers for patent infringements that were alleged to have occurred before April 2004, as well as 10 years into the future.

But a new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing by Sun notes in the fine print that while Sun's StarOffice product is covered under this patent-infringement clause, OpenOffice is not. Not only is Microsoft allowed to sue any company – including Sun – for alleged patent violations connected with OpenOffice, but Sun is required to provide Microsoft with legal help in bringing such lawsuits against OpenOffice users.

Is this True?   
(Version 1.1.2)

ANONYMOUS  does not work well. font are bad. back to linux :-( ratings are for this OS X version not for OpenOffice, Linux version is great. too bad I can't use it on my Mac :-(  
(Version 1.1.2)

ANONYMOUS  OO is free but it can't compete with Appleworks, Ragtime Solo. Not sure it is better than M$ Office, it is different, less reliable (yes it is possible to do worse than M$), bloated and ugly like linux apps. NoeOffice is the same ugly, slow application in Java. Welcome to Windows 95 world, oops, linux world... No thanks, I use a Macintosh, that means good, stable and useful softwares (Appleworks, Ragtime Solo, free either).  
(Version 1.1.2)

ANONYMOUS  NeoOffice/J is a much more reliable, faster, and OS Native Port of OpenOffice.org. The OpenOffice X11 port caused severe slowdowns on my iBook 800, but NeoOffice/J does not. Also NO/J in addition to running natively, prints w/in the app, and there is a patch available to have the menubar show up aquafied at the top of the screen, mac-style.  
(Version 1.1.2)

ANONYMOUS  Rocks

Solid, stable.

Auto-indexing is sweet as honey. A very necessary feature missing from several commercial packages.

Like Floating Navigator

Has taken me through a Masters.

Cons. Tries too hard to be like MS-Office. If the devs went for a better interface people would soon get used to it.

Screen fonts not comparable with OS-X native. Prints fine though!!  
(Version 1.1.2)

ANONYMOUS  Just upgraded from OOo 1.0.3 to 1.1.2 on Mac OSX 10.4. Despite my initial dread of doing an upgrade to a working OOo, the upgrade went smoothly without a single hitch. First launch even builds the required files and preferences (the .sversionrc file and the ~/Library/Preferences/OpenOffice preferences directory). And it is SOoooo nice to be able to use OO from any desktop now!  
(Version 1.1.2)

ERNST  I tried this on my PB 800 and for the first time had a flurry of system freezes, panic attacks, black screens, refusals to come out of sleep and finally failure to recognize my harddrive. I have never experienced any of these problems before; not even once. Needless to say, it was a hard weekend until I uninstalled OpenOffice and X11.

While running OpenOffice I noticed that it would not properly convert MSWord files. This for me is a necessity. Had I not encountered all the other problems I would have explored it further to see if it was just my lack of familiarity.  
(Version 1.1.2)

PJMURPHY  Excellent program. Definite speed improvement over Open Office 1.0.3 - installed seemlessly on Powerbook 400mhz and iMac 800mhz both running Panther 10.3.4 and X11.

Very useful. Great work.  
(Version 1.1.2)

SKYHORSE  I've used this since Star Office v.4 for OS/2 way back in 1994--and loved its flexibility and power. It's a joy to finally be able to use it on Macintosh. I can tolerate the Windows/Unix look and feel, because I've used the Windows version for years as well, so there's no transition at all for me to this. This is one powerful suite, and it does a very good job of exchanging files with Word and Excel. Oddly, it does heavily formatted Powerpoint files more accurately than it sometimes does the simpler bulleted ones, but that's common to other platforms as well. I've found that since I was using the OroborOSX distribution (which also has Gimp) and Open Office 1.0.3, I was able to download this and replace 1.0.3, choose OroborOSX as my X Windows environment, then use the built in Start OpenOffice app to launch OroborOSX, which brings up Open Office 1.1.2 in a Mac style (and easily resizable) X Window. Slow to launch on a G3 800 MHz Ibook, but fast inside, and files save/open easily either to or from Mac/X Windows. Nicely executed application with the help (Start OpenOffice) that even a Unix beginner shouldn't have problems. I'm pretty close to a Unix beginner and had no trouble even with my custom modifications. Great job!  
(Version 1.1.2)

ANONYMOUS  ehhxcellent! Prints, and everything too. :)

Great work, yooz!  
(Version 1.1.2)

ANONYMOUS  first-time user of OpenOffice here.

rather lengthy install time, seemed to hang at one point near the end, "Finishing Installation" was in the window and the progress bar did not move for maybe a minute or two, kinda scary but it went ahead and finished the install.

launching it was a breeze, using the StartOpenOffice.org app that is installed by default. it started up rather quickly, and the AutoPilot feature is quite fast.

this will be handy for me only for the odd MS Word document that i encounter, but it seems a solid app, and quite fast. i was surprised.  
(Version 1.1.2)

POPWIDE  Thanks to L66 for the tip on running OpenOffice, followed the instructions and all works fine, great app, works just as the PC version does but on Panther...keep up the good work.  
(Version 1.0.3)

JOEL NELSON  I guess 1.1 is out for those who can build it themselves (I posted a bug report on the OpenOffice site and they said it's been fixed in 1.1 for X11). It looks like it will be 2005 or 2006 until the Aqua version (2.0) is out, so I think I'll just get MS Office. :-( 1.1 has better compatibility with tables and the track changes feature in MS Word. It's been out for Windows for a few months but no release version yet for Mac.   
(Version 1.0.3)

L66  Again, things changed, this time Apples X11/Panther... So

For getting OpenOffice.org to work in Apples X11 in Mac OS X Panther, just start X11, choose "Customize..." from the "Applications" menu, and click on "Add Item". Now give the new item the name OpenOffice, and paste the rule below in the "Command" field:

sh /Applications/OpenOffice.org1.0.3/program/soffice &

Now you can start OpenOffice by just choosing it from the "Applications" menu!  
(Version 1.0.3)

J  I just installed the ooffice and I dont get it, it doesnt allow me to browse for the file to open, no "browse" button, goes up the folder hierarhy till you reach ooffice main folder and it stops, button fades. not to mention that it's most slugish soft Ive ecer tried, I think Im deletinig it.  
(Version 1.0.3)

JAN  I had this on my PC, (very fast one) and by the time it would lounch, I could go and make a sandwich. when MS Office is a bigger app/ but launches 4 times faster. also soft called software 602, just in seconds, compared to this elephant...........BUT IT'S A FREE ELEPHANT !!  
(Version 1.0.3)

L66  If you cannot start OpenOffice: Install Apple's X11 (can also be found on this site), and choose "customize" from the applications menu. Add an item, give it OpenOffice as name, and paste this in the "command" field:

setenv DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH /Applications/OpenOffice.org1.0.3/program\

:/Applications/OpenOffice.org1.0.3/program/filter:/usr/X11R6/lib

cd /Applications/OpenOffice.org1.0.3/program

sh soffice &

If you want to start OpenOffice, just choose it from the Applications Menu in Apple's X11 :-). If you're logged in as root user, you will need to move your OpenOffice preferences folder. Create this folder(s):

/Users/root/Library/Preferences/

and move the OpenOffice preferences folder from your root home folder (in the library) to the prefs folder you just created.

Have fun!

PS: I hope they will hurry up with an aqua build!! It's now scheduled at 2005 :-(. If i could program i would lend a hand because this product is so much better as Appleworks or Microsoft Office.  
(Version 1.0.3)

ANONYMOUS  Excellent!  
(Version 1.0.3)

ANONYMOUS  It is not easy to install, ease of use 3 (install O.O. 2, using O.O. 4). But it is an incredible suite, better than MS Office for the price. It is pretty easy to install a foreign dic. you just have to edit a text file and add a line, see their web site. O.O. is not 100% user friendly, but it is rock solid, free, and can open Word files. 1.0.3 is usable and I'm sure 1.0.4 will be easier to install. That's the rule, open source apps will be better and better, when MS Office is more and more bloated.  
(Version 1.0.3)

ANONYMOUS  1° It is not easy to install and configure. 2° It is hard / impossible to install another dictionary if you need a spellchecker, this is really bad for a word porcessor. But when it is on the hard drive it works pretty well and it is free. Good alternative / MS Word if you write in English. The problem is: if you're not an unix geek, I'm not sure you can install it. I'm pretty sure you can't use it... Great core but the user friendly side must be polished, or this app will never please Mac-not-linux-users.  
(Version 1.0.3)

GARY  I am sure that those who are involved with this software worked very hard, and have done the best they could. That said, it is VERY hard to install. I tried over a dozen times, and still have not succeeded. I am very dissapointed that Apple has not assisted with this program, as it could easily replaced AppleWorks.  
(Version 1.0.3)

ANONYMOUS  A fair program. Just need to see a less nerdy version that the general public can use without having to play about with the Terminal etc.  
(Version 1.0.3)

ANONYMOUS  It's really cool to see a FREE program like this which is compatible with Microsoft Office. This allows those of us who don't feel like affording MS products to still open all the attachments that people invariably send to us. One thing I'd like to see changed is the use of MDI (multiple document interface). That's annoying! I want to be able to drag my tool window OUT of the main program window. MDI is one of the lamest things ever invented (thanks a lot Microsoft), so why use it? It really wastes screen space and makes it hard to multi-task.  
(Version 1.0.3)

DAVID  Works very well. It's been my main word processor for a couple months now. I just wish it would launch more quickly and I'd love to have a fully working port that does not require X11.  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

ANONYMOUS  I really hope this program takes off and runs Microsoft Office off the planet!  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

HENRIK KRUCKOW  Open Office seems to be a promising product. But it is confusing with alle these different download sites not showing version number.

Right now i need to have my Epson Stylus C 70

running but it seems kind of a project finding the right driver if any available att all!  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

WATARU  Works great with Apple's X11 b3. Ugly, a little sluggish, and some weird window focusing behavior, but excellent for the price!  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

MKG  OroborOSX window manager. Check. XDarwin. Check. OpenOffice.org. Double check. Great application and it's only a beta. Not as fast as on Windows (I have to use that at work). Have been using it on Linux and Windows for a year or so. Microsoft Office? What's that???  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

GIB HENRY  Let's be clear: this is pre-release beta software which runs under a pre-release beta version of Apple's X11 implementation. When you accept that, it works better than we have reason to hope for. It's got everything Micro$loth Office does (word processing, spreadsheet, graphing, drawing, presentation), and is file-compatible with its Micro$loth counterparts. But the software at this point totally lacks a Mac-like interface; it looks like MS Word on Windows: there is no universal menu bar; each window has its own, and when you close the last document, apparently you also quit the app. You will HAVE to mess with the terminal to set default paths (why can't they use the existing ones?!) and perhaps a few other things. It's also slow (debugging code still in the beta versions, perhaps). If you can live with all that, give it a try pending release of the fully Macintized Quartz version now projected by year-end, or the Aqua version now projected by mid-2003.  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

DAVE MEYER  the "Executing freetype installer..." gets hung (handwatch cursor spins until infinity).

OpenOffice.org 1.0.1 final beta  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

JAMES CARTER  Witgh PC version, having problem printing la bel after completion of a typed document. Running XP Pro, program freezes, after I select, envelope.  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

L66  No problems with it, it's great and free! Can't wait for the final version, i'll throw away MSOffice if it will become as great as the Windows/Linux version. A tip for people using apple's X11 or people who can't get the startup script to work: start X11, go to applications-> customize, then add a new item (call it "OpenOffice") and paste this into the "command" field:

setenv DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH /Applications/OpenOffice.org1.0.1/program\

:/Applications/OpenOffice.org1.0.1/program/filter:/usr/X11R6/lib

cd /Applications/OpenOffice.org1.0.1/program

sh soffice &

Now you can start OpenOffice from the "applications" menu.  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

IAN LUECK  If you can get it to download properly (it took me quite a few tries to finish, and I'm on a LAN!), Openoffice.org really isn't too bad. For those of us college students that can't afford Microsoft Office for Mac will be pleased at the duplicate apps and features included. The interface isn't anything to write home about, though. And if you only need BASIC office apps, AppleWorks works just fine. You'll need X11 to run this, BTW.  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

NIGEL HORNE  Open Office doesn't support OS/X 10.1, it only supports 10.2.  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

MATTH  Remember that this is a stable beta, not the final X/aqua release. People who are new to computers or do not understand the terminology should wait. Otherwise, this package provides a solid, free, open source office suite.  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

TONY FAY  A good beta for unix/linux savvy folks. I

use a linux machine and I can handle the x11 quirks, but my wife uses the Mac and she does not know what a megabyte is. For her sake, I will wait on the aqua version.

PS, the linux version rocks!  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

LES S.  A trully wonderful set of programs. My final 'Micro***t product has left the building! Thumbs up!  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

ANONYMOUS  Have had no significant problems with this release. Am running it on top of Apple's X11 beta release. I have a feeling that people who are having problems faiiled to read the reqirements. I use OpenOffice in both Windows and Linux, therefore I'm familiar with it  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

CAROL  I installed this application along with XDarwin which I guess I needed to run OpenOffice, but the whole system would not reboot my machine. I came up with a circle and a line though it. It installed with errors, so I don't even know why it installed, if it had errors. All my applications and files disappeared. Your probably are better off buying Microsoft Office, than fooling around with these applications.  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

ANONYMOUS  Excellent. there are no loonger ANY micro$haft products on my computer.  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

TONY PELLETIER  Guys, the description is very explicit as to for whom this is developed. If you ain't that guy, you have to keep paying the devil a little while longer. A few points: 1) It runs fine in apples new X11 release (which is bitchin' BTW). You can run it from the terminal or, if you like, rewrite the third-party "start open office" script to launch X11 instead of Xdarwin (the launch script is buggy, but I can't yet figure out why). If you don't know how to do that, wait for the aqua release. 2) it has a perfectly functional spreadsheet that reads excel fine, a presentation app, and a great draw app (try getting Micros**t draw app to rotate an object into 3D, complete with light and shadow. Is it ready for prime time? No. But look, I'm no developer. I can barely write scripts. But it works fine for me. I'd love to get more drivers, and I'd like to translate special characters a bit more uniformly. But this is a really good beta, IMHO.  
(Version 1.0.1bF)

WH00T K1T  Uhhh.... it works great for me with Apple's X11. Installs fine, runs fine, works just like I expect it to so far. I have opened and edited and printed and saved several doucments I created with OOo in Windows and Linux. All went exactly how I thought it would.

You old-school Mac users all need to do a little homework. This is BETA UNIX-based software, it even says explicitly in the installer it's for UNIX-savvy users. Those of you who have had problems, are either too lazy and should just stick with OSX native apps, or have something seriously wrong with your computer. This application rocks, and it includes all the features it should, not just a word processor as some previous reviewer suggested. Take some personal responsibility for your lack of success and quite blaming it on an application that, even if it is flawed, works AS ADVERTISED.  
(Version 1.0.1bX11)

ANONYMOUS  Critical components are incompatible with Apple's recent release of their distribution of X11 Beta. Will not install with that X11 insallation.  
(Version 1.0.1bX11)

ANONYMOUS  This is still not quite a usable product on OS X-Darwin. In fact, it is far buggier than the earlier alpha release. It also only comes with word processor, which is less useful, especially for those who already have Appleworks. And yes, it's not OS X-aqua native: it requires XWindows to run.

If you want an XWindows word processor that works, you're better off with abiword or kword. This release is for those who want to help the Open Office development team work out the bugs (and there are a lot of them). Someday, this will be an excellent product in OS X. But that time is not now.  
(Version 1.0bX11)

ANONYMOUS  This application SHOULD be removed from your recommendations. It shows up as a download of 105,574Kb (over 100 Mb). Even on my DSL connection, it is only downloading at 6 to 7 Kb/sec. That computes out to over 4 hours and 18 minutes -- for a public beta!

There is little or no value in this kind of software.  
(Version 1.0bX11)

DAN  I spent four freaking hours downlading this stupid thing and found out it doesn't work. I had to get this XDarwin app to make it work on Mac OS X and then the emulator launches but nothing happens. Piece of junk.  
(Version 1.0bX11)

ANONYMOUS  good  
(Version 1.0bX11)