[Solved] Using OpenOffice.org on a PC and MAC

[k4sl]

Can I create a word 2007 document with openoffice using a windows computer and open it on a mac machine with word 2007?

[Hagar Delest]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

If you use OOo, better avoid that format. Have a look at: MS Office 2007 OOXML file format (docx, xslx, pptx, ppsx).

OOo cannot save in OOXML yet (go-oo can) and anyway, there is no point using that format.

[Zizi64]

I have not MAC, and I am never use the Word 2007 format...
But you can try it.

[PGAGA]

Can I create a word 2007 document with openoffice using a windows computer and open it on a mac machine with word 2007?

Word 2007 does not exist for the Mac, it is a Windows program.

To save and open in the Word 2007 format, docx, with OOo who need to use the Go-OO.org and LibreOffice forks. NeoOffice is the OS X version which has docx export.

Phil

[Hagar Delest]

Or OxygenOffice as shown by Tibor. But don't forget that this file format has not been designed for interoperability.

[MrProgrammer]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Just install OOo on the Mac (simple — takes 5 minutes after download from http://download.openoffice.org/). It would be much better to save the document in OOo as an ODF Text Document (File.odt) on the Windows system, then open the ODF Text Document in OOo on the Mac. Always work on the document in ODF Document Format and save a copy in the Micro$$oft Office formats (doc, xls, etc.) if needed for someone who hasn't installed OOo yet.

[k4sl]

Thank you friends for all the replies. Permit me to explain a little more in depth.

My step-son has a windows version laptop at home. They are using MAC computers at school. We are trying to avoid using MS Office Word at home. He claims the MAC machines are using Word 2007. I did some research and MAC does use Office 2007 of some sort. Can OpenOffice be used at his home on his windows laptop to do homework and the work be transferred via flash drive to his school MAC computer? I do not think the school would permit the installation of OpenOffice.

Sorry if I wasn't specific enough. You folks are awesome. Thanks again for all the responses.

Scott

[lgusaas]

They are using MAC computers at school.

It is Mac, not MAC (MAC is an acronym for "Media Access Control")

We are trying to avoid using MS Office Word at home. He claims the MAC machines are using Word 2007. I did some research and MAC does use Office 2007 of some sort.

There is no Office 2007 for Macs. MS Office 2008 and Office 2011 for Macs will read Word 2007 .docx files.

Can OpenOffice be used at his home on his windows laptop to do homework and the work be transferred via flash drive to his school MAC computer? I do not think the school would permit the installation of OpenOffice.

Yes. Save a copy of files written with OpenOffice.org as a .doc file. 'Use Save As' and under "File Type" select "Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP (.doc)". MS Office for Mac will be able to open it.

[k4sl]

Excellent thank you sooooo much Merry Christmas!!!

Scott

[MrProgrammer]

Translation between the OpenOffice.org and Micro$$oft document formats is not exact. It would be wise to use the Word Viewer on the Windows system to examine the .doc file created from OOo before handing in the homework. That way he can see how it will appear when it's opened by Office for Mac at school. The Word Viewer is free for your Windows system; search for "word viewer" in your favorite search engine. There are also Excel and Powerpoint viewers. All of them allow files to be viewed but not created or changed.

Also, other topics on this forum suggest that it is better to save OOo files first to the hard drive and then copy them to the flash drive. Some people have reported problems when saving directly from OOo to a flash drive. (I don't think it's understood if there is really a defect in OOo or if there have been procedural problems that led to loss of data on the flash drive.) Of course using the Word Viewer to check the file on the flash drive would verify that it is error free. But saving first to the hard drive preserves a copy of the file on the Windows system if the flash drive is not available at some future time.

[RoryOF]

Also, other topics on this forum suggest that it is better to save OOo files first to the hard drive and then copy them to the flash drive. Some people have reported problems when saving directly from OOo to a flash drive. (I don't think it's understood if there is really a defect in OOo or if there have been procedural problems that led to loss of data on the flash drive.)

Just for information on the subject of USB corruption: as Mr Programmer says there are reported problems with OpenOffice working direct to a USB key. As this is an OOo forum, we do not see reports of USB problems from orther programs. It is not known why these arise; in early USB driver implementations the data to the USB was often buffered in the computer and then written in a burst to USB, so if the USB key was just "whipped out" it is possible that the delayed writes were not finished. In later Windows Service Packs this delayed write problem is said to have been fixed, but it is often the case that users are using an older or unpatched version of Windows and have not this fix. So it is _essential_ tto use correct USB discipline and eject the key using the system eject protocol. It is also said that there are many USB keys which have irregular internal structure, arising from keys manufacured for reputable manufacturers which have failed their final tests and been rejected. Such keys, it is said, are sold to anonymous brandsand repackaged with some form of internal software mapping to conceal the defects, which software mapping may not be fully effective.

My own suspicion, and it is no more than that, is that there is a problem with interrupt masking in the output (file writing) section of OOo and that computers using multiple programs, in particular audio or TV programs which can make high demands on the interrupt structure, are particularly liable to such corruption. For myself, I can only say that I run the minimal number of programs at any one time and have never experienced corruption of an OOo file; I am of the generation that knows computers as tools, not as entertainment machines. If I want audio, I use a radio or a CD player, ditto for TV/DVD.