froilanr
May 17th, 2008, 09:40 AM
PinoyPC Freeware Guide #2 – Office Productivity l
Written by Al Librero
Saturday, 15 March 2008
The Philippine Anti-Piracy Team has been unusually aggressive for the past several months with their seemingly random raids on establishments ranging from internet cafes to corporate buildings. I don't necessarily agree with their actions and methods, but one thing I can't deny is that they do get results. That's something we can't say about every government institution around here.
So, to keep these guys off our backs, we have two options:
1. Pay for your software licenses
2. Abandon all unlicensed software in your systems and opt for open source software/freeware
This edition of the Freeware Guide is for the people looking to go for option #2 – the ones belonging to small to medium businesses as well as academic institutions unable to afford the whole shebang of the leading proprietary productivity software.
I made a conscious decision to pick only cross-platform applications for this edition of the Freeware Guide. While, of course, the earnest thing to do is to go ahead with Linux, I am well aware of the fact that many people are still not willing to take that jump and totally abandon Microsoft Windows. I know I'm one of those. As business managers and administrators fully appreciate, certain compromises need to be made.
Now, let's get on with it...
OpenOffice (Windows, Linux, Mac, Solaris)
http://www.openoffice.org
Sun Microsystems has come a long way since StarOffice. OpenOffice is without a doubt the most feature-rich open source office productivity software package available to mainstream users. Heck, feature-wise, it has enough to give MS Office a run for its money. In addition to the standard-issue word processor (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc), presentation software (Impress) and database app (Base), OpenOffice includes Math, a component designed for rendering mathematical equations (aside from bouts of nosebleeds while answering them, they're also a pain to create on a word processor). There's also Draw, a fairly powerful vector graphic creation software.
While the process of importing MS Office files have improved in these latest revisions, it faces a few challenges. First, the interface can be clunky for some people. Second, OpenOffice runs significantly slower on Windows machines, thanks to it being built with Java. And third, it is unclear how long it will take for the open document format to gain mainstream acceptance. Until that time comes, OpenOffice will always be considered an “alternative” as opposed to being a better choice.
IBM Lotus Symphony (Windows, Linux)
http://symphony.lotus.com
This one's a personal favorite of mine.
I don't know how, but this thing won Datamation Magazine's award for the 2008 Office Productivity Software of the Year (http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/cnews/article.php/3727446), edging out BOTH Open Office 2.3 AND Microsoft Office 2007.
Built on top of the OpenOffice engine itself, Lotus Symphony includes a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software following the open document format. While it lacks a database application counterpart to OpenOffice Base (or MS Access, for that matter) and a plethora of document templates, this package makes up through a much more refined user interface – a token from the IBM pedigree.
Can other higher profile awards be on the way? Hard to tell, but without these “extras” which the competition has and the suite sharing many of the weaknesses of OpenOffice, I don't think so. There is still a long way to go, but Lotus Symphony is on the right track. I just hope it stays being freeware.
GIMPShop (Windows, Linux, Mac)
http://www.gimpshop.com
For the past years, GIMP has been one of the beacons of the open source movement. Capable of standing toe to toe with many of the capabilities of the de facto standard image editor software Adobe Photoshop, GIMP falls a little short with its user interface. I myself have had some difficulties with it.
Luckily for us who by now have gotten comfortable with Photoshop's interface, there's GIMPShop. This application is still GIMP at the inside, but the UI has been hacked to make it bear some more resemblance to Photoshop. In theory, this should make our transition between the two applications smoother and faster. It has to be – at some point some people will probably prefer to move to GIMP as software revisions don't come along as frequently in GIMPShop.
Inkscape (Windows, Linux)
http://www.inkscape.org
The one in this list I have the least experience with, Inkscape is an open source application for creating 2D vector graphics. It neither has the elegance nor the power ofered by Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw, but like that of the GIMP community, I have seen impressive clip art created and edited using Inkscape. At the very least, I prefer this much much more than OpenOffice Draw.
Dia (Windows, Linux)
http://live.gnome.org/Dia
For some reason, I never liked Microsoft Visio. I love SmartDraw, but of course, I can't afford it either. Now, I have this.
Dia is a diagram-creation tool meant to be at par with the aforementioned Visio. While it may be a little weak for rendering some types of technical diagrams, it is more than enough for just about everything else, from UML-based diagrams, to network flowcharts and even electronic schematic diagrams.
Dia, being built with the GTK+ library, shares the look and feel of both GIMP and Inkscape. I don't know whether it is a coincidence or not, but these three applications don't look half bad bundled as a graphics suite. Perhaps toughing it out with the interface's learning curve may be worth it.
GANTT Project (Windows, Linux, Mac)
http://www.ganttproject.biz
Need I say what's this for? I conclude this article in an anti-climactic fashion by highlighting the smallest app in this guide.
GANTT Project is a small management tool that helps you create GANTT charts to schedule any sort of activity or project you and your business may have. I've been using it occasionally this past month and it's pretty straight-forward as far as I can tell. Once the bugs are taken care of and the interface is further refined, you'll have a respectable alternative for some tasks delegated for MS Project.
Speak your mind.
Last Updated ( Friday, 09 May 2008 )
Written by Al Librero
Saturday, 15 March 2008
The Philippine Anti-Piracy Team has been unusually aggressive for the past several months with their seemingly random raids on establishments ranging from internet cafes to corporate buildings. I don't necessarily agree with their actions and methods, but one thing I can't deny is that they do get results. That's something we can't say about every government institution around here.
So, to keep these guys off our backs, we have two options:
1. Pay for your software licenses
2. Abandon all unlicensed software in your systems and opt for open source software/freeware
This edition of the Freeware Guide is for the people looking to go for option #2 – the ones belonging to small to medium businesses as well as academic institutions unable to afford the whole shebang of the leading proprietary productivity software.
I made a conscious decision to pick only cross-platform applications for this edition of the Freeware Guide. While, of course, the earnest thing to do is to go ahead with Linux, I am well aware of the fact that many people are still not willing to take that jump and totally abandon Microsoft Windows. I know I'm one of those. As business managers and administrators fully appreciate, certain compromises need to be made.
Now, let's get on with it...
OpenOffice (Windows, Linux, Mac, Solaris)
http://www.openoffice.org
Sun Microsystems has come a long way since StarOffice. OpenOffice is without a doubt the most feature-rich open source office productivity software package available to mainstream users. Heck, feature-wise, it has enough to give MS Office a run for its money. In addition to the standard-issue word processor (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc), presentation software (Impress) and database app (Base), OpenOffice includes Math, a component designed for rendering mathematical equations (aside from bouts of nosebleeds while answering them, they're also a pain to create on a word processor). There's also Draw, a fairly powerful vector graphic creation software.
While the process of importing MS Office files have improved in these latest revisions, it faces a few challenges. First, the interface can be clunky for some people. Second, OpenOffice runs significantly slower on Windows machines, thanks to it being built with Java. And third, it is unclear how long it will take for the open document format to gain mainstream acceptance. Until that time comes, OpenOffice will always be considered an “alternative” as opposed to being a better choice.
IBM Lotus Symphony (Windows, Linux)
http://symphony.lotus.com
This one's a personal favorite of mine.
I don't know how, but this thing won Datamation Magazine's award for the 2008 Office Productivity Software of the Year (http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/cnews/article.php/3727446), edging out BOTH Open Office 2.3 AND Microsoft Office 2007.
Built on top of the OpenOffice engine itself, Lotus Symphony includes a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software following the open document format. While it lacks a database application counterpart to OpenOffice Base (or MS Access, for that matter) and a plethora of document templates, this package makes up through a much more refined user interface – a token from the IBM pedigree.
Can other higher profile awards be on the way? Hard to tell, but without these “extras” which the competition has and the suite sharing many of the weaknesses of OpenOffice, I don't think so. There is still a long way to go, but Lotus Symphony is on the right track. I just hope it stays being freeware.
GIMPShop (Windows, Linux, Mac)
http://www.gimpshop.com
For the past years, GIMP has been one of the beacons of the open source movement. Capable of standing toe to toe with many of the capabilities of the de facto standard image editor software Adobe Photoshop, GIMP falls a little short with its user interface. I myself have had some difficulties with it.
Luckily for us who by now have gotten comfortable with Photoshop's interface, there's GIMPShop. This application is still GIMP at the inside, but the UI has been hacked to make it bear some more resemblance to Photoshop. In theory, this should make our transition between the two applications smoother and faster. It has to be – at some point some people will probably prefer to move to GIMP as software revisions don't come along as frequently in GIMPShop.
Inkscape (Windows, Linux)
http://www.inkscape.org
The one in this list I have the least experience with, Inkscape is an open source application for creating 2D vector graphics. It neither has the elegance nor the power ofered by Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw, but like that of the GIMP community, I have seen impressive clip art created and edited using Inkscape. At the very least, I prefer this much much more than OpenOffice Draw.
Dia (Windows, Linux)
http://live.gnome.org/Dia
For some reason, I never liked Microsoft Visio. I love SmartDraw, but of course, I can't afford it either. Now, I have this.
Dia is a diagram-creation tool meant to be at par with the aforementioned Visio. While it may be a little weak for rendering some types of technical diagrams, it is more than enough for just about everything else, from UML-based diagrams, to network flowcharts and even electronic schematic diagrams.
Dia, being built with the GTK+ library, shares the look and feel of both GIMP and Inkscape. I don't know whether it is a coincidence or not, but these three applications don't look half bad bundled as a graphics suite. Perhaps toughing it out with the interface's learning curve may be worth it.
GANTT Project (Windows, Linux, Mac)
http://www.ganttproject.biz
Need I say what's this for? I conclude this article in an anti-climactic fashion by highlighting the smallest app in this guide.
GANTT Project is a small management tool that helps you create GANTT charts to schedule any sort of activity or project you and your business may have. I've been using it occasionally this past month and it's pretty straight-forward as far as I can tell. Once the bugs are taken care of and the interface is further refined, you'll have a respectable alternative for some tasks delegated for MS Project.
Speak your mind.
Last Updated ( Friday, 09 May 2008 )