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OpenOffice.org Ninja has posted an interesting analysis for anyone who has found themselves complaining that OpenOffice is slower than frozen honey on a frozen three-toed sloth's frozen right nostril.

The spoiler? It's getting slower all the time.

OpenOffice.org is generally getting slower with each release. However, some parts of OpenOffice.org are getting faster, the performance losses are relatively small, advances in new computer hardware are more than making up the losses, and OpenOffice.org continues to mature with new features.

I'm not sure if this is supposed to count as advocacy for the open-source productivity suite, but it hardly sounds like a ringing endorsement. Of course, there's more to this report than immediately meets the eye.

Sun Microsystems has released the first beta for OpenOffice.org 3 for Windows and Mac. The new version of OpenOffice, which is a popular open-source competitor to Microsoft Office, looks to offer users improvements on every component from interface to features to behavior.

OpenOffice.org 3 Start Center

(Credit: CNET Networks)

OpenOffice now natively supports OS X, so Mac users won't have to install the X11 module before running the suite. Full Vista support is also included in the beta, and didn't cause any problems during light testing. Notably, OpenOffice 3 includes filters for the new Microsoft Office document formats such as DOCX and XLSX as well as continuing support for standard Microsoft formats. Support for Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows and Office 2008 for Mac has been lacking until now.

The user interface doesn't look to have undergone many changes, besides getting a slightly snazzier gradated background and slightly larger icons. However, the new features more than make up for this. Enhancements include support for OpenDocument Format 1.2, a Solver feature, spreadsheet sharing to facilitate collaboration, improved PDF creation and importation, and improvements to the Notes feature in Writer.

The new Start Center should appeal to users who like having a landing page or only want to have one link on their desktop. It opens up a window that highlights all of the OpenOffice tools with big icons. Another of the more exciting OpenOffice extensions also being released is a Wiki Publisher tool that should make uploading wiki information from the program to a MediaWiki server a snap.

In-depth details of the changes planned for OpenOffice 3 can be found at the OpenOffice.org feature list and release notes.

It's much easier to notice the similarities between the programs in the free OpenOffice.org suite and their Microsoft Office counterparts than to see their differences. Unfortunately, it's the differences that can slow you down as you make the switch from Word to Writer, Excel to Calc, and PowerPoint to Impress.

For example, you may find that you don't have the same selection of fonts available in Writer as you did in Word, nor will you have access to the templates you used in Office. This doesn't mean you have to do without, though. There are plenty of free resources available that let you use OpenOffice without sacrificing functionality.

Find free fonts
If you stick with such tried-and-true fonts as Times New Roman, Arial, Garamond, Courier New, and Calibri, you probably won't need to add any types to Writer's roster. People who rely on a wider range of typefaces may find their favorites missing, however. To supplement the fonts built into OpenOffice, visit 1001 Free Fonts, HighFonts.com, or Mike's Sketchpad. Place the new fonts in the C:Windows\Fonts folder to make them accessible in OpenOffice applications.

Convert your templates
To import Office templates to OpenOffice's Writer, Calc, and Impress programs, open one of the programs, and click File > Wizards > Document Converter. Select Microsoft Office, choose all three Office applications, and click Next.

Browse to the folder holding your Office templates in the "Import from" text box, choose a destination folder for the templates (you can also import your Office files), and click Next again. Do the same for Excel and PowerPoint on the next two screens, review the files that will be converted on the following screen, and click Convert.

When the conversion completes, you'll see the files that were converted. Click Close to return to the OpenOffice program.

Convert your Microsoft Office templates to OpenOffice via the Document Converter wizard.

(Credit: OpenOffice.org)

Now choose Tools > Options, click Paths in the left pane under OpenOffice, select Templates in the right window, click Edit > Add, navigate to the folder you placed the templates in, and click OK three times.

The templates will now be available when you click File > New > Templates and Documents, and select the appropriate application. Note that the templates may not look and act exactly as they did in Office, and PowerPoint templates will likely have to be renamed because the conversion changes all their file names to "PowerPoint Presentation."

Add productivity-enhancing extensions
You'll find dozens of useful add-ons for OpenOffice applications on Sun Microsystems' Extensions page (the link leads to the most popular extensions).

One of my favorites is Andre Schanbel's Template Changer, which adds an "Assign new" option to the File > Templates menu. This lets you assign a template to the currently open file. Also, Sun offers the Professional Template Pack that includes cover pages, presentation backgrounds, certificates, business letter templates, and personal-finance templates.

For more on making the switch to OpenOffice, see Solveig Haugland's great article, which includes links to OpenOffice training sites and other resources (scroll a little past the middle of this long page to find them).

Tomorrow: Perform any operation on your PC without using your mouse.

(Credit: IBM)

Microsoft Office is not just overpriced--for most users, it's overkill. That's why I've been increasingly recommending IBM Lotus Symphony, a well-rounded office suite that just so happens to be free. It's built on open-source favorite OpenOffice, but sports a sleeker, friendlier interface.

Symphony (available for Windows and Linux) offers word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. It supports Office 2003 file formats as well as OpenDocument and others. And it relies on an ingenious tabbed interface that keeps all your documents under the same roof--no switching between apps like with most other suites. I particularly like the sidebars, which keep frequently used settings close at hand while reducing toolbar clutter.

What's the bad news? Symphony is still in beta, and it has the bugs to prove it. It's kind of slow, too. But you can't argue with the price. Why spend upwards of $400 on Office when you can get most of the same features (and a less intimidating interface) for nothing?

The first few times I worked on Word files in the OpenOffice.org Writer program, I was satisfied if the documents opened at all. That's a long way from being able to trust the open-source app with a Word file from your boss that you need to work on and return with all functions and formatting intact. These steps won't guarantee trouble-free file transfers between Word and OOo Writer, but they'll help you prevent some of the most common conversion glitches.

Keep it simple: Word files with complex graphics, nested tables, fancy fonts and formatting, and OLE Objects belong in Word and Word only. OOo Writer uses public-domain fonts primarily, and many of the fonts in Word are proprietary. If you know you'll be moving files between the word processors regularly, use only common fonts, such as Arial, Helvetica, and Times Roman. Keep in mind, however, that fonts may share the same name and still be incompatible (Garamond is an example). You can import proprietary fonts to OOo Writer, but make sure you have licenses for them.

If a Word font isn't installed in OOo Writer, the program will substitute one of its own fonts, which can mess up your document's formatting. If you have to preserve the appearance of a file you're going to share, consider saving it as a PDF. This makes it more difficult for the recipient to work on it, of course.

Tweak OOo Writer to work with Word: Open Writer and click File > New > Text Document. Select Tools > Options, double-click Load/Save in the left pane, and choose Microsoft Office. Make sure all the options in the right window are checked. Now click VBA Properties and ensure that all these options are checked (they should be by default). OpenOffice.org apps don't support macros and other VBA scripts, but they will preserve them so that the files will retain them when they're reopened in the original Office program.

Select these options in OpenOffice.org Writer to preserve Word features the open-source word processor doesn't support.

To make Word's .doc file format the default in OOo Writer, click General under Load/Save, choose Text document as the Document type under Default file format in the right window, and choose Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP in the drop-down menu under Always save as.

Choose Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP under 'Always save as' in OpenOffice.org Writer's default file format options.

Next, double-click OpenOffice.org Writer in the left pane, choose Compatibility, and check these options:
Use printer metrics for document formatting
Add spacing between paragraphs and tables (in current document)
Add paragraph and table spacing at tops of pages (in current document)
Do not add leading (extra space) between lines of text
Add paragraph and table spacing at bottom of table cells
Consider wrapping style when positioning objects
Expand word space on lines with manual line breaks in justified paragraphs

To ensure smooth file transfers between OpenOffice.org Writer and Microsoft Word, select these options in Writer's Compatibility settings.

Finally, click Use as Default > Yes > OK to use these settings in all new documents.

Here are a few other formatting inconsistencies to keep in mind:
Many of Writer's advanced features aren't supported in Word, such as page breaks and custom hyphenation. The last line of Writer's justified paragraphs could generate line or page breaks in Word. Writer files that use Outline Numbering may not save as Word docs, and nested tables in Writer documents don't convert to Word. Writer retains Word's character and paragraph styles fairly well, but graphics aligned in Word as characters don't convert to Writer.

Wednesday: Give viewers control of your PowerPoint slide show.

I bought Microsoft's newest version of Office for Mac (2008) on Tuesday and have been using it nonstop ever since. (Check out the CNET review here.) It is snappy, intuitive, and even innovative in some ways. (MyDay, seen at right, is a blessing.) In short, Microsoft has done something very, very right with this product. I recommend it to everyone who needs it.

Entourage is the biggest area where I see improvements. It is soooo fast compared with Office 2004 for Mac. The UI is gorgeous. My favorite improvement, however, is My Day. It's a floating window that shows my upcoming appointments, "To Do" items, and e-mails that I've flagged for action. It's such a simple addition, but I'm already wholly reliant on it.

The product does have some downsides.

Ulteo, a company staffed by Linux veterans, on Wednesday launched the test version of a service that lets people run the OpenOffice.org desktop suite in the Firefox or Internet Explorer browsers.

The hosted version of OpenOffice version 2.3 supports PDF printing.

(Credit: Ulteo)

The service is designed to let people collaborate with OpenOffice documents online and use the open-source application suite without having to download it.

People can also exchange documents in Microsoft's Office format or PDF. The service also supports the OpenDocument Format standard.

There are already several companies offering online versions of traditional desktop applications, including Google, Zoho, and others. Microsoft on Monday released Office Live Workspace, which lets people share Office documents on a hosted Web server.

The Ulteo service is aimed specifically toward people who use the OpenOffice suite.

At the head of the company are Thierry Koehrlen, chief executive, and Gael Duval, chairman and chief technology officer. Duval founded Linux distributor Mandriva but was ousted last year.

Got OpenOffice 2.3 or prior versions? Be prepared to download a security patch.

The OpenOffice.org community has issued a patch for a "highly critical" security vulnerability in OpenOffice 2.3 and prior versions, according to a security advisory issued by Secunia on Wednesday.

A security flaw in a third party default database engine module, HSQLDB, shipped with OpenOffice 2.3 and prior versions, could allow malicious attackers to launch arbitrary code. The vulnerabilities could be exploited by manipulating the database documents processing, according to a security advisory issued by OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org is asking users to download OpenOffice version 2.3.1. (Download OpenOffice.org 2.3.1 for Windows from CNET Download.com.)

OpenOffice 2.3 was released last September, shortly before security researchers reported vulnerabilities in OpenOffice 2.0.4 and earlier versions. The security flaws could allow attackers to gain control of users' systems via maliciously crafted TIFF files.

The OpenOffice productivity suite is gaining in popularity with its OpenDocument file format as an alternative to Microsoft Office.

Apparently, OpenOffice 3.0 is intent on picking a fight with Microsoft Outlook. Bonne chance, mes amis. I don't mean to imply that it can't be done, but am rather suggesting that this is not the right way to go about it. Zimbra, sure. Or Mozilla's Thunderbird (standalone), sure. But bundled into OpenOffice? I'm not seeing it.

This arises from a presentation delivered earlier this year at the OpenOffice conference:

One thing that really caught my attention was (a) reference to including a Personal Information Manager (PIM) (in OpenOffice). More specifically the presentation mentions bundling Thunderbird with their Office Suite, and refers to it as an "Outlook replacement."

Bundling a runner-up PIM/e-mail suite with a runner-up Office replacement? Not likely. Disruption is the way to go, and the combination is not disruptive.