I also use Open Office on all my computers, though admit I still have outdated versions of Microsoft Office also installed. Keep it mostly for PowerPoint if needed by a client. Never stops to amaze me how versatile Open Office is, and how it's replaced other costly software I used in the past. In fact, I now use Open Office to edit PDF files. You'll need to add the free PDF Import Extension. You can also easily make PDF fillable forms from scratch in Writer. Or import an existing PDF file, and make it fillable for the end user in any PDF Reader. Just use Writer's Form Controls to set fillable fields, and save as a PDF when you're done. As far as I know, only a handful of paid apps has this capability, most notably Acrobat X. But Open Office can also do so for FREE.
Linux update. powderman. I gave Ubantu Linux another try. After downloading a new copy I still could not get it to dual boot on a laptop with XP. There was nothing on that computer I needed so I just did a full Ubantu install as single boot Ubantu. That worked without hardly a hic up. In fact it worked really well. I tired it on an old Sony desktop that I really like (I paid a lot for it and it was a top end box seven years ago). I was going to have the power supply replaced as it kept shutting off. After trying dual boot and not haveing success as with the laptop I did a full Linux load. Worked like a charm. And my supposed power supply problem turned out to be a Windows problem. I have been using my old desktop now for about six days with Linux. Still not quite as fast as my much newer high end Sony laptop with W 7 OS. But the old desktop is really purring.
So thanks for sticking up for Linux. Made me try it again. The laptop I am writting this on is my third conversion to Linux. A couple hic ups loading but now working well on Linux.
The nice thing about Linux is that all the biggest vulnerabilities that cause Windows to get hacked are addressed:
Web browser weaknesses? SELinux keeps Mozilla from doing anything it shouldn't do, so a compromised browser or add-on won't kill your system.
Direct attacks? Firewalling is part of the kernel, not an add-on program.
Trojans? Almost all Linux distributions used signed code on repositories, so generally downloading and running a binary is extremely rare unless it came from the repo.
Since the biggest bang for the buck is attacking Windows, the bad guys go for that target.
As a second to Linux, I've been happy with OS X as a compromise between good security, and the ability to run mainstream apps. However, Macs are pricy.
If you're still running Open Office, you're missing out on the many improvements in the Libre Office forked version. When Oracle stopped development of Open Office after buying Sun Microsystems, Libre Office forked the source code and has added many new features and bug fixes. Oracle eventually donated Open Office to the Apache Software Foundation incubator, but they have a long way to go to catch up with Libre. Most Linux distributions now include Libre Office rather than Open Office.
I have used Libre for a couple of weeks now. The word processor worked flawlessley for me. I cannot say the same thing for Google docs, although they are improving. I had to open an encripted Word 2007 an hour ago. Libre worked perfectly.
Actually, I both installed on my PC. Use Libre if need to save back to Microsoft .docx files if needed. The Libre Suite also appears to be the best truly free option for old MAC G4s.
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