i want to ask how to view microsoft documents most better?
i use openoffice 1.1.2, but it still show some change in the document format,that may take time to reformat my old documents again!
may star office do that?

i believe openoffice is the new name for staroffice, and these conversions are about the best you get. wv is a popular command line suite for converting to word documents to other formats. Abiword and Kword can also convert from microsoft formats, but i don't know how good they are. OOo is probably the best, but i don't know for sure and sometimes it depends on the particualar document

My understanding is that StarOffice' import filters
are somewhat different from OO's, but I wouldn't
go as far as to guarantee that they'll deliver a
100% copy of what you see in Word since I haven't
used SO since version 5.2....


Cheers,
Tink

StarOffice and OO were the same back in Staroffice 5.2, when Staroffice was also free.

However, now they most likely are becoming more and more different as time goes on. The main reason for this is that OO is free, and Staroffice is VERY expensive...so in Staroffice you might find a better filter than in OO.

Also....why don't you try another alternative. Go and get Cendega 4.0 (New WineX)
and you can install Microsoft Office in Linux, and use it just like if you were in Windows. I think if you really need to run MSOffice then this is your best bet.

zLinuxz

I think the 'egyptian' means that which software should he use where the MS document formats look exactly the same in linux as they would look in windows.

I think Kword does a pretty good job at interpreting Word documents
whereas Open Office Presenter does a good job at working with ppt files

Eh? Usually I've seen it retail for less than $90. Hardly expensive, compared to MS Office, which is typically several hundred dollars.

To the original poster - OpenOffice.org (or StarOffice) seem to do the best job of understanding MS-specific formats. If you still have MS Office available for use, it might be a better idea to export your old .doc files and whatnot to a more open format (such as rich text or HTML) before trying to use them in other applications. OpenOffice's import filters are good, but not perfect - mainly because Microsoft has made it difficult for anyone other than themselves to understand their proprietary formats.

is this possible from ms office ?
if i try it from openoffice installed in windows, i think the result will be better

I have OpenOffice and StarOffice 7 on my Linux machine; my wife has Windows XP. I can only open her .doc and .xl files if she saves them to Win2k or earlier format.
OpenOffice is built upon the StarOffice engine, therefore, they are essentially the same application (with minor differences).
The format of documents copied from a windows partition to Linux and edited in OpenOffice (or StarOffice) should not change unless you have set the preferences to something contrary to what windows would normally do. Check the settings in the windows partition, then set the settings in the Linux partition to the same values (formats, fonts, etc).
I have moved, edit, copied, etc, files from my windows partition to my Linux partition, and back, for years now, and windows never complained. I've done that with both OpenOffice and StarOffice (5.2 and 7.0).
In'shallah, it will happen as you desire.

wapcaplet,

buying MS Office is not even considerable....since the price is over $100...hehehe
And I say SO is very expensive because for an average person, spending around $90 dollars for something that they can get otherwise for free....IS Very Expensive.

Maybe you have 100 bucks laying around with no real purpose...but most of us don't,