Here is a link to a new office suite by thinkfree. It's a Java based program and runs Window$, Mac OS, and Linux for $49.99.

http://www.thinkfree.com/products/pd_office20.jsp

wow pretty expensive no? why no tjust buy vmware or win4lin and use ms office (mostly everyone has that).

Why not to use OpenOffice?
Well, java program will never be as fast as a compiled one...

Yea, I use vmware for when I need to read and write in MS Office applications.

When StarOffice 6.0 is released, I'll try that and see how it stacks up.

But I'll still use vmware since Linux printing isn't up to par compared to MS printing.

I'm using OO 642 and I send files from it (saved in MSOffice formats) quite often. No complains.

Interesting to find out about those other options. Are they all free?

And are they all compatible when sharing documents with wintel machines
running M$ office programs?

haha, for a minute there i thought you *seriously* meant using an entire java based office program... no thanks!

but erm.. as for the "using vmware and ms office instead" Option... well that costs a hell of a lot more... doesn't vmware alone cost $300?

i do like the irony that "thinkfree" are charging $50 for that. nice...

It's all free...

...if you know where to look.

Don't be stupid. I know fully well you can get W4r3zzzzzz and all that, and i know how to find them, but LEGALLY it costs. as does M$ office, as does this suite in question, and i'm sure you can get that for free too if you look under the right stones.

HOWEVER, *THIS* site is warez free, and always will be, and that includes suggestions of software piracy as well. thankyou.

To not use something just because it's written in Java IMHO is just ignorance. Java runtimes gets faster every day, and so does hardware. Plus, you have to love the "write once, run anywhere" concept.

I use http://www.openoffice.org and it's free (LGPL). It imports and exports M$ office formats quite nicely in many cases. And in case you are biased against Java, don't worry, Open Office is written in C++.

Some people hate Swing (see next post) but I don't see why. It works fine for me. I don't see how he can call it "ugly", it has pluggable look and feel so you can make it look differently if you want. As for "horrid", well thats not descriptive enough to argue about. My experience with Swing has been pleasant.

java pisses me off so much, if nothing else then because Swing is horrid and ugly. and open office uses XUL, which is just as slow and cludgey i think. personally, vmware + msoffice...kword is good, but not good enough.

Of all the horrid things in the world, why would anyone be pissed off by Java? Its just a language (one that I am fluent in). Relax buddy :-)

Have you heard whats going on in the Middle East lately?

http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/

Anybody know how much a student license for VMware costs? Perhaps I should take advantage of the lower fee while I'm still in school.

No, but a "free software" project is in the works:

http://www.plex86.org
http://bochs.sourceforge.net/

If you want to buy something, there is a product that lets you run M$ office on x86 Linux:

http://www.codeweavers.com


Here is an aritcle:

http://www.wired.com/news/linux/0,1411,51390,00.html



You can get the latest release here: http://www.openoffice.org

Here are some good places to look:

http://freshmeat.net/
http://savannah.gnu.org/
http://sourceforge.net/