A little history
OpenOffice It was originally born as a clear alternative to the Microsoft suite. After Oracle had acquired it and transferred it to Apache, several developers created a new office suite starting from its original source code and improving it, thus creating LibreOffice.
If we want to go further in time to know the history of both office packages we must mention that it all started when Sun Microsystems acquired StarOffice in 1999. A year later they released the code and called it OpenOffice. They kept moving forward thanks to their employees and volunteers. In 2011, Oracle bought Sun Microsystems and renamed it. Shortly after they left the project and most of the volunteers left, creating these same LibreOffice based on the code base of OpenOffice.org. When it looked like the first project was about to end, Oracle donated it to the Apache foundation.
As you may have already imagined, LibreOffice it’s a program that has used the code of the previous one, but has improved over the years to offer better features and adding additional features, as well as improving compatibility with Microsoft Office. Also, the latter has more regular versions that include security updates.
This is the OpenOffice derivative program, however, its code makers, The Document Foundation, have looked for differentiate it internally and externally. For this reason, we find two programs that, starting from the same code, have ended up being different. To know which one is better, we must delve a little deeper into each one and its differences.
OpenOffice
The first thing you have to do is download it. For this enter in this page and select the version you need taking into account your operating system, preferred language and desired version (we recommend the last one). In the installation of this program you can find the first obstacle. Your antivirus may block the installation saying that it is trying to change or delete a file. Once you have overcome this bump, if it has happened to you, you have to indicate your name, what installation you want (select typical unless you have a lot of knowledge and prefer to customize it) and click install. The whole process will take only a few minutes.
When configuring it, you have to indicate your name, surname, initials and finish. If you don’t give your details, nothing happens. You will see the screen with suite in which you will find the options of text document, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, database, formula, open and templates.
Below, you will see the option to get more templates, add new features and get more information about the program.
If you go to text documents you will find a text editor that looks a lot like Microsoft Word in appearance, but much more attractive and colorful. It has a large number of functionalities, what you need to edit your texts. The properties screen appears on the right, although you can change it to another if you wish. You can explore the programs that interest you most in the suite.
LibreOffice
The installation of this program is also very simple. Once you have given to download the file in this page, it downloads and you run it. A very intuitive screen will appear, which is the installation wizard. Choose the typical installation and continue. The process is the same as the previous one, although the process for this one seems to take a little more time. You won’t notice it too much if your connection isn’t slow.
As soon as you install it, you will find a screen where on the right you can choose to open a file, remote files, recent documents, templates and the option to create documents with each of its tools.
If you give for example to LibreOffice Writer you will find its text editor, more modern and with a large number of functionalities. You will find at hand a large number of functionalities that you use on a day-to-day basis. In addition, it stands out because it has support for integrated or embedded documents, something that you can activate in File, Properties, Font, so that you can see it the same in any operating system. We recommend that you explore the rest of the programs to get an idea of how they work.
OpenOffice vs LibreOffice: Differences
In order to determine the main differences between one program and another, we are going to take into account different important aspects that you should look at, although you may be more interested in others, so it is good that you know the benefits of each of them before make the final decision.
Interface
Regarding user interface, OpenOffice continues with its interface characteristic, while its successor differs in this regard. It has a cleaner design, where the text editor is given more importance and with a different distribution of the elements with respect to the previous one. Like the previous one, you can add the properties on the right, although it is not the first thing you see. There is no better or worse, that will depend on the tastes of each person, being the interface of More modern LibreOffice and the Apache one continues its original look to a great extent, which doesn’t have to be bad.
Tools
Both have the same tools, although their name is not the same in both, obviously. Therefore, you are not going to miss any, the only thing we can differentiate here is which one you like the most or which is easier to use.
The tools that incorporate are:
- Word processor.
- Spreadsheets.
- Drawing software.
- Database.
- Slide show program.
- Formulas
They both have templates, although LibreOffice is already integrated and you don’t have to download them separately. They also have an extension engine and wizards for certain tasks.
Learning curve
If you have known Microsoft Word (or any other Office tool) for a long time and have become accustomed to their older programs, it will be much easier for you to familiarize yourself with both office automation series since they have many similarities. If not, it will take you a bit longer, but your panel is so intuitive that it will not cost you to find them. Their way of working is also very similar, so, although with their differences, it will take you practically the same to start using one or the other without difficulties. In this, although with its differences, we do not believe that it will win any beyond your personal tastes or preferences.
Consumption and performance
LibreOffice requires more memory performance and depends on Java. That of Apache does not require as much memory, but loads only the program being used, which makes your consumption is much lower than its more modern version. This is especially important if your computer is old or does not have many resources.
Supported file formats
Both use the default ODF formats (Open Document Format), to save documents in an open format compatible with most programs. LibreOffice stands out in this regard because it is also compatible with Microsoft Office formats, so you can open and save documents created in the latest versions of Word. This is a clear advantage over its predecessor, since OpenOffice can open Office documents, but cannot save them (only from versions up to 2003).
Compatibility
The two suites are open source, free, and with a similar installation process. They can be used in same operating systems, although in OpenOffice there is no version of 64 bit Windows, but yes from other operating systems. Yes, there are links from third-party distributors where you can install it on other systems. You can use them on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Community
LibreOffice has a much more active and extensive community, so it gets better over time. Apache’s acquired office suite doesn’t care as much about it and has a smaller community. Perhaps the fact that it was bought by a large company influences it, The Document Foundation community is involved more with the open source of its suite and its constant improvement to become a worthy competitor of Microsoft Office.
Which is better
It is not easy to answer these questions because each one of them has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. Also, they both use the same Open Source.
LibreOffice stands out for having a more modern interface, more functionalities and constant improvements, greater compatibility with Windows and high compatibility with Microsoft Office files to the point of being able to open and save them in their most modern versions.
OpenOffice It does not have support for saving documents in the latest versions of Microsoft Office, although it can open them. However, it stands out because it has an original interface that if you already know it will not cost you anything to use it and needs less resources than his rival. In this way, it is a good alternative for those who have old computers or need to consume the minimum possible resources. In addition, the functionalities that they incorporate tend to be polished and with the minimum possible errors, although they take longer to implement.
We stayed with LibreOffice. In any case, they have the same programs and high performance, so any of them will be very practical for you to open and edit the documents you need. They are free and open source. The decision will depend on what your preferences or needs are.