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I found myself in the position of giving advice today. We have a new art teacher at our school and we were discussing software. She is a hard-core Mac user. Her biggest problem she indicated was getting Word docs to open. She does not want to use MS Office so I showed her the www.openoffice.org site and that it had Mac versions of Open Office which I know works great in Linux. Does it work great in Mac as well? What about www.gimp.org? Does it work as well on Macs?ThanksJulia

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SonicDragon

I haven't tried OpenOffice yet, but it's on my list of things to do. I'll be using that a lot more once school starts up again. I have tried GIMP however, and so far so good. The install was very easy. The other teacher is using OS X though right? ---- edit. let me go try the os x open office now.

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SonicDragon

OO.org isn't done downloading, but here's a screen of the GIMP in OS X .Sorry the image quality is bad... didn't realize that until just now.

Thanks for the feedback.
Anytime :rolleyes:
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SonicDragon

Not as nice of an install as GIMP, but not tooo bad. Lots of warning messages about X11 being for experts and all this other stuff that may scare/confuse your friend, but no problems yet. The only problem is that two of the files left of the desktop from the install say they can't be deleted because they are in use... which i can't think of any possible way that they are. I was able to delete one of the files manually with the < sudo rm > command but am not able to do that with the other file because it's not really a file -- it's a mounted volume. But i bet after i restart i'll be able to delete it. No big deal. I'll let you know next post :rolleyes:Screen Shot <-- Better quality this time :lol:

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SonicDragon

Yup, that file is gone after restart. If your friend runs into the same problem, try just restarting before trying to use < sudo rm > to remove it.

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SonicDragon

Some important info from the readme:System RequirementsOpenOffice.org 1.1.2 Mac OS X (X11) requires:*Macintosh G4/400 or higher recommended*Mac OS X 10.2 or higher*256 MB of memory for decent performance. 512 MB recommended.*300 MB free hard drive space for OpenOffice.org*600 MB additional hard drive space for installation of auxiliary applications required to run OpenOffice.org.*1 GB additional free space on your System drive for use as swap space during installation and execution.*XFree86/XDarwin or Apple X11, dlcompat, ESP-Ghostscript 7.05, fondu, and libfreetype 6.2+. The Installer will attempt to detect whether you are missing any of these required components, and if necessary will install them for you.Known LimitationsPlease be aware that the license agreements state that all software is provided AS IS and is not guaranteed fit for any particular purpose. The following are known limitations, but others may exist:*OpenOffice.org does not launch with a blank document. Users must create a blank document using File > New on first launch.*It is not possible to collapse windows in OOo 1.1.2 or have non-floating toolbars due to intentional design changes between 1.0.x and 1.1.x.*OOo is installed in a single-user mode by default. Multiple user accounts, particularly user accounts with networked home directories, may not be fully supported.*PDFs generated by the internal OpenOffice.org PDF exporter may not be 100% compatible with the Apple Preview application.*Keyboard input of "dead keys" required for some foreign language input methods may not function properly.*Full keyboard navigation of menus may not be functional due to Option/Alt being reserved for Macintosh keyboard input.*Accessibility support for Assistive Technologies is not fully implemented.*When used with Apple X11 Beta 0.3, windows may exhibit an unavoidable positioning "creep" by the height of the menubar as they are opened. This may result in dialogs eventually being positioned offscreen after long-term usage. This behaviour is not present in Apple X11 Final for Panther.*Bullets imported from Microsoft Office documents may be different in appearance.*To use ODBC, you must use a jdbc-odbc bridge. Native ODBC is not functional.*Netscape plugins cannot be embedded within OpenOffice.org documents.*Some printers may have corrupt PPDs. Select a generic PPD for your printer, if available. Otherwise, use the PDF Converter to create PDF files that you can print from Preview or Adobe Acrobat.*Paper sizes for some PPDs may not be usable from OOo.*Printing may be incompatible with GhostScript distributions other then ESP-Ghostscript 7.05.*If your printer does not have a PPD, it may not be possible to print from OOo.*It is not possible to open files that are locked on disk. OpenOffice.org will report a general Read/Write error, but not report the file as locked.*Attempting to load a remote file via the Open URL menu or the File > Open menu item may result in an unexpected error in some cases.*Locally mounted disks and partitions may appear as "network mounts" in file choosers and dialogs.*OOo cannot resolve Mac aliases and will open the alias rather then the file to which it points.*It is not possible to embed Java applets within OpenOffice.org documents.*TWAIN scanner image capture may or may not be functional.*PowerPoint graphics may be corrupted on import.*OLE communication between OOo and other Mac OS X applications is non-functional.*ActiveX control is not supported.*Clipboard data exchange is limited to 128 character plain text copy/paste.*Page sizes set through Format > Page Settings will override defaults for Printer Settings.*Crashes may occur when undoing operations in documents that contain multiple page sizes.*When deleting graphics embedded in tables, other graphics occurring later in the document may need to be re-inserted.*Font face and size for formulas may not be retained across save/load.*Importing Microsoft Office documents containing OLE objects that have their own version histories may result in crashes.*It may not be possible to import "dual format" PowerPoint files that advertise themselves as PP95 files that actually have PP97 formatted contents.*This build has been tested only on Mac OS X 10.2 and higher only. Mac OS X 10.1 and earlier systems are not supported.*Macintosh fonts for foreign languages, particularly languages with multi-byte character sets or non-MacRoman encodings, may not be functional with OOo. TrueType fonts may need to be copied from Windows or other OOo supported operating systems for these languages.*Some symbol/glyph TrueType fonts are incompatible with FreeType 6.2 and may cause bullets or math symbols to be drawn incorrectly or not at all. The problem symbol fonts will need to be replaced with compatible fonts.*Some fonts, particularly Arabic fonts, use kerning, hinting, and glyph substitution that cannot be properly replicated by FreeType.*Fonts that are rendered as X11 screen bitmap fonts will not be antialiased.*Bold and italic text for some TrueType fonts that do not have their own bold and italic variants may not appear.*Some converted fonts may lose metric and kerning information.*To use native Macintosh fonts, the Macintosh fonts must first be converted to plain TrueType format and then added into the OpenOffice.org environment. This installer will attempt to convert many fonts automatically. For fonts that do not get converted automatically, they must be converted manually using the fondu tool. The fondu tool is installed automatically by this installer and is also available for download at http://fondu.sourceforge.net Once a font has had a .ttf file generated for it from fondu, simply copy the .ttf file into /Applications/OpenOffice.org1.1.2/share/fonts/truetype and it will be available in the OpenOffice.org environment. You can use Start OpenOffice.org as a droplet for converting fonts by dropping the dfont directly on Start OOo.*Not all fonts can be properly converted by fondu for use with OOo.Certainly a large list :rolleyes:

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Sounds like the windows install. Just as long as she ignores all the warnings and such she should be fine???Julia

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Just as long as she ignores all the warnings and such she should be fine???
Yes, i think so. But before either OO or the GIMP can be installed, she needs to install X11 from here. And when she goes to start open office, the Start OpenOffice button is the one she wants, and that's in Applications>OpenOffice>Start OpenOffice. Start OpenOffice is a little program that starts X11 then gives the commands to launch OpenOffice.Also, a new document isn't created by default. You must go to File>New before she really sees anything.
Thanks a lot for your help!
Any time :rolleyes: Best of luck to the new teacher!
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Her biggest problem she indicated was getting Word docs to open. She does not want to use MS Office
Is there a reason (other than $$$$) that she doesn't want to use MS Office? I've got it on both my Mac and PC and files transfer easily. I've used Open Office on my PC, but have never tried on my Mac.
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Sonic:I believe you might have installed X11 and/or Gimp incorrectly if you had to force delete the file(s) on your desktop; especially since you said that one of the icons was a mounted image.When I installed Gimp, I did NOT have to forcefully remove any files.Once X11 is installed you can simply drag the Gimp.app file to the Applications folder. Once double clicked Gimp.app will automatically launch the X11 windowing system.Edit: Now this is just my personal view point, but I would never recommend a novice user use the command line, let alone use it to force remove any file... I would trouble shoot first to find out why the file can't be removed. Most often, as you mentioned: a mounted drive, means that the application was launched from the mounted drive and was still active, thats why you couldn't remove it. Telling someone to whip out the command line, is more reserved for a Linux user or advanced OS X user with experience with the command line. Again my personal view point.Teacher:I'm with bjf123, the Teacher and Student Edition of MS Office 2004 is only $150 and comes with 3 install licenses. I think the School would be willing to spend $150. But if OO works then go with it. I for one hate OO on the Mac, its never inline version wise with the other OS builds, and I switched to the Mac to get away from the Windows OS look and feel, its NO where close to the look/feel of OS X.Working in a school environment, I've experienced 1st hand that students will eventually use the teachers system. While we don't have Macs in the art department at the school I work at (boo, yes I complained) having only one system with Photoshop and Illustrator wasn't enough. Not knowing the personality of your teacher friend, but I doubt that Gimp will last long for what she may want to do in the future.As you are well aware, most of the Big software companies give large discounts to education users, so she might want to look into a edu license for individual parts or the complete Adobe Creative Suite.I also want to point out that if she has an iBook, iMac, or eMac her system comes with Apple Works which WILL open Microsoft Word documents.

Edited by Arena2045
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I also want to point out that if she has an iBook, iMac, or eMac her system comes with Apple Works which WILL open Microsoft Word documents.
Really? I did not know that. I'll have to give it a shot tonight.
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When I installed Gimp, I did NOT have to forcefully remove any files.
I didn't either, i'm talking about OpenOffice, but the files could be removed normally after a restart. :drooling:
I would never recommend a novice user use the command line, let alone use it to force remove any file... I would trouble shoot first to find out why the file can't be removed. Most often, as you mentioned: a mounted drive, means that the application was launched from the mounted drive and was still active, thats why you couldn't remove it. Telling someone to whip out the command line, is more reserved for a Linux user or advanced OS X user with experience with the command line.
I totally agree. But since teacher is a linux expert, i thought i'd let her know that the file was able to be deleted with sudo rm (and i was curious myself). However, after the restart, the file was able to be normally removed. So, it won't be a big deal. Maybe i had something open that i just didn't see.Sorry for the misunderstanding ;)While i usually hate MS office, i broke down and got the student and teacher edition. I haven't spent any real time with it, but it really doesn't look all that bad. Certainly seems nicer than the Office 2000 i had on my PC and version X on the mac that i've used in the past.
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My iBoook came installed with AppleWorks and I have not had any troubles opening Microsoft word docs. Might be worth it if she doesn't want to go the M$ route.>>I also want to point out that if she has an iBook, iMac, or eMac her system comes with Apple Works which WILL open Microsoft Word documents.<<Surprisingly enough my iBook came with a ton of software including the latest version of Quicken and all sorts of goodies. =)

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Her problem with Appleworks was that it left some extraneous characters and such that required editing before printing!Julia

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Ok, this is going to come out totally wrong...If you required your students to make project using Photoshop, would you open the file using Fireworks, or any other non-Adobe app that can open Photoshop files to grade it?No. Its like telling your students that files must be saved as MS Word, but you are too cheap to go out and buy Word your self.I would NEVER expect a Word file to keep its formatting 100% if it was going to be opened in another application. The new version of Mac Office 2004 has a compatibility checker that helps resolve the issue of Mac Office files going to Windows Office computers... Expecting that 3rd party software to open a file 100% without issue is ridiculous.Tell her she has the following options:- Stick with AppleWorks and edit document before printing- Try OpenOffice and see if its what she wants/needs- Go out and buy MS Office Mac 2004 for $150 or get the School to pay for itShe can't expect perfect/near perfect cross compatibility without using the same software.

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OK. Let's go over a few points. This is her personal computer and she does not use MS herself. She uses the Mac programs regularly. However, a few friends and groups send her documents she would like to read that are written in MS word. She was simply wanting a way to open them that would not involve buying a program she would never use except to read the occasional mail. I suggested to her that she live iwth the formatting errors, or install open office. She was unwilling to buy any MS program for her Mac. That said, she wants the best compatibility without resorting to purchasing a program she does not really want. Is it possible that there are some filters/conversion tools in Appleworks that she has failed to install? Just a thought as I know in MS I need to install conversion tools for backword compatibility with the folks that insist on still using Works.Julia

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I can not answer your question about AppleWorks since my system didn't come with it, and because I use Office.There is one more alternative that comes with OS X: TextEdit.Have her open the word files with TextEdit (its in the Applications folder). It retains the formatting very well, including common fonts. If there is a font that is used that she doesn't, have it may produce strange formatting (this goes for any application). TextEdit DOES read formatting, fonts, and margins of Word documents.<rant>There is no way to stay away from Microsoft 100%. I hate AOL to the core, but I still use AIM, and even use Winamp when I'm on my Dell. Same goes for Microsoft, I hate them with a passion; but we still live in a Windows world and I work on them every day; use MSN for dial up ISP, use MSN Messenger, Hotmail, and Office on both my Mac and PC.There comes a point were you just have to live with the alternatives/consequences if you are not willing to get the product.P.S. Tell her that the Microsoft versions of their software kickass! and often times are better than their Windows counterparts.</rant>

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P.S. Tell her that the Microsoft versions of their software kickass! and often times are better than their Windows counterparts.
I agree Arena. It sort of stinks, but, what are you going to do. I didn't really want to by word either, but i'm a student, so it's a little risky if i don't have it there just in case.But, this mac version of word does look much nicer than the windows version... of course... the latest version of word on the windows side that i used was Word 2000 :-P
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