Mac OS X ezine - Automator, OpenOffice & More

Volume 1, Issue 2

June 2006
Copyright 2006 Claire J Rottenberg

(Revised May 2008)

Welcome to the second issue of our monthly ezine for Mac OS X users.

Table of Contents

  1. Featured Free Software: OpenOffice
  2. Quick Start Lesson: Getting Started with Automator
  3. Article: How to Buy a Mac Computer
  4. Website of the Month: Open Source Mac

1.  Featured Free Software: OpenOffice

http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/download/index.html

OpenOffice is an extremely powerful free office suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office. Included in the OpenOffice suite is a full-featured word processor (MS Word compatible), spreadsheet (Excel compatible), presentation program (PowerPoint compatible), drawing program, and database program.

To use OpenOffice, you need to first install X11, included on the Mac OS X install disks. Once you've installed X11, download a free copy of OpenOffice. Be sure you download the self-contained application (.dmg file) and not the source code. The file is very large so you'll probably need a broadband connection to download it. Once you've downloaded the file, double-click the .dmg file and then move the OpenOffice.app to your Applications folder.

Note that a Mac OS X native version of OpenOffice is now available, but it is still a beta program and, therefore, potentially unstable.

OpenOffice has several advantages over other, commercially produced office suites. Of course, the greatest advantage is the cost - $0.00. In addition, OpenOffice includes a drawing program and a database program, two components missing from some of the other office suites. Although these programs are included with AppleWorks, the AppleWorks program is quite limited and no longer supported by Apple. Since OpenOffice is open-source software, it is constantly being improved.

The major disadvantage to OpenOffice is that it can be rather slow at times, especially when opening or saving large files. Although it doesn't have the look and feel of Mac OS X native programs, the latest version allows you to alter the interface to give the program less of a "pc" appearance.

If you are looking for a replacement for MS Office or AppleWorks, try OpenOffice. My guess is you won't be disappointed.

2.  Quick Start Lesson: Getting Started with Automator


3.  Article: How to Buy a Mac Computer


4.  Website of the Month

Open Source Mac

Open Source Mac provides brief descriptions of quality free software for Mac computers. The software programs are listed in categories, such as "Web Browsing" and "Graphics/Photo Editing." The website also provides links for downloading the programs. If you're looking for some of the best, free software available for Mac OS X, try this website.

We hope you enjoyed this second issue of Tips and More for Mac OS X.


Disclaimer: All trademarks and products mentioned in this ezine are assumed to be the property of their owners and no infringement of rights is intended through mention of the products in this ezine.