Review of OpenOffice as it compares to Microsoft Office

           In reviewing OpenOffice as it compares to Microsoft Office, the first main point I need to make is that I was confused as to what OpenOffice was! I thought it was the free, available to students Microsoft Office accessed online. I now know that OpenOffice is an entirely different software modeled on Microsoft Office. I will focus on Writer vs. Word and Presentation vs. Powerpoint, as those are the applications I am most familiar with in Microsoft Office.

In Writer, the user has all the basic functions of Word immediately available. It seemed a little bit like stepping back in time to much earlier versions of Word. All the necessary functions of the program are there, but in a less advanced presentation. The latest versions of Word include options that do not exist in Writer.  There are features to share and engage through social media that I was unable to locate in Writer.  There is an option to dictate under the Home toolbar. Also, a lightning bolt option offers ideas to the user such as ways to improve your writing. Also, there are emoji options not available in the proprietary version.

In Presentation, it too was like stepping back in time to an early version of Powerpoint. All the necessary functions are there to create slide presentations, but the user is lacking the more advanced options in Powerpoint. There are interesting new backgrounds, formatting, and other options currently available in Powerpoint. It too, like Word, offers sharing, social media, and emoji graphics options not available in Presentation.

Review of digiKam as it compares to iPhoto

DigiKam is an open source, free program to manage and edit photos. It has extensive options to create many effects and manipulations of photos. It has all the storage and sharing options of iPhoto. I was impressed with the many ways it could search and categorize photos: by date, by person, by place, by time, and many more. DigiKam offers many more options than iPhoto offers such as a light table for more advanced photo editing. Aperture was the more advanced MacOS photo editor, but it is no longer supported. iPhoto offers a library organized by events, photos, faces, and places only. It has basic editing and sharing across social media options. If a photographer wants to do more with their photos, digiKam offers much more than the basics of iPhoto.

Review of Firefox as it compares with Microsoft Edge

Firefox is a browser that can be used as an open source and free alternative to Microsoft Edge (the replacement for Internet Explorer). Firefox offers many ways to organize your homepage as well as new security elements. The landing page offers three new options at the top: sync, Monitor, and mobile. Signing into sync will allow you to take your settings with you on any device. A mobile site facilitates the use of the browser with your options on your mobile device. Firefox Monitor searches for data breaches. Also on the main page, Firefox offers its Top Sites that you’ve visited as well as Pocket, a curator of stories for you individually that strives to maintain user privacy and control. Popular topics are also available.

Microsoft Edge is Microsoft’s proprietary answer to the new options offered by web browsers such as Firefox. It too offers new security elements. It also seeks to curate stories for the individual user. Its main page continues with stories as far as the user keeps scrolling. When accessing tips to understand the browser’s new elements, it seeks to convey its purpose which is to “Stay Productive; Stay Organized; Stay Safe.” Each of the three categories have new elements such as form fill, decluttered printing, highlighting, saving, clipping, as well as a Hub for bookmarking and creating a reading list. It seems that Microsoft wanted to include elements from e-reader devices such as Kindle as well as safety protections emphasized by Firefox.

Microsoft Edge does offer many desirable elements to a customized browser homepage. But for what most people use their browser homepage for, customizable and safe accessing of news and other stories, Firefox provides a simple and uncluttered option that’s free.

In Summary

Open source software, often free, offers great software alternatives to proprietary software. Often the options available are more limited than the proprietary software, but sometimes there are more such as digiKam for photo editing. Microsoft Edge has come up with some very desirable elements to a customized homepage that can do much more than most. Straight-forward and customizable homepages are available through Firefox though. There may be risk in open software because of the possibility of support disappearing with funding. Open source offers a dynamic option that’s constantly improving with the crowdsourced code contributions.

Reference

Optimus Information, (2015). Open Source vs. Proprietary Software Pros and Cons. Retrieved from http://www.optimusinfo.com/downloads/white-paper/open-source-vs-proprietary-software-pros-and-cons.pdf