Good Afternoon: In October 2007, I downloaded OpenOffice.org because I do newsletters for my retirees non-profit group, Municipal Pension Retirees' Association, MPRA and the secretary of our organization recommended I do so. However, I have several problems with this program.
1. The program has more or less taken over my Windows files. Not that I have a problem with that but once it does, the Spell-Check, Grammar check or the language selection seem to be turned off. There is a difference between Canadian English and U.S. English in spelling different words. Further than that, I could be writing gibberish and the spell check doesn't seem to notice. When one is used to the red underline appearing automatically to warn me, it's rather disconcerting that it doesn't. 2. Often when I am doing an initial draft of an article in Windows, I will use 1.5 line spacing so that when I send the article to someone for approval, they have room to make comments about it. However, as soon as I save it, the article becomes an OpenOffice file. When that happens I cannot change the line spacing and the only thing I can do is copy the article in Windows to change the line spacing. 3. OpenOffice.org seems to have taken over my MS Publisher program. I have used this program for newsletters for at least a decade and have upgraded the program a few times. The last update was 2002. I know that program like the back of my hand. However, now for the very first time ever, the program does not show any graphics, such a clip art, photographs, word art, or drawn lines once I save my file. I have always had the program show all graphics all the time and, I have tried over and over to go to view and click the box that saws show graphics but it doesn't. Yes, it does show up in the printing BUT that does me little good when I have a group photograph and I want to put a text box below naming the people in the picture in the order they appear on the photograph. I have to print the whole page to make sure I have named everyone. Another problem is that I will draw lines around a story but I can't because I don't know where the lines are when I come back to the file after I have saved it. It is very frustrating. So you can see that I consider this a very frustrating program. Sure, the price was right and the one good thing about it is that I can send articles for proof reading to others who have down loaded the same program. However, that one good thing doesn't make up for all the other frustrations I am having. In fact, I am thinking about uninstalling the OpenOffice. This is making me uneasy because OpenOffice has now taken over a number of my files and I am afraid that I won't be able to retrieve them if I uninstall it. Can you help me? Yours truly Addie Derby, Communications Director MPRA [EMAIL PROTECTED] 604-519-1471
