LibreOffice vs MSOffice compatibility

[Lars Noodén]

...Just export PDFs. The formatting can't change then ...

That's a good call. MSO will break your other formats, especially ODF. Also, whatever you do don't save an ODF file from MSO, it will break lots of small things. That's just how the company is. I recently had it screw up the background, indentations/style, and made non-printing sections visible/printed to name just three things.

PDFs will look good on all systems regardless of which fonts are installed or missing. How it looks on the screen in PDF is pretty much how it will look when it is printed.

[monkeybrain2012]

I'm interested to see how well they fixed the docx support in the latest version, too. LO has never had any problem with the old doc format at all. But docx used to really suck for saving. It never really had a problem opening them, though. But in the past, if you had any bullet points and saved from LO to docx, it would be majorly screwed up. I wonder if they fixed that..

And I wonder why anyone would want to save in docx, just unnecessarily perpetuating MS's closed formats. The only way to solve the compatibility problem between MSO and other office suits is to ditch MSO. If it is not possible at least try, whenever feasible, not to play MS's game by helping its latest effort to subvert open standard.

[forrestcupp]

True. I don't know if there's any reason to use MSO, depending on needs. Just export PDFs. The formatting can't change then (and no-one can change your work, either, which I what I like).

Other thing you could try (I've thought about it but never tried because never had to) is create a new document and immediately save it as .docx. Will that show the formatting as it will be on a Win machine? Why not just use .doc files? I figure newer MSOs which use .docx would be able to read them, no?

PDFs don't work if you're doing a collab or if the person you're giving it to needs to be able to edit it. Plus I actually have noticed times when the fonts and formatting weren't exactly the same.

I agree, though, that if you have to use LO, saving to a doc is the best option. Even if someone sends you a docx, LO will open it perfectly, and you can just save it as a doc. One thing about docx files, though, is that they are much smaller in size than a doc file is.

But my original point was really that you can run MSO in Linux pretty much perfectly.

[smellyman]

closed formats rule!

Can't wait until LO isn't blamed for "breaking" MSO documents.

[ugm6hr]

Your opinions please ?

Why do you say you need to save in .docx at all? If you've been using LO for 2 years, why not just keep using it?

If the issue is edits by your supervisor, I would actually suggest you save as .doc for them to review and edit, but then manually re-enter any suggestions into your original .odt file (use the compare versions function which retrospetively tracks changes). This serves 2 purposes: it ensures you actually read every suggestion; any inconsistent formatting by your supervisor will be removed by your own care in re-entering changes. Don't underestimate the impression that appearance gives to examiners.

Or consider Lyx / latex as others have suggested. Though this is perhaps overkill (in terms of learning curve) for an undergrad thesis if you haven't used it before. Though I learned to use Lyx to write my doctorate.

The only other consideration is a citation manager. Zotero is very good. Mendeley is closed source, but free, and also pretty helpful. Take your pick - both have LO plugins.

Worst case - Word 2007 will run in wine almost flawlessly. Not sure about 2010, but probably similar. You can even install Mendeley in wine to use alongside.

Good luck.

[mike acker]

True. I don't know if there's any reason to use MSO, depending on needs. Just export PDFs. The formatting can't change then (and no-one can change your work, either, which I what I like).

Other thing you could try (I've thought about it but never tried because never had to) is create a new document and immediately save it as .docx. Will that show the formatting as it will be on a Win machine? Why not just use .doc files? I figure newer MSOs which use .docx would be able to read them, no?

Exporting to PDF

YES: Exporting to PDF is The Way to Go -- unless the professor asks for WORD format . My daughter's professor did exactly that -- and then scribbled in the documents using red ink

But yes: PDF is The Way to Go if the document is in a "final/publish" condition .

[pfeiffep]

Saving a LO text document as a 97 Word document will result in most compatability.

[aykoola]

Thanks for all of your answers guys, you've been extremely helpful!

[monkeybrain2012]

Exporting to PDF

YES: Exporting to PDF is The Way to Go -- unless the professor asks for WORD format . My daughter's professor did exactly that -- and then scribbled in the documents using red ink

But yes: PDF is The Way to Go if the document is in a "final/publish" condition .

I wonder what kind of university would offer courses on using word processor (the only reason I can understand the requirement) Does he/she pay for your daughter's MSO?

[mr john]

Open/Libre office is very disorganised, buggy and of very poor quality. I think I'll stick with the much superior microsoft products.