Alternative to OpenOffice Writer on Ubuntu Hardy Heron

18 January, 2009 - 06:47 PM - 9 Comments

I am a big fan of the Ubuntu operating system but there are a ton of usability issues with OpenOffice and specifically for people who are used to Microsoft Office the OpenOffice Writer application requires a different approach. It isn’t as easy to use, things aren’t laid out, and it has some customizability but the average Windows person who converts to Ubuntu would spend too much time trying to figure these out.

I have found Abiword is a very good crossover, while it isn’t quite as powerful as Microsoft Office (and they say it isn’t as good as Writer, but I can’t find anything wrong with it) Abiword has a friendlier interface and actually bridges the gap between MS Office and Ubuntu much better than Writer in my opinion. The buttons are easier to discern, the placement is better by default and it has a closer feel to Word 2003 than OpenOffice Writer.

All I had to do to download Abiword was:
sudo apt-get install abiword

and the abiword processor installs and is available from your applications menu.

Here is a screenshot of Writer (click to enlarge)

Here is a screenshot of Abiword (click to enlarge)

Specifically I tried all of the “View” options in Writer and none of them gave me that Word feel when scrolling around a page like the default view in Abiword. That is the beauty of Linux however, there is alternatives to virtually every piece of software and most of it is open source and free to try. Now, unfortunately I have very complicated Excel Spreadsheets with vlookup tables and other formula which don’t work on the OpenOffice Excel equivalent spreadsheet. So I need to find an alternative that can translate my formula, if I can find one I will be reporting on that next.

I encourage you to give Abiword a try, if you don’t really like Writer, or you are looking for something a little simpler and with a more friendly interface. As mentioned if there are features that Writer can do that Abiword can’t, I haven’t been able to find them.

-Dragon Blogger

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Written by Justin Germino (1518 Articles Published)

Working in the IT Industry for over 10 years and specializing in web based technologies. Dragon Blogger has unique insights and opinions to how the internet and web technology works. An Avid movie fan, video game fan and fan of trying anything and everything new.

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ShaineTSW

Save in RichTextFormat for cross over to M.Word etc.

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Jeremiah @ Used Refurbished Laptops

It's funny how some people have a hard time accepting the fact you can get such great free software like OpenOfice.org

I offered to install OpenOffice for a client the other day, but he almost broke into a cold sweat when he found out it was free. He just could not get his head around it, so much so, he asked me to installed a paid version of MS Office instead.
.-= Jeremiah @ Used Refurbished Laptops´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at =-.

Kurt Divich@Stock twitter

This is quite a old post but yes, I agree with your views on OpenOffice however I would like to say that Ubuntu and OpenOffice have come a long way, you would know that better as you use it too. I also prefer Abiword and Gnumeric (for spreadsheet) over OpenOffice Writer and Calc, however they've gone better on Linux, I tried their latest version on Windows and found out that it was eating 100mb of my memory for running Calc app, as compared to very minimal memory of Office 2003.

Abiword and Gnumeric are both light-weight and does the work very well.

@Garry

Yes it's the greatest alternative to MS Office as it's free and offers every software required for Office work, however it does remain a bit bloated which may not go well with old computers so thats where Abiword and Gnumeric work so well (They even have Windows version too).

Garry@Automatic wine opener

Why would anyone want alternative to Open Office? It's greatest office package and it's free.

Ron@Raygen&#39;s Basement

I didn't know there was another Word Processor on Ubuntu besides Open Office Writer. I will have to try Abiword a try.

Judging from the screen shots, it looks like it would be a bit easier to get around in then Open Office Writer.

thanks for the heads up.
.-= Ron@Raygen's Basement´s last blog ..Cleveland Browns Possible General Manager Candidates for 2010 Season =-.

dragonblogger

No problem, Abiword is easier and more "word" like so quicker transition.

shae@Linux Forum

Abiword is a great alternative! It is really fast and has most of the features you expect. I only had problems saving into docs and opening them in Windows as well as importing some Word docs.
.-= shae@Linux Forum´s last blog ..Wine's release is late; good news? =-.

Thanks, there were several good Ubuntu word like programs out there, Abiword was just the one that had the least learning curve in my opinion coming from MS Office