Book Reviews |
Beginning OpenOffice 3
“Beginning OpenOffice 3” is a guide to Sun's open-source replacement for Microsoft Office and AppleWorks. Starting with a short history of the project and its development, the reader has the layout of the book and its typographical conventions described – very handy for novices unused to reading technical books. The word processor (Writer) is the starting point for explaining the suite's interface as well as some basic concepts such template documents. No space is wasted in repeatedly explaining concepts for the different components of OpenOffice (Calc, Impress, Draw, Base); this is not a collection of how-to documents. All the component applications are dealt with in detail, and the reader is expected to have learned basic skills from earlier sections and be able to apply them to the more advanced concepts presented in later chapters. Only relatively minor changes would be needed to be directly applicable to any other office suite. “Beginning OpenOffice 3” is both an OpenOffice manual and a thorough grounding in document production that uses OpenOffice as its example application. This is partly due to the fact that most tools for a given job resemble each other; it's also down to the skill of the writer. The writing style is clear, lucid, and is accessible to more practised users as well as beginners. My other half, who is not a computer enthusiast, found it quite easy to follow – and I found myself chuckling as I relearnt document-production skills I'd forgotten about years ago. I would heartily recommend “Beginning OpenOffice 3” to anyone who uses computers in a work environment, and who has the opportunity to install and use OpenOffice. It would certainly not be out of place in a high school business studies class or in an OpenOffice course. In fact, I liked it so much, I'm going to buy a copy. Brad Macpherson This review is also available at the HantsLUG website. |
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