Thanks for the disk! :-) *We've given copies of the disk to several staff -using 98, XP, and MAC - No feedback at all, but that's teachers for you :-) *We use it a little in the ICT office - depends which Icon we hit, and I use at home as does my 10yr old son and the NME, on our PC's (98 & SuSE both dual booting) *We have a few pupils who have emailed homework in Open Office (OO) format, All of their parents are 'in the industry', So it's been useful to be able to load and convert files. *It's been offered to the pupils but no take-up as yet although we may hand this over to the library to push - their point of view is that they have a WP etc on their laptop/pc that does more than they could possibly get out of it, so why change? *We also install it on new laptops for pupils. When parents ask us to recommend a laptop (which we always wriggle out of!) we suggest that they buy a bare bones machine and offer the installation of a free suite, OO. We've done about four of these so far - again no feedback - So I assume good :-) *We installed Star office about 18months ago across the network but it never ran correctly (probably just needed a little more time and effort on our part!) But when we have a few free hours we intend putting OO on as it does seem a little slicker than SO. *I have to say that I prefer the IDE in word as I do in Firefox over IE. It's somehow more efficient to be in an application than a document, although the SO implementation of a 'desk top' was overkill in the wrong direction. I suppose it's a case of pushing and tipping the balance. The biggest obstacle is bundled software, why change when you already have the same as everyone else? Someone was saying in another thread that MS lower costs allows them be seen to be 'giving' something to schools - Giving for free would probable do them no harm at all, since they need to indoctrinate them young - I'm always amazed at the number of people that purchase the same make and model of car that they took their driving lessons in - maybe it's a mater of confidence? I for one never had much confidence in SO! Not as a stand-alone, but in a world where everyone else was using the 'defacto standard', it just couldn't cope with reading anything but the simplest documents. OO is much better :-) Adrian ----- Original Message ----- From: ian To: G.Harris Cc: Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 9:10 AM Subject: Re: [suse-linux-uk-schools] Upgrade Question

On Thu, 2004-03-11 at 07:01, G.Harris wrote:

...

OpenOffice.org was installed on our system last August in response to a need for software at home for students doing the Applied ICT exam (Edexcel) and for other students doing GCSE who in this very poor sem- / inskilled rural area are only just able to buy a box and not the software (very common). Tesco.net supply the Internet connection We give the students a CD with OOorg on it to install as the download would be impossible for many of them - second-hand machines - 533 processors or less - old modems, etc.

<SNIP> Thanks to those who have replied to my request for info on OO.o usage.... and keep them coming if there are more, the feedback is really useful and can have an effect on development priorities.

Regards, -- ian

-- To unsubscribe, e-mail: suse-linux-uk-schools-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands, e-mail: suse-linux-uk-schools-help@suse.com

I think you are comparing SO 5.2 with OO.o 1.1. The important thing to realise is that this software is not static its constantly improving and if you like 1.1 just wait until 2.0 hits the net and then 3.0 then 4.0.

Your quite right :-) Although I did understand that the core code was similar. However a WP, is a WP is a WP, there are only so many things that you want it to do (unless you want to integrate other functions, e.g proper DTP etc.) So what do you change? Tighter/faster code, fiddle with the interface (lots of scope for likes/dislikes here) or add yet another wizard :-) The killer, that will ensure the success of OO.o is it's ability to SEAMLESSLY import and export documents from and to other apps. One of my clients, a company of patent attorneys, will not use OO.o because they are worried about compatibility when exchanging documents with clients, and yet they use different versions of office & works with which they struggle to exchange files within the office! :-) Doh! The irony is that most of their WP could be handled by the simplest of WPs and translation wouldn't be a problem for OO.o! Yes, pressing companies to bundle OO.o would be a great leap forward, unfortunately the big 'uns are tied in with MS, Dell et al. I'm going to have a word (no pun intended) with my local supplier and offer him a copy. Kind regards Adrian

I hope G Harris and anyone else who is trying to provide computers for students at home is aware of the fact that Free Computers for Education, Registered Charity No. 1059116, is able to provide professionally refurbished and Internet-ready computers for this purpose from £50. Further information is available on our website at: http://www.free-computers.org or by telephoning me on 01932-874303. Regards, Grahame Leon-Smith ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ REFURBISH AND REUSE IS BETTER THAN RECYCLE Grahame Leon-Smith, Chairman of Trustees Tel +44-1932-874303 Fax +44-1932-874068 FREE COMPUTERS FOR EDUCATION Registered Charity No. 1059116 PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT < http://www.free-computers.org> and for further information just send a blank email to: < mailto:free-computers-news-subscribe@yahoogroups.com> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -----Original Message----- From: ian [mailto:ian.lynch2@ntlworld.com] Sent: 11 March 2004 09:11 To: G.Harris Cc: suse-linux-uk-schools@suse.com Subject: Re: [suse-linux-uk-schools] Upgrade Question On Thu, 2004-03-11 at 07:01, G.Harris wrote:

OpenOffice.org was installed on our system last August in response to a need for software at home for students doing the Applied ICT exam (Edexcel) and for other students doing GCSE who in this very poor sem- / inskilled rural area are only just able to buy a box and not the software (very common). Tesco.net supply the Internet connection We give the students a CD with OOorg on it to install as the download would be impossible for many of them - second-hand machines - 533 processors or less - old modems, etc.

<SNIP> Thanks to those who have replied to my request for info on OO.o usage.... and keep them coming if there are more, the feedback is really useful and can have an effect on development priorities. Regards, -- ian -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: suse-linux-uk-schools-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands, e-mail: suse-linux-uk-schools-help@suse.com --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.613 / Virus Database: 392 - Release Date: 04/03/2004 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.613 / Virus Database: 392 - Release Date: 04/03/2004