Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Installing Open Office

chscag

chscag

macrumors 601
Original poster
Feb 17, 2008
4,622
1,947
Fort Worth, Texas
Hi:

New MacBook, 2.4 GHZ, 2 GB, 160 GB, OS X 10.5.2

I've been trying unsuccessfully to install Open Office. I downloaded the version for Leopard, Intel version 2.3.1.

The download is OK, but when I move the Open Org App to the Applications folder and double click, it just bounces up and down off the Dock but never opens. Finally it times out. I've gone through this several times even downloading the package three times.

Can someone point out what I'm doing wrong?

Regards.
 
This doesn't answer your question, but somebody's bound to post this, and I want to be the first.

Try NEOoffice instead. In a nutshell, it's OpenOffice for Mac, and most Mac users prefer it over OpenOffice.
 
The answer is because you don't have X11 installed. But a better answer is what was already said. Use NeoOffice instead. It's the same code as OpenOffice.org, but without using X11.

You can get X11 from your install dvd to see why NeoOffice is preferred to X11 OpenOffice.org right now.

OpenOffice.org is working on a native aqua version, and the beta looks pretty good. You can look into that, but until they work the bugs out, go with NeoOffice.
 
As others said, I would try something else. Personally, I like Pages. It's not usually free, but I don't want to break the rules and tell you some sort of illegal way to get it, but I'm sure you know someone who could. ;)
 
munson said:
As others said, I would try something else. Personally, I like Pages.
Click to expand...

If you want something better, I too suggest iWork. I much prefer it to MS Office, and cheaper too. But free is always good, and that's why I also like NeoOffice. Since I decided to get iWork, though, I keep NeoOffice around for compatibility with MS Office and the new formats. I see no reason for MS Office (unless you really, really need 100% compatibility) when you can get OpenOffice.org/NeoOffice free or iWork for $79 + NeoOffice/Oo_O for backup.
 
kuwisdelu said:
If you want something better, I too suggest iWork. I much prefer it to MS Office, and cheaper too. But free is always good, and that's why I also like NeoOffice. Since I decided to get iWork, though, I keep NeoOffice around for compatibility with MS Office and the new formats. I see no reason for MS Office (unless you really, really need 100% compatibility) when you can get OpenOffice.org/NeoOffice free or iWork for $79 + NeoOffice/Oo_O for backup.
Click to expand...

I think that the new Word docs (.docx, right?) work in Pages. I could be mistaken though. All I know is that I have been using Pages ince last November and I have had NO problems with it. Plus, it's easy to export files as .pdf or .doc files. VERY handy.
 
munson said:
I think that the new Word docs (.docx, right?) work in Pages. I could be mistaken though. All I know is that I have been using Pages ince last November and I have had NO problems with it. Plus, it's easy to export files as .pdf or .doc files. VERY handy.
Click to expand...

I think it reads them okay, too. I love iWork, and haven't had a need to use NeoOffice since. However, iWork sometimes misinterprets more complicated formatting from Office documents (hasn't happened with anything I needed to use, but I've seen it with others) so I keep a copy of NeoOffice around just in case. But I think 80% of users would never have an issue with compatibility using iWork.
 
xx for NeoOffice. It's really ugly, a bit slow (but much faster than the days of old), but works great. And hey, it's free!

(x = number of posts recommending NeoOffice previous to this post)
 
How strong is your computer? Because on my macbook Core 2 duo with 512mb ram running tiger i'm not able to run neo office seemless with letting safari on at the same time. I get the spinning beachball alot with neo office.
 
lofight said:
How strong is your computer? Because on my macbook Core 2 duo with 512mb ram running tiger i'm not able to run neo office seemless with letting safari on at the same time. I get the spinning beachball alot with neo office.
Click to expand...

Dude, that's because you only have 512 MB of RAM. Up that to at LEAST 1 GB, or better 2 GB, and you'll see mucha majora.
 
ravenvii said:
Dude, that's because you only have 512 MB of RAM. Up that to at LEAST 1 GB, or better 2 GB, and you'll see mucha majora.
Click to expand...
yeah yeah, i know, but 512 mb should be enough too run a teksteditor with some extra features..
 
lofight said:
yeah yeah, i know, but 512 mb should be enough too run a teksteditor with some extra features..
Click to expand...

It's quite a bit more than a text editor with some extra features. That's TextEdit. NeoOffice is a full office suite. You're probably running into problems because it's a Java app, and Java can often be a memory hog. iWork is probably the least memory-intensive office suite right now. If you only need a word processor, though, try out Abiword or Bean; they're also free.
 
boast said:
running neooffice starts up the whole suite, not just a texteditor
Click to expand...
I know, I know, but just it's really slow..
kuwisdelu said:
It's quite a bit more than a text editor with some extra features. That's TextEdit. NeoOffice is a full office suite. You're probably running into problems because it's a Java app, and Java can often be a memory hog. iWork is probably the least memory-intensive office suite right now. If you only need a word processor, though, try out Abiword or Bean; they're also free.
Click to expand...

It's a java app?!

I have Bean, and i like it.
 
lofight said:
It's a java app?!

I have Bean, and i like it.
Click to expand...

Yes, mostly, unfortunately. OpenOffice.org is coming out with a native aqua version of their own soon, so hopefully that will be good. Unless you have a need for a free spreadsheet/presentation app as well, go ahead and stick with Bean.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back