OpenOffice Calc:

The spreadsheet application looks and works very much like Excel, and it uses almost identical formulas. It will be easy for switchers to pick up, since it puts almost everything in the same place on menus.

Calc spreadsheets are no longer limited to 32,768 rows. It goes up to 65,536 rows, the same as Excel. This helps in compatibility and companies who use large spreadsheets will be benefited.

Calc has a new feature called DataPilot, which is similar to Microsoft Excel's PivotTable feature. It is now possible to create new groups, filter data based on values, show differences and percentages instead of absolute values, etc.

Calc is probably the easiest to get used to for people in the switching process. Again, Excel wizards will need to learn to navigate, but for the vast majority of us, Calc is just like Excel.

OpenOffice Base:

In version 2.0, OpenOffice includes a database application for the first time. This looks pretty good, but it was still a little unstable in the version that we tested. Due to this, we deferred testing this till the final version is released. Still, despite the crashing, the inclusion of a database product makes the Suite more complete. The bugs ought to be worked out by the time the final version releases.

The self-contained, portable database files are generated by the HSQLDB database engine, which is implemented in Java, allowing complete cross-platform compatibility between GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and Sun Solaris users. What this means is easy portability of any database application developed using Base to any of these platforms.

Final Words...

OpenOffice has shifted to the new open standard OASIS OpenDocument XML format. The OASIS OpenDocument format is a vendor and implementation independent file format, and thus guarantees freedom and independence. The downside to this is that you cannot open the files created in OpenOffice 2.0 in any previous version of OpenOffice, with the exception of 1.1.5 due to be released soon. You can of course save the files in older OpenOffice formats and native Microsoft formats. The shift to the OpenDocument format should turn out to be a good decision in the long run, as many Office suites are bound to include support for it; KOffice has already announced support. We somehow doubt the Microsoft will include support, however.

OpenOffice has many features, but one of the most significant features for first time users has to be the crossover between the various modules. The knowledge gained in Writers easily transferred to Calc and vice-versa. This makes working with OpenOffice.org very comfortable, even more so than Microsoft Office.

OpenOffice has reached the stage of being able to competently and comfortably replace Microsoft Office as your main office suite. Consider the fact that it is free, and yet manages to beat Microsoft Office at it's own game; it’s a compliment in itself. The only thing that you have to do now is wait for the final version of OpenOffice 2.0 to begin your journey to the world of Open Source. If you are impatient to begin, grab the beta and dive right in. The water's fine.