Open Office and MS office feature comparison and recommendation

Both Microsoft Office and OpenOffice are strong platforms that will support office productivity. You might want to consider installing both office suites to allow your users a choice. Here is feature and cost comparison chart.












There's more to both office suites, of course. OpenOffice's Base is similar to Access. OpenOffice’s answer to Microsoft's Visio is Draw. OpenOffice offers an equation editor called Math, while Microsoft Office offers Publisher for desktop publishing.

Updates to open-source applications also cost nothing. As an open-source product, OpenOffice updates are free; the same is not always true of Microsoft updates. Microsoft, however, gives Office to nonprofits as part of a philanthropic program, meaning that it is possible (although not likely, given the length of Microsoft’s commitment to philanthropy) that if the donation program ended, you would have to pay to update the suite down the road. If you currently hold a valid license of Office with Software Assurance, you may be able to upgrade to the newer versions for no cost.