The problem with Google Docs is that it requires you to be online and that it accepts even less fancy formatting than OO. If you can be online all the time and you don’t need fancy formatting, then not a problem. And for sharing documents, you can just add other editors to them.
I’ve been using OO for years; as others have been said, it works well so long as you’re not using certain formatting items. I’ve even worked in corporations in which it was the corporate office suite.
I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that open source word processors are good enough to do everything which should be done on a word processor.
The bad news:
If you are interacting with others, you are almost certainly going to get involved with processing text on a word processor which shouldn’t be done on a word processor. Long documents in sections with complex formats and tables and images and references. These are all painfully hard work even when you are both using the same version of Word, and both know how to use it. Neither of these two conditions are ever met in the field. Trying to play when you are using a different word processor is sheer masochism. This is why most people hate Word and it is why everyone uses it.
Everyone uses Excel as their spreadsheet. In theory there are alternatives, but if you want to use a spreadsheet and you want to interact with others then Excel is your only choice. It’s theoretically possible that other spreadsheets are good for doing the stuff which should be done on spreadsheets. No-one will ever find out.
It’s possible that you will be doing work on spreadsheets which should be done on spreadsheets. Lots of people do. Excel will be a pleasure to use and worth every penny.
There’s a good chance that you will be doing work on spreadsheets which should not be done on spreadsheets. There are so many of us who know enough maths to push the envelope with Excel, but do not know how to use databases or how to code. It’s quite scary. Once you are doing substantive calculations on a second worksheet the probability of there being an error in your calculations rises rapidly and exponentially to 1. In theory, it is presumably possible to produce broken spreadsheets on other software, but that will leave you exposed to ridicule. Best to stick with producing broken spreadsheets on Excel, which is a reliable route to business respect and success.
I teach college-level introduction to Office classes and this is about the best explanation why so many people use Word and Excel. Some good lines I may feed to my students:
[ul]
[li]why most people hate Word and why most people use it[/li][li]It’s possible that you will be doing work on spreadsheets which should be done on spreadsheets. Lots of people do. Excel will be a pleasure to use and worth every penny.[/li][li]Best to stick with producing broken spreadsheets on Excel, which is a reliable route to business respect and success.[/li][/ul]
I allow my students to complete the assignments in OpenOffice but no one has ever taken me up on it. I’ll give OO a try with the projects I give to my students. I used OpenOffice myself for about ten years with no problems, and switched to MS Office only because I had to teach the stupid class.