# Open Office and X-11 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2008, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585 "2008-04-09T11:12:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/1 "2008-04-09T11:12:24Z")
I have been trying to install Open Office on my I-mac, but it keeps asking for x-11 software. When I try to install, it tells me that it cannot install because a newer version is already on the system. Any ideas? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/2 "2008-04-09T11:25:04Z")
You should be able to install X11 from your OSX install disk. Alternatively, you could use [NeoOffice](http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php), which is based on OpenOffice, but tweaked for OSX and does not require X11. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/3 "2008-04-09T11:42:28Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] You should be able to install X11 from your OSX install disk. Alternatively, you could use [NeoOffice](http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php), which is based on OpenOffice, but tweaked for OSX and does not require X11. [/QUOTE] Yeah, becaue I can’t find my OSX disks right now. I will give it a try, thanks! /grumble macs are s’posed to be easy grumble grumble ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/4 "2008-04-09T11:51:46Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Wanderer] Yeah, becaue I can’t find my OSX disks right now. I will give it a try, thanks! /grumble macs are s’posed to be easy grumble grumble [/QUOTE] Agreed! it is easier, but it isn’t easy. Check the Apple web site-it is large, but X11 may be available there. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/5 "2008-04-09T11:56:09Z")
I bought an old iMac with OSX Tiger on it, but it came with no install disks. There’s a downloadable ‘X11 updater’ on the Apple website, but it is an update, not a full install, so it won’t run unless you’ve already installed the version of X11 that comes on the install disk. I managed to find, somewhere on the web, a copy of the X11 _Installer_ - the guy hosting it was a little bit frightened he’d be pursued by an army of lawyers from Apple, but he made a fairly convincing argument (on the page) that he should be able to distribute it, because X11 is open-source, free software. I can’t find the site again now though - I recall it was hard enough to find the first time… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/6 "2008-04-09T11:58:12Z")
Ah… Found it. [http://cjmart.in/2006/12/01/install-x11-on-tiger-without-the-tiger-install-dvd/](http://cjmart.in/2006/12/01/install-x11-on-tiger-without-the-tiger-install-dvd/) ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/7 "2008-04-09T12:08:23Z")
Yes, Neo Office is running fine. Nice suite, should be all I need for now. Thanks a bunch! ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/8 "2008-04-09T12:11:33Z")
[QUOTE=rbroome] Agreed! it is easier, but it isn’t easy. Check the Apple web site-it is large, but X11 may be available there. [/QUOTE] Yes, but when I try that it says I already have a newer version and won’t install. The Open Office website says you MUST use the OSX disks, but as I said, they aren’t around. Anyway, NEO office seems fine. I don’t do a lot with it, but sometimes need to open files or do a few things. /new to Mac ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/9 "2008-04-09T12:16:00Z")
Is there any reason to prefer Open Office over Neo Office? I mean now that I have Neo Office already installed and all… And thanks Mangetout, I am downloading the X-11 installer right now. If I don’t need it for Open Office, something else may, so I figure might as well. Thanks for the fast replies. I love this board! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/10 "2008-04-09T13:43:48Z")
I think on a Mac, there are actually reasons to prefer NeoOffice over OpenOffice - they’ve tweaked a whole bunch of things to make them more Apple-y X11… Inkscape - you’ll need it for Inkscape. > **[Draw Freely | Inkscape](https://inkscape.org/)** > > Inkscape is professional quality vector graphics software which runs on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows desktop computers. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/11 "2008-04-09T14:40:11Z")
I use NeoOffice over OpenOffice for just these reasons. But I also use The [Gimp](http://www.gimp.org/), the Gnu Image manipulation Program, which needs X11. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/12 "2008-04-09T15:41:02Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Wanderer] Is there any reason to prefer Open Office over Neo Office? [/QUOTE] My understanding (as a linux user whose wife is a mac user) is that Neo Office (NO) is a “downstream” modification of Open [Office.org](http://Office.org) (OOo). Therefore, NO users are always using “old” software. So, for instance, when she tried NO she didn’t get the updated Excel compatibility that finally made it into OOo (which was the one thing she desparately needed). I think this made a bigger difference a year or two ago when OOo was still working out a lot of bugs. Now, it’s probably not as much of an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/13 "2008-04-09T15:46:33Z")
That’s probably true, however, usually with these sorts of projects, they’re able to work in updates from the parent project when they create a new release - so the functionality is probably coming, just a bit later than for OOo… ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/14 "2008-04-09T16:16:44Z")
If you do actually already have X11 installed, it’s not in Applications, it’s in Applications-\>Utilities. The filename is X11.app, if you want to search for it. If it’s not there, then someone might have deleted it. To get it to install, go to the directory \-\>Library-\>Receipts. That’s where the installers leave their droppings. Delete anything starting with X11, and try the install again. When you’re talking about X11, you’re in the throbbing heart of Unixland. That’s bat country. You don’t want to slow down there. I use it every day, since X11 + fink and/or macports lets you run a huge amount of software which would normally require linux or some other sort of unix box. Plus, I can’t stand terminal.app. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/15 "2008-04-09T18:32:43Z")
OpenOffice 3.0, which is currently planned for a September 2008 release (last I heard), will have native support for Macintosh OS X - you will be able to run it without X11. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-office-and-x-11/444585/16 "2008-04-09T18:41:05Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] OpenOffice 3.0, which is currently planned for a September 2008 release (last I heard), will have native support for Macintosh OS X - you will be able to run it without X11. [/QUOTE] That’s great to know, thanks. I knew it had to happen sooner or later…