StudentTechTip: OpenOffice – Replacing Microsoft Office
As of January 19, 2009 Southeastern ended its campus agreement with Microsoft regarding the distribution and use of Microsoft Office. This TechTip gives you information on: • Removing the seminary’s copy of Microsoft Office from your computer This is not applicable to Southeastern graduates (the Microsoft license allows graduates to keep their copy, but students who have not graduated must stop using the seminary copy of MS Office as of 1/19/2009) • Obtaining your own copy of MS Office (if you want to keep running Office) [Microsoft has an “UltimateSteal” promotion at a greatly reduced price (for Windows users only); we have also included info on deals for Mac users] • Downloading your own free copy of OpenOffice, Sun’s open source software suite which can also read and write MS Office files • Setting your OpenOffice file save defaults to MS Office formats (if desired)
• Removing Microsoft Office (seminary copy) [Not applicable to students who have graduated from Southeastern]: [NOTE: You may wish to obtain your replacement software (see Options #1 or #2 below) prior to removing MS Office, but it should be removed by 1/19/2009]
Windows Users: Open Control Panel (click Start – Control Panel or Start – My Computer – Control Panel) Click “Add or Remove Programs” When the list of installed programs comes up, find the program you obtained from Southeastern [e.g., “Microsoft Office 2007” or “Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007” or “Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003”] and click the Remove button, then click “Yes” when asked if you are sure The Office software will be removed from your computer, but any files you created will be left in their folders Discard the MS Office CD-ROM you received from Southeastern (it does not need to be returned to the school)
Mac Users: Instructions for removing Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/871017 [Once you have removed the program and verified your user files are OK, empty the Trash to complete the process]
• OPTION #1: Obtaining your own copy of Microsoft Office:
Windows Users: If you want to continue using MS Office, there is a very well-priced deal from Microsoft. It includes the following programs:
Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, OneNote
To be eligible for this deal, you must be actively enrolled (at least 0.5 credit hours) and have a valid .edu email address from an educational institution (e.g., from sebts.edu).
Here is a link to the website for downloading this promotional deal: http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx If you would like to order the software on a DVD (best method if you are using dial-up services), click the button to add the “back-up DVD” for an additional $13.00.
Mac Users: Here’s Microsoft’s web page with links to 3rd party offers for Microsoft Office Mac Home & Student 2008 (includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage): http://microsoft.links.channelintelligence.com/pages/prices.asp?sSKU=GZA-00006&nRGID=904
If you also need Microsoft Server Exchange Support or Automator Actions for Workflows in Microsoft Office, here’s Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XHE0Q0
• OPTION #2: Downloading your own free copy of OpenOffice (Sun’s open source office software suite):
If you would like to go with a free office suite, you can download Sun’s OpenOffice software at no charge. OpenOffice is a high-function product with many of the same features and function as MS Office. It includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation and database programs. (A detailed comparison is available here: http://www.openoffice.org/product/docs/ms2007vsooo2.pdf).
OpenOffice can read files created in Microsoft Office, and it also allows saving files in MS Office formats. This will allow for compatibility when sharing files with faculty and other users who use MS Office. OpenOffice also has a built-in “Export as PDF” function which will create a PDF document which looks and prints identically to the original. This is useful for sharing files that do not need to be edited by the recipient.
You can download OpenOffice to your PC or Mac by clicking the “I want to download OpenOffice.org” button on this page http://www.openoffice.org/. - Windows users can simply click the “Download Now” button, save the file and run it from your PC, following the instructions to install it - Mac users should click the link for “Get more platforms and languages” and select the download in your language from the Mac OSX column - Users with dial-up connections may want to click the “Order CD-ROM” which will take you to 3rd party sites for purchasing the product on CDs
Windows users who were previously using Microsoft Outlook for the mail client will now need to set up Microsoft Outlook Express (included with Windows XP) or Microsoft Mail (included with Vista) to access student email. These instructions will guide you in doing that: http://www.sebts.edu/portal/IT/Email_Setup_Outlook_Express.aspx
• Setting OpenOffice file save defaults to MS Office formats (optional):
Any office-type files you share with Southeastern faculty need to have MS Office file types (e.g., .doc, .xls, .ppt). OpenOffice allows you to easily change to these file types by clicking “Save As” then selecting a File Type of “Microsoft 97/2000/XP” (the file type will show Word, Excel or PowerPoint, depending upon which program you are using).
If most of your files will be saved in Microsoft Office formats, you can choose to set your default document type for this. Here are the easy steps that you only have to do one time: A. Open any one of the OpenOffice programs (e.g., Writer for text documents, Calc for spreadsheets or Impress for presentations) B. Click Tools – Options and click the small plus sign (+) to expand the “Load/Save” menu, then click “General” under the Load/Save menu C. Click the “Document Type” pull-down list near the bottom of the window and select “Text document”, then in the “Always save as” field, select “Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP” from the list (you may have to scroll up to see it) D. Click OK to set this default E. Now repeat steps B through D for the Document Type of “Spreadsheet” and set to always save as “Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP” F. Now repeat steps B through D for the Document Type of “Presentation” and set to always save as “Microsoft PowerPoint 97/2000/XP”