Difference Between MS Office and Open Office

MS Office vs Open Office

MS Office and Open Office are popular software that users prefer. Though both of the software offers the same functionality to the users, they have many differences between them.

When looking at popularity, MS Office is used more often than Open Office.

Open Office comes only in a single version which is free to download. On the other hand, MS Office has many versions, such as, Professional, Home and Student. Unlike Open Office, MS Office is not free.

Open Office is an open source which means that the source code is public, and it can be changed and customized by the public. On the contrary, MS Office is not an open source and is proprietary software. As such, the public cannot make changes or customize it.

When talking of the Graphical User Interfaces, they are different in MS Office and Open Office. Older MS Office versions, like Office 2003, had a menu-based system which was similar to Open Office. But today, MS Office uses a ribbon-like interface.

Open Office offers support for all MS Office document formats. However, only new MS Office supports Open Office documents.

Calc is the name given to the spreadsheet application in Open Office, and Excel is the name given to the MS Office spreadsheet. It is also seen that Open Office Impress is better then MS PowerPoint. Open Office Impress helps to create slide shows in an easier way than the MS Office PowerPoint.

Updates in Open Office are free whereas it is not like that with MS Office updates.

Summary:

1. MS Office is used more than Open Office.
2. Unlike Open Office, MS Office is not free.
3. Open Office comes only in a single version. On the other hand, MS Office has many versions, such as, Professional, Home and Student.
4. Open Office offers support for all MS Office document formats. However, only new MS Office supports Open Office documents.
5. Older MS Office versions, like MS Office 2003, had a menu-based system which was similar to Open Office. Today, MS Office uses a ribbon-like interface.
6. Updates in Open Office are free whereas it is not like that with MS Office updates.
7. Open Office Impress is better then MS PowerPoint.

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