Using NeoOfficeJ 0.8.2 in schools

oihenart · Keymaker Joined: Apr 26, 2004 Posts: 81

Hi,

We will in September use OO 1.03 or NeoOfficeJ in our labs (Geneva, in the french part of the Switzerland). We are working with students between 12 and 18 years. They won't create complex documents, but the program must read documents from Office.
Does anybody have some experience for a common use of NeoOfficeJ ? Is it enough stable ? Is it slower than OO 1.03, specialy in small configurations ?
I prefer NeoOfficeJ, because of a better link to Mac OS X (printing, copy and paste, ..), but it must be enough stable. It could be installed on more than 500 macs, so I dont have any right to an error.

Thanks for any answer

Christian

I have also post the message in the test forum, because i don't know what's the best place.

pluby · The Architect Joined: Jun 16, 2003 Posts: 11949

NeoJ is definitely not perfect, but I think that it is as stable as OOo 1.0.3.

I think the real issue for you is support. NeoJ has a few bugs but since it is open-source, there is no big company that you can call if you find a really big bug. So, there is some risk in installing it on 500 machines. The question that only you can answer is whether that risk is worth the money saved because you didn't buy 500 copies of MSOffice.

Another issue is how easily you can install patches. Every time Apple issues an update or security patch, a few bugs seem to surface. For example, with 10.3.3, some people are seeing NeoJ crash on startup. Once I have time to debug and fix this bug, I will issue a patch.

Patrick

schlesi · Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 8:59 am Post subject:

Up to 500 installations? Wow! Shocked

Thomas

oihenart · Keymaker Joined: Apr 26, 2004 Posts: 81

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your quick answer. So, i think we will try to use NeoOfficeJ in our labs. We have also Office, but Office 98 for Classic, and our Department won't install Office X.
Other question, what's difference in term of speed between OO and NeoOffice, specially in small macs ?

Thanks for your job, it's very profitable for all of us.

Christian

jakeOSX · Ninja Joined: Aug 12, 2003 Posts: 1373

On average (individual experience will vary, naturally) Neo and OO.oX11 open about the same speed, if you include starting X11. Once they are both up, they operate pretty much the same.

If you have time, keep us updated with your experiences with Neo/J, the more users the better. =)

-jacob