MS-Office to OpenOffice migration tips
Abdullah Ramazanoglu
switching part of a Windows to Linux desktop migration. It's a bit old and
mixed with platform migration. I hope you will excuse my awkward language
due to translation. (Presupposing it is any better otherwise :)
Hope that it evolves into a useful document with corrections and
additions, to the point that it becomes useful.
======================================================================
--8<--
As for the desktops, there could be several potential pitfalls as
described below:
1. Users being accustomed to working in Windows and MS-Office environments.
2. Minimal incompatibilities between MS-Office and OpenOffice. There can
be some slight skews or formatting differences observed, when some
complicated Word documents are opened with different word processors (even
between different versions of MS-Word). There's virtually 100%
compatibility for usual Word documents. For instance, this documents have
been created with OpenOffice 1.0.1. Additionally, OpenOffice is being
developed very actively. So I guess these incompatibilities should be even
lesser in the upcoming release (1.0.2).
3. [Off Topic]
4. OpenOffice know-how. In most work environments users usually help out
each other in using Office programs. In a classical company, there are
several power users highly knowledgable on Office programs, and other
workers frequently consult them when they need help. Upon switching from
MS-Office to OpenOffice, the fact that both the program to which users are
accustomed to has been changed, and there is no one in sight to help them
out, users experience hardships for the first few months.
5. In order to minimize the change-shock (and resistance) of users, there
need to be done several preparations before switching from Windows to
Linux on the desktop:
- Install (or switch to) Linux only on the server(s), but don't touch
desktops for the time being.
- Educate some insider power Office user (not a computer savvy person, but
someone who is a heavy Office suite user in due course of his normal
duties), on OpenOffice, and have him drop MS-Office completely in favor of
OpenOffice, and let him develop an OpenOffice know-how. Depending on the
size of customer, this can be several power users.
- On every desktop, install OpenOffice besides MS-Office, and install
Netscape and Opera besides Internet Explorer.
- Arrange an OpenOffice crash course (at least an introduction) for users,
and give away to each user a copy of a basic to mid level book covering
OpenOffice usage.
- Announce to users that there will be a switch in near future, and ask
them to use and get acquainted with the alternative programs. They won't
follow, but pre-announcing company policies and targets will encourage
them to behave positively at the upcoming steps.
- Spot the most complicated and actively used MS-Office documents and
spreadsheets in the company, and test them for compatibility with
OpenOffice. Find out the top 25 incompatibilities (if any), and start a
task force to correct these incompatible documents (and templates).
Alternatively, prepare a document listing those incompatibilities, their
remedies, and critical points to pay attention to for OpenOffice
compatibility in newly created documents. And pass a copy of the document
to every office worker.
- Throttle down IE bandwith to internet (via proxy on the server) to very
low speeds, or alternatively completely block IE access to Internet, to
encourage users to switch to Netscape or Opera by themselves. There is not
much need for advanced education of users in order to switch from IE to
Netscape or Opera. Perhaps an introductory seminar could be enough.
Usually they can cope easily with browser switching.
- OpenOffice can open and save documents in Word (.doc), Excel (.xls), and
Powerpoint (.ppt) formats. In addition to that, there are native
OpenOffice document formats for them (".sxw" for word-processor, ".sxc"
for spreadsheet, and ".sxi" for presentation). It's possible to convert a
document's format via opening it in OpenOffice, and then saving in the
alternative format. There is no need to convert old .doc/.xls documents to
.sxw/.sxc format. But a considerable amount of new documents that will be
injected into the corporate environment, must be created in native
OpenOffice format. This is crucial to gently force the users to train
themselves gradually in OpenOffice. For instance, since the OpenOffice
pilot user(s) are selected from among heavy users of Office suite,
document generation capacity of this individual(s) should be accordingly
high. If this individual(s) is asked to save all the documents they
generate in native OpenOffice format (.sxw/.sxc), then there would be a
considerable amount of native OpenOffice documents injected into the
working environment. Since only OpenOffice is able to process these
documents, all users will be automatically forced to use OpenOffice to
work with these documents. And since native OpenOffice documents will
gradually gain a circulation percentage in the company, thus the users
will be subjected to a gradual learning curve, which will also lessen the
the load on the OpenOffice "guru(s)" who also acts as a pilot help-desk on
OpenOffice. So depending on the volume, several OpenOffice gurus may be
needed in larger work places.
- When OpenOffice usage is settled down, uninstall MS-Office from the
desktops, and totally block IE access to internet.
- Observations show that if the users are easy with internet and office
applications (more precisely, with the applications they use everyday),
then it becomes much easier for them to cope with the change of the
underlying platform. Otherwise, they may project the difficulties they
experience due to application switch, to the change of underlying platform
(Linux), and thus they may perceive Linux as their source of
inconveniences. This may cause serious resistance and motivation decrease.
It is highly possible that a migration project can fail just because of
this. So it is vital to create a list of standard desktop applications,
and to switch to cross platform alternatives on Windows beforehand.
- Furthermore, the switch from Windows to Linux is divided into two
segments: First use alternative programs on the same platform (Windows),
and after digesting that, use the same programs on the alternative
platform (Linux). Thus, change shock on users is softened by spreading it
to a wide period of time.
- Again observations reveal that a complete computer illiterate user
learns OpenOffice easier and smoother than a veteran MS-Office user. It's
because veteran MS-Office users usually force their every chance of using
MS-Office to the ultimate extent, instead of going through the learning
curve of a new office suite. This includes illegally installing MS-Office
to their desktops, leaving their desks to use the PC (with MS-Office) of
someone else, or trying to enter their personal laptops to workplace.
However, MS-Office and OpenOffice are very similar to use. A veteran
MS-Office user can become an OpenOffice guru with quarter of the energy he
spends to resist it. So, it all revolves around the user's expectation and
hope. When there's no hope of way out, they will quickly cope with
OpenOffice. Otherwise they won't. Especially where high management doesn't
show absolute determination, or fail to communicate their determination
properly to the personnel, the migration from MS-Office to OpenOffice will
be very slow and painful, and probably will fail.
- It's important to introduce OpenOffice to high management, and have them
use it. When they personally know that OpenOffice is easy to use and fully
MS-Office compliant, they can be more confident, and they will show
determination against possible complaints from the field. If high
management don't share this opinion for OpenOffice, then no OpenOffice
(and thus no Linux) migration should be undertaken for that customer,
because it's obvious that it will fail.
- In short, the most important problem concerning desktop users, is
switching from MS-Office to OpenOffice. That is, it is not a technical,
but a social problem (with political side effects). Windows to Linux
switch is usually much easier than MS-Office to OpenOffice switch. I think
MS-Office -> OpenOffice migration will receive serious resistance from the
user base. Higher management's determined behavior, and their clear
communication of it to the personnel is crucial for success.
- Due to short and long term benefits of switching from closed to open
systems, the leading supporters of this switch is (must be) the company
high management. It can be expected that users (and sometimes also IT)
will prefer the environment they're accustomed with and know best, and
will show serious resistance and find pretexts against the change. As a
result, such a project must not be undertaken without the full agreement
and determined support of high management, and without having them
uninstall MS-Office from their own machines first. To get their complete
support, it is worthwhile to set up a proof of concept lab solely to buy
them into the idea.
--8<--
--
Abdullah | aramazan@ |
Ramazanoglu | myrealbox |
________________| D.0.T cöm |__
B Gruff
> This is a partial translation of a memo, covering MS-Office to
> OpenOffice switching part of a Windows to Linux desktop migration.
> It's a bit old and mixed with platform migration. I hope you will
> excuse my awkward language due to translation. (Presupposing it is
> any better otherwise :)
Where is this from, Abdullah? Is it a translation from a document of
your own?
> Hope that it evolves into a useful document with corrections and
> additions, to the point that it becomes useful.
So do I. It seems very sensible to me - and strikes a few chords.
What is it, and where is it going, though - is it a document that you
are developing with a view to making it generally available (e.g.
web), or is it something aimed at a company or companies with which
you have some involvement?
Bill
Abdullah Ramazanoglu
> Abdullah Ramazanoglu wrote:
>
>> This is a partial translation of a memo, covering MS-Office to
>> OpenOffice switching part of a Windows to Linux desktop migration.
>> It's a bit old and mixed with platform migration. I hope you will
>> excuse my awkward language due to translation. (Presupposing it is
>> any better otherwise :)
>
> Where is this from, Abdullah? Is it a translation from a document of
> your own?
It's a passage from an old memo which I had prepared for an ex business
partner computer firm. I was working as a freelance consultant providing
Linux solutions and services, and they were penetrating companies selling
hardware. We were complementing each other. We're parted now, though.
nessuno
> begin B Gruff <bbg...@yahoo.co.uk> dedi ki:
> > Abdullah Ramazanoglu wrote:
> >
> >> This is a partial translation of a memo, covering MS-Office to
> >> OpenOffice switching part of a Windows to Linux desktop migration.
> >> It's a bit old and mixed with platform migration. I hope you will
> >> excuse my awkward language due to translation. (Presupposing it is
> >> any better otherwise :)
> >
> > Where is this from, Abdullah? Is it a translation from a document of
> > your own?
>
> It's a passage from an old memo which I had prepared for an ex business
> partner computer firm. I was working as a freelance consultant providing
> Linux solutions and services, and they were penetrating companies selling
> hardware. We were complementing each other. We're parted now, though.
There's a book, "OOoswitch: 501 things you want to know about
switching Openoffice.org from Microsoft Office", by Tamar E. Granor,
$32.97 at Amazon. I don't know it personally, though. Do you know
it, and is it worth it?
Thanks, Nessuno
Abdullah Ramazanoglu
> There's a book, "OOoswitch: 501 things you want to know about
> switching Openoffice.org from Microsoft Office", by Tamar E. Granor,
> $32.97 at Amazon. I don't know it personally, though. Do you know
> it, and is it worth it?
I didn't know it, but looking it over at amazon, which also lead to
several other good titles, it seems to be a good book for users trying to
switch from MS-Office. It's not a migration guide, though. It's basically
an OOo user's guide (for those with MS-Office background). It's got good
review from readers, seems an easy reading book, capitalizes on presumed
knowledge of MS-Office (as I gather). It might be the best resource for a
veteran MS-Office user who just switched to OOo. (311 pages)
Here are other related books I've seen at amazon, BTW, and summary info
based on their editorials and reviews:
Basic to intermediate user level:
"OpenOffice.org for Dummies" by Gurdy Leete, Ellen Finkelstein, Mary Leete
384 pages, $16.49. Gets good reader review as OOoSwitch. One switching
company lends it out to users.
Intermediate to advanced level:
"Taming OpenOffice.org Writer 1.1" by Jean Hollis Weber
172 pages, $16.50. Weberwoman's Wrevenge, October 2003
"OpenOffice.org Writer" by Jean Hollis Weber
234 pages, $16.97. O'Reilly, July 2004
I guess, they are basically the same book, with O'Reilly edition being a
bit more up to date and some extra content.
"Teach Yourself" line:
"Sams Teach Yourself OpenOffice.org All In One" by by Greg Perry, Kenyon
Brown
512 pages, $20.39. I don't know what to say about this. I personally
dislike Sams series. Actually I would ask for payment to read a Sams
book, as opposed to the other way around. YMMV.
Unfortunately they're not of much use to me. I need to choose from Turkish
titles.
Abdullah Ramazanoglu
> This is a partial translation of a memo, covering MS-Office to OpenOffice
> switching part of a Windows to Linux desktop migration. It's a bit old and
> mixed with platform migration.
Looking at it again, this translation seems to be showing its age. It is
interesting to contrast a few years back against today, to see how fast
open source is booming.
A few years back, there was a general sceptism regarding both desktop
Linux, and OpenOffice. One needed to try hard to persuade a boss to switch
to OpenOffice. And when some user went to boss and said "To be able to do
my work, I need MS-Office. OpenOffice just doesn't cut it" (incorrect,
ofcourse) all the eyes would be turned on you, and it was your job to
prove to the contrary.
Today, the sceptism grossly replaced by eagerness. Executives know what's
happening around. Many companies use OpenOffice. Perhaps his main
competitor uses it. And he knows damn well that IT WORKS. When you know
that it just works, and when you see that many companies are riding free
on it, then it seems crazy, simply insane, not to switch to OpenOffice.
Now, if some worker goes to the boss and makes the same complaint, all the
eyes won't turn to the poor sweating consultant, but to the one who makes
the complaint. Once you get to this point, OpenOffice migration is all too
easy, because the difficulties associated with it were not essentially
technical ones in the first place. They were mostly related to social
acceptance of OpenOffice. So extra pains had needed to be taken just to
make the switch as smooth and transparent as possible. Otherwise, anybody
can install OpenOffice. Any MS-Office user can use OpenOffice. At least
the janitor can. There may be several minor inconveniences regarding user
interface and formatting mismatches, while switching. But the same
inconveniences might equally apply to a major switch from one MS-Office
version to another. They're tolerable.
When the boss slaps the table and demands it, no consultant, no expert,
nothing really needed for a MS-Office to OpenOffice migration. It just
happens. Easily with the help of a consultant, or a bit roughly by
themselves.
However, for Windows to Linux switch there are technical issues to deal
with, so still an expert needed.
I don't mean at all that high management's support to be taken lightly. It
is as important as ever. Only, now it is much easier to get there.
Hey, it's truly an avalanche! Just give it 5 years, and before 2010
OpenOffice will probably be the dominant office suite. People will be
exchanging documents in .sxw format. I wonder whether MS-Office will be
recognizing .sxw document format then.
kier
Perhaps you'd tell that to DFS - he seems to think they're the end of the
world.
>
> When the boss slaps the table and demands it, no consultant, no expert,
> nothing really needed for a MS-Office to OpenOffice migration. It just
> happens. Easily with the help of a consultant, or a bit roughly by
> themselves.
>
> However, for Windows to Linux switch there are technical issues to deal
> with, so still an expert needed.
>
> I don't mean at all that high management's support to be taken lightly. It
> is as important as ever. Only, now it is much easier to get there.
>
> Hey, it's truly an avalanche! Just give it 5 years, and before 2010
> OpenOffice will probably be the dominant office suite. People will be
> exchanging documents in .sxw format. I wonder whether MS-Office will be
> recognizing .sxw document format then.
Half the time it can't even manage to recognise its *own* format, so I
doubt it somehow :-)
>
> --8<--
nessuno
Dear Abdullah,
Thanks. I was looking for books on OpenOffice because I never learned
MS Office, and I found OOo help not very useful. BTW, I use OOo to
send files back and forth with MS Office users, and sometimes they
send me things that OOo can't handle. One of them was an Excel sheet
in which I was supposed to fill in some information and send it back.
Somehow they had locked some of the columns (the ones I wasn't
supposed to modify) with a password or something, and OOo said it
couldn't open the document because it was password protected.
Something like that. So I took it to a machine running Excel, and it
was no problem (it didn't ask for a password). It makes me worry that
MS will find ways of screwing OOo.
Nessuno
Abdullah Ramazanoglu
> On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 04:43:55 +0300, Abdullah Ramazanoglu wrote:
>> begin Abdullah Ramazanoglu <abdu...@ramazanoglu.tr> dedi ki:
> Perhaps you'd tell that to DFS - he seems to think they're the end of the
> world.
I observe two funny things about most of those trolls. Firstly, they are
more interested in Microsoft's short and long term benefits than their
alleged personal preferences. From an alternative OS fan, I would expect
whole hearted, maybe blind promotion of their preferred OS against Linux,
but there's no sensible explanation to their general hostility against the
whole open source process. They're even not locked on open source vs.
closed source preference (which is a rather strategic preference and hard
to explain with being a "fan") as they can happily use them. Only when
some open source product starts to threaten Microsoft's benefits, then
these trolls all turn 180 degree and start to criticize it. They're happy
with Mozilla, they were happy with OpenOffice till yesterday (while
OpenOffice was less mature than it is now), but they opened an all out
front against OpenOffice now. Why? Because OpenOffice is well on its way
to replace MS-Office? Because MS-Office is the biggest revenue source for
Microsoft? Because OpenOffice is the most important step toward Windows to
Linux migration of corporate desktops? The only explanation is that they
are only carrying out their orders coming right from Microsoft strategic
marketing and PR.
The second funny thing is that, their rampant struggle against OpenOffice
is a very good indicator that OpenOffice is really conquering the desktop.
Abdullah Ramazanoglu
> Abdullah Ramazanoglu <abdu...@ramazanoglu.tr> wrote in message news:
>> begin nes...@wigner.berkeley.edu (nessuno) dedi ki:
>>> Abdullah Ramazanoglu <abdu...@ramazanoglu.tr> wrote in message news:
>>>> begin B Gruff <bbg...@yahoo.co.uk> dedi ki:
>>>>> Abdullah Ramazanoglu wrote:
--8<--
>> Unfortunately they're not of much use to me. I need to choose from
>> Turkish titles.
To give out to users.
> Dear Abdullah,
>
> Thanks. I was looking for books on OpenOffice because I never learned
> MS Office, and I found OOo help not very useful. BTW, I use OOo to send
> files back and forth with MS Office users, and sometimes they send me
> things that OOo can't handle. One of them was an Excel sheet in which I
> was supposed to fill in some information and send it back. Somehow they
> had locked some of the columns (the ones I wasn't supposed to modify)
> with a password or something, and OOo said it couldn't open the document
> because it was password protected. Something like that. So I took it to
> a machine running Excel, and it was no problem (it didn't ask for a
> password).
Hi Nessuno,
I have looked into OpenOffice issues database but couldn't find a similar
problem. If the doc is not classified, then if you send me the doc, I am
willing to submit an issue and send in the offending doc to OpenOffice.
> It makes me worry that MS will find ways of screwing OOo.
As long as they hold the priviledge of setting the rules, I'm sure they
will do it. All proprietary vendors did it to cripple their clones. In the
end, they all ended up in one of two possibilities: Either they
successfully killed their clones with this strategy, or if their clones
managed to survive then all those tamperings proved to be shot in the foot
because they bounced back to them and bit them. Their own products started
to show compatibility problems, which worked against them (while their
clones were more immune to this because they were double hardened
regarding compatibility issues). So they lost their grip and fell.
As it seems, there is no way Microsoft can block OpenOffice, except
resorting to yet to be imagined dirty and/or illegal tricks. So, I think,
all these fiddlings with document formats will only bite back Microsoft.
nessuno
<snip>
>
> Hi Nessuno,
>
> I have looked into OpenOffice issues database but couldn't find a similar
> problem. If the doc is not classified, then if you send me the doc, I am
> willing to submit an issue and send in the offending doc to OpenOffice.
>
> > It makes me worry that MS will find ways of screwing OOo.
>
> As long as they hold the priviledge of setting the rules, I'm sure they
> will do it. All proprietary vendors did it to cripple their clones. In the
> end, they all ended up in one of two possibilities: Either they
> successfully killed their clones with this strategy, or if their clones
> managed to survive then all those tamperings proved to be shot in the foot
> because they bounced back to them and bit them. Their own products started
> to show compatibility problems, which worked against them (while their
> clones were more immune to this because they were double hardened
> regarding compatibility issues). So they lost their grip and fell.
>
> As it seems, there is no way Microsoft can block OpenOffice, except
> resorting to yet to be imagined dirty and/or illegal tricks. So, I think,
> all these fiddlings with document formats will only bite back Microsoft.
Dear Abdullah,
Thanks for the offer, but I don't have the file any more. It was
about a year ago, and I'm not even sure if I was running OO.o 1.0 back
then (instead of 1.1 that I run now). But you've motivated me to
contact the OO.o people if I find any further incompatibilities.
I don't know what MS will do to try to kill OO.o, but it seems to me
that there must have gone out an order from Redmond to attack OO.o,
because all of a sudden all the trolls are hitting it. I mean just in
the last week or so, it's obvious all over this NG. These people have
set up their own copies of OO.o and are comparing it in detail to MS
Office, looking for unfavorable comparisons. Some real effort has
gone into it. So I take it that MS is very much threatened by OO.o,
as indeed they should be.
I certainly wouldn't want to be doing the coding at OO.o to try to
keep up with MS file format changes, though. Doesn't sound like much
fun.
Regards, Nessuno