If you are familiar with the workings of Microsoft Office, then Open Office works pretty much the same way. It is an open-source office suite acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999. Initially, the office suite was used for internal purposes. But in the year 2000, the company made the application open-source to compete against Microsoft Office.
Later in 2011, Oracle which owned Sun Microsystems discontinued the commercial version and donated the software to the Apache foundation. After Apache acquired the application, it renamed the application to Apache Open Office. Now, this software is widely known as Apache Open Office.
Apache Open Office is considered to be an alternative to Microsoft Office and working with it becomes easy if you know how to use Microsoft Office. Just like Microsoft Office, this office suite also contains a word processor (Writer), a spreadsheet (Calc), a drawing application (Draw), a presentation application (Impress), and more. The office suite is available in many languages and works on different operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. You can install the software on multiple computers.
The reasons for using Open Office are plenty but one thing that stands out is, it is completely free to use. Unlike other office software, Open Office doesn’t charge you to download and to use its services. It has been released under Apache 2.0 License which means you can use it for any purpose. The software can be used for domestic, business, educational, and governmental purposes, and you can use it with ease. Also, it can read files from other office suites. Suppose you have files saved in another office suite, the Open Office still allows you to read those files with ease.
In addition to this, the application allows users to report bugs, ask for new features, or enhance the software, ultimately it works how you want to make it work. This makes the software more user-friendly than others. Apart from this, the use of the software is simple and easy. The software is no rocket science to learn. If you have already been using different office suites then working with this office suite becomes much easier.
That said, the software has been downloaded over 200 million times across the world. This is because it has an interface that is user-friendly. Most importantly, it has premium features that are similar to what you get in other premium office suites. The inclusion of such premium features has motivated companies to download the application and try its features.
Some organizations that make use of Open Office are:
- Government
Government employees working at all levels of government offices use Apache Open Office. The applications easily meet the everyday work of a government office worker, be it writing reports using the word processor, or storing data with the help of a database.
- Education Sector
Apache Open Office comes in handy for every educational establishment, be it primary, high school, college, or university. Teachers and students alike use the Apache Openoffice software. For students, the software helps them to learn basic computer skills. In fact, the software allows students to make copies of it and use them in their homes. Similarly, for teachers, the software comes in handy to create subject notes and also perform administrative tasks.
- Businesses
From small establishments to big corporate giants, these establishments are using Apache Open Office for performing different tasks. Whether using spreadsheets for accounting purposes or creating key business presentations using a presentation application, an Open Office allows businesses to perform these operations with ease. In fact, most small businesses can’t afford expensive tools for doing IT-related work. Here, this application can be helpful in providing free essential tools to complete IT-related tasks.
- Non-Profit Organizations
Non-profit organizations are also using Apache Open Office, widely. One of the main reasons for them using this software is, it is free. As you might know, non-profit organizations do minimal spending, unlike profit-based businesses. Software like Open Office comes in handy when it comes to spending. Speaking of the use of the software in non-profit organizations, its tools like spreadsheets can be used for maintaining the details of donations.
As mentioned above, the software can run on many operating systems like Linux, Windows, and more. Now, we will see how to download and install Apache Open Office on Windows.
How to Install Apache Open Office on Windows
Below are the steps to download and install the application on the Windows operating system.
Step 1
Open your web browser. Go to Google and in the search engine type “Apache Open Office”. Then click on the “Search” button.
Step 2
Now, click on the first result to open the Apache Open Office website. On the website click on the “Apache Open Office” to open the download page. Now, select the appropriate operating system to download the software. Here, we are downloading the software for the Windows Operating system, so we select the Windows operating system as the option.
Step 3
Click the “Download” button to download the software.
Step 4
After downloading the software, go to the folder where the file has been downloaded. Double-click on the file to start the installation.
Step 5
Next, a window box pops up. Click the “Next” button to continue the installation.
Step 6
In the next screen, choose the desired path where you want to install the software and then click the “Install” button.
Step 7
After clicking the button, the installation takes place.
Step 8
Again another screen appears, click the “Next” button. Once you click the button, you will be again asked to click the “Next” button.
Step 9
In the subsequent screens, you will be asked to fill up some details. Fill them accordingly.
Step 10
After filling in the necessary details, finally, you will be presented with a screen where you need to click the “Install” button to install the software. Once the software has been installed, you can run the application and start using it.
There you go. This is how you install Apache Open Office on Windows.
While working on the software, you can also change the fonts according to your preferences. Suppose you are using Word to write something, you can use different fonts of your liking. If you feel like the color of the font of the text doesn’t fit your liking, you can easily change the font color to your preferred color. Below, we will give you a detailed step-by-step explanation on how to change font color in Open Office using Word document.
10 Steps On How To Change Font Color In Open Office Using Word
Step 1
Open the Apache Open Office application.
Step 2
Next, you will find options like “Text Document”, “Spreadsheet”, “Presentation”, “Drawing”, “Database”, and “Formula”. Choose the “Text Document” and click on it.
Step 3
After clicking on it, a window screen opens. On that screen, you can see a new text document.
Step 4
In the document, now, write some text.
Step 5
To apply color to the text, you need to select the text.
Step 6
After selecting the text, go to the “Formatting Toolbar” which is present at the top of the text editor.
Step 7
In the toolbar, you will find the symbol “A”. Click on the symbol to open the “Font Color dialog box”.
Step 8
Once the “Font Color dialog box” opens, you will find different font colors.
Step 9
Pick the color that you like.
Step 10
After selecting the color, click on the color. Once you click on the color, you will find the selected text changed to the new color.
There you go. Following the above steps, you will now know how to change font color in Open Office in Word.
To Sum Up
Apache Open Office is similar to how Microsoft Office works. It is an open-source free office suite that contains tools like a word processor, spreadsheets, a presentation application, a drawing application, and more. The software is popular among organizations like small businesses, public administration offices, non-profit organizations, and more.
One of the main reasons why Apache Open Office is popular is the application is available for free. You don’t need to pay any fee to download the software and use the software. It has all the premium features that are present in other premium office suites. Also, the application allows you to read files from different office suites. Apart from these advantages, there are many other advantages that the application offers.
The office suite runs on different operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. In this article, we have given a detailed explanation of how to download Apache Open Office on Windows.
Now, when working with this software if you find the color of the font to be unpleasant, you can easily change the font color to your preference. We have given a step-by-step explanation on how to change font color in Open Office using Word.
