I’ve been fiddling with OpenOffice quite a bit the past couple of days as such I feel compelled to post my findings on the site. As I stated in the previous OpenOffice article you should expect the upcoming OpenOffice tutorials to point out some of the features that we are accustomed to using in the Microsoft Office suite and are available in OOo. If you have never used OpenOffice before I forewarn you, it will feel different, items are named differently, tools are named and located in other areas, the GUI (graphical user interface – what you see and use) is nothing like Office 2007, however similar in some respects to Office 2003 and older. The tutorial below will show you how to perform a word count on your current document. I hope that you find these tutorials useful and easy to follow. If you have any comments or questions, please post them below.

Note: I used OpenOffice.org 3, if you have not downloaded the software yet, you can download it here.

1. With OpenOffice.org Writer open, click on Tools > Word Count

2. The Word Count window will open providing you with the number of Words and Characters for a Current Selection and the Whole Document. When you are done, click OK.

This past week I downloaded the new version (3) of OpenOffice.org, so far I like the improvements and the ease of use. Like many other programs that I write about on this website, I will be writing a series of tutorials on using the Open Office Suite, I aim to make this a the resource for those of you who would like to learn how to use Open Office and how similar Microsoft Office features can be found on this FREE suite. If you have any comments or questions, please post them below.

Note: I used OpenOffice.org 3, if you have not downloaded the software yet, you can download it here. [Free Download]

1. After installing OpenOffice you will notice that there is an icon on your desktop named OpenOffice.org 3, double-click this icon to run OpenOffice.org

2. You will be presented with the window above, from here you can select what item you would like to create, the options are listed below alongside the Microsoft Office equivalents,

Text Document with OOo Writer – Equivalent to Word

Presentation with OOo Impress – Equivalent to Powerpoint

Database with OOo Base – Equivalent to Access

Spreadsheet with OOo Calc – Equivalent to Excel

Drawing with OOo Draw – Equivalent to Paint with Steroids

Formula with OOo Math – Equivalent to using symbols in Office Applications (This is a great tool for Math Teachers)

Note: You can also access these applications from your Start Menu (see below), OOo is short for OpenOffice.org

Now that you know which programs can be used to substitute Microsoft Office programs check back or subscribe to Gil’s Method so that you can stay up to date with upcoming OpenOffice.org tutorials.