Apache OpenOffice vs Retable: Which is a better fit?

Mark: Hi, my name is Mark and I'm the executive director of a nonprofit that does video production for other nonprofits. Today I'm rating Apache OpenOffice. I rate it five out of five stars. For more reviews like this, click below. So the other word processing softwares that I considered using before Apache OpenOffice were Microsoft Word and Apple's Pages. Microsoft Word is what I learned on and is kind of the universal word processing software, but it was becoming cumbersome to continue paying for it. And Apple's Pages was not compatible with everything I needed to work for. So those are the two other softwares I had used before, before coming across Apache's OpenOffice. The first and foremost main reason I chose Apache OpenOffice was because that it's free and open source and it's always available for any type of word processing need. It did all the basic word processing tasks that I needed it to do. Producing documents, exporting into PDFs, exporting into .DOC files and .DOCX files and reading .DOC and .DOCX files. And so the main reason I chose it is because as a student, undergrad and grad school, I wasn't able to continue paying for the other two softwares, Word and Pages, and I needed something that was affordable or free like Apache, but did the basic word processing tasks that were needed. Also, I spent a good amount of time overseas and it was really helpful to have something that was open source and would work compatibly with other people's softwares and computers that might not be the same that are used in the U.S. And so having the open source word processing available is really helpful to me. And Apache was the only one out there that I could find that worked great and was also free. From my memory, Apache was relatively easy to get started. It took a small learning curve, maybe a couple documents to make sure I exported it in the right format to match with other Word documents or making sure I put the right file extension at the end of them. But by and large, the basic settings at the top panel are pretty similar to other word processors. And so once I got it downloaded, installed, and opened, it was pretty much just like using the word processing softwares I was used to, specifically Word. So it was relatively easy to get started. And for those of you who are used to using other word processors, Apache operates pretty much the same. So it was easy for me to start using it. It wasn't really any big hurdle to get into it. The recommendations I would have if you're considering using Apache's OpenOffice would be first, just make sure you have looked into it and it does everything you need it to do. If you have really complex templates or graphics that you need in your Word documents, you'll just want to see if it has those. But I would recommend if you just need basic word processing and you don't want to pay for monthly or annual software subscriptions to Microsoft, or you don't use an Apple computer that has Pages, I would definitely recommend you looking into it because it fits all the file formats, the basic universal file formats. And it is just really handy to have. I have found, for nonprofits, there are programs out there from the other softwares where you can get the softwares for free for nonprofit, the other ones, but they're pretty long processes to apply and get approved. You have to send all your documents in and Apache's is 100% open, open source and free always. You can just go download it right now. And so there's no red tape you have to go through to get access to basic word processing for free. So I just say, if you're someone out there who needs that or you know someone who does, who is early in learning how to use computers or early into IT for their nonprofit or business, or even students, that this is one way to go, that's just totally free and works just like you need it to.