OpenOffice.org Writer

Reviewed by Major Keary

OpenOffice.org's files are astoundingly smaller
than the same data in MS Word format.
If you want a good manual

    I recommend Jean Weber's OpenOffice.org Writer.

Jean Weber is an Australian author with over
twenty-five years of experience as a scientific and technical editor
and writer in the fields of biology, mathematics, engineering, and
computing. She has lectured on writing at several Australian
universities. In the preface she says the book is for intermediate and
advanced word processor users who produce documents that require the
use of more than basic features.

The book does not attempt to delve into every nook and cranny of OOo,
but focuses on those things that the intended audience is likely to
need. Styles rather than online formatting, headers and footers, master
documents, and so on. Chapters headings indicate the scope of the text:

• Setting Up Writer to Work Your Way (preferences and options);
• Writing, Editing, and Reviewing Documents; 
• Controlling Page Layout;
• Using Templates and Styles Effectively;
• Getting the Most from Fields (using fields to hold information
  that changes, developing conditional content, and other ways of
  improving productivity);
• Tables of Contents, Indexes, and Bibliographies;
• Working with Large or Complex Documents;
• Working with Graphics;
• Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks (converting to PDF,
  saving in
  DocBook XML format, working with hyperlinks); and
• Moving from Microsoft Word (a tabulated comparison of Word
  and
  Writer ways of doing things).

An eminently practical manual that deals with features required for
professional-level documents and shows how to make a smooth transition
from MS Word. A companion CD
contains OOo for Windows, Linux,
and Mac OS X. 

Jean Weber: OpenOffice.org Writer

ISBN 0-596-00826-0

Published by O'Reilly, 213 pp. + CD, RRP $49.95 incl. GST