Microsoft Office Over Open Office for the Classroom

I have little knowledge of OpenOffice.org or experience with their software suite, but I feel like I can make a strong argument that when selecting a software suite for use in an educational institution it should not be chosen over Microsoft Office in most instances. While researching the Open Office software to compare to the Microsoft products I found several positive attributes. In terms of usefulness and usability, the programs contained in Open Office’s software suite are comparable to those of Microsoft (video comparison. Probably the most beneficial aspect of Open Office is the cost (free). In terms of price it is hard for a for profit business to compete with free. Microsoft does offer an Academic Edition with cheaper licensing but this still does not compare favorably to Open Offices pricing. If budget constraints are a concern, and they are certainly prevalent in public education today, Open Office is certainly a viable option that should be considered.

With Open Office providing comparable products and offering them free of charge, you may be asking yourself, how can this guy feel that the Microsoft Office suite is the better option for schools? I have two answers for that:

Support-Technical support for the products favors Microsoft. Microsoft has a lot to gain by providing quality support for the products they offer to their customers. Open Office, on the other hand, is an open source product and is provided free of charge. The technical support offered for their products is limited in comparison.

Use-The widespread use of Microsoft Office is the main reason that I feel their products are the ones to choose for our students. Having worked in several industries, in several positions, and having searched for jobs on a couple of occasions during the past decade, I can say with confidence that skills and experience with Microsoft’s products are in high demand. One of the main purposes of an education is to prepare students for success outside of school. One way that we can do this is to provide them with knowledge and experience with skills that are in demand in the job market. In past interviews I have been asked if I had experience with and was comfortable with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. I have also read a lot of ads for jobs that listed experience with Excel and Word as requirements or preferred skills.

The support alone certainly would not outweigh the cost difference between these two products when trying to select one for school use over the other. However, I feel that the demand for experience with Microsoft products in the “real world” makes their suite the easy choice for our students. If the costs cannot be absorbed Open Office is certainly a viable option, and much better than nothing, but selecting the Microsoft Office suite is in the best interests of our students.