Universal 'Office' Suite Facing Competition, but Still Standard for Computer Jobs

In response to Microsoft's increased security and anti-piracy efforts, OpenOffice.org is issuing their own message: use their office suite instead. Though its access is completely free and legal, users should still beg the question, "if it's not broken, do we need to fix it?"

Advertising themselves as an alternative to the Microsoft Office suite of programs, (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Access, etc.), OpenOffice is a software suite including a word processor, spreadsheet application, and more. Its software completes virtually any task that the MS suite performs.

Alternatives to the successful products from the software leader have been around for a few years. Firefox, another software alternative, has been downloaded over 1 million times.

MS Office Training Still Required for Computer Jobs

Although alternatives may grow in prevalence, the fact remains that Microsoft software training in Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Quickbooks, among other programs, is still required of many computer jobs. Any entry-level computer job requires the use of at least Word and Excel, and in many cases, the rest of the MS Office suite. This training is a must for computer engineering jobs, networking jobs, and computer jobs in IT.

OpenOffice offers a tutorial for its software suite, but Microsoft training is available in a variety of venues: on-campus at a college or leaning center, online, or at the site of your company. Ongoing training is available for all levels of users. Virtually all computer engineering jobs, including entry-level computer jobs, either require MS Office training or will offer it after the employee's start date.

Alternatives can be useful, but MS Office software training is still the standard for computer jobs.

Sources
ZD Net
The Economic Times