This particular article focuses on OpenOffice.org (the office suite formerly known as OpenOffice), in particular its word processor component. Please note that this article is from a KDE-centric viewpoint. Almost all of the items mentioned here, however, apply equally well to GNOME and other desktop environments.
OpenOffice.org is a feature-rich office productivity suite distributed and maintained by Sun Microsystems. Comparable to Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org includes a word processor, a spreadsheet application, presentation software and graphic program applications. OpenOffice.org is incredibly powerful; many believe that it is not only as good as MS Office, but better in many ways. OpenOffice.org is available for other platforms as well, including Solaris and Microsoft Windows, and it runs equally well on all of them. OpenOffice.org offers the ability to import many different types of documents and templates from a variety of other programs, including Microsoft Word. It can also export to a wide range of formats, including HTML, PDF and MS Office XP.