When comparing Apache OpenOffice vs Abiword + Gnumeric + Dia (formerly GNOME Office), the Slant community recommends Apache OpenOffice for most people. In the question“What are the best office suites for UNIX-like systems?” Apache OpenOffice is ranked 9th while Abiword + Gnumeric + Dia (formerly GNOME Office) is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose Apache OpenOffice is:
Licensed under Apache License.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free and open source
Licensed under Apache License.
Pro Comprehensive suite of applications
Apache OpenOffice includes applications for word-processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and database management.
Pro Cross-platform
OpenOffice is available on Windows, Mac OS, and *nix systems.
Pro Multilingual
OpenOffice is available in 170+ languages.
Pro No CopyLeft
Unlike LibreOffice, its Grandfather OpenOffice is real open software for anyome.
Pro Full compatibility with Microsoft
Fully compatible with Microsoft formats - from the oldest to the latest.
Pro Quickstart
It has quickstart on Linux, a feature that makes opening a file blazing fast.
Pro Lightweight
Both AbiWord & Gnumeric are designed with low resource consumption in mind. As such they are great applications for older computers.
Pro Great import/export features
Pro Free and open-source
Pro Straight forward
'Old' style menu structure is lovely to support users.
Pro Multilingual
Over 30 languages are supported.
Pro Collaborative editing
Abiword is able to edit online collaborative documents.
Cons
Con Dead project
The project looks dead. They can't close even serious security vulnerabilities. You might want to use Libreoffice instead.
Con Documentation is lacking
OpenOffice documentation is incomplete and language is highly technical.
Con No copyleft
It's good for developers but bad for openoffice for example: libreoffice relicensed it under GPL now libreoffice can integrate all changes made to openoffice but openoffice is unable to integrate improvements from libreoffice.
Con Almost abandoned
Very few updates and bug fixes.
Con Default format is only readable with Gnumeric
Gnumeric is able to read/write a lot of file formats including ODS, XLS, XLSX, but it's default .gnumeric format is only readable with Gnumeric.
Con AbiWord has a dated aesthetic
The interface hasn't had a facelift since it's inception in 1998.
Con File interchangability
You may like it or not, but this is an O365 dominated world. And at some time you will need to send somebody the result of your work digitally. Then not being able to share a compatible file format is a pain. Even if your application is great and light (which it is).