While OpenOffice.org is first and foremost a desktop office suite, it has a few powerful features that allow you to create some nifty solutions. For example, the Base application supports different database engines such as MySQL, and it can connect and manage remote databases.

In many respects, OpenOffice.org Writer looks like any other word processor. But behind its unassuming interface hides a slew of powerful features, which can help you to create and manage even the most complex documents with consummate ease and efficiency. One such feature is Styles

The AuthorSupportTool extension not just adds some random features to OpenOffice.org Writer, it dramatically enhances the word processor's functionality, turning it into a powerful tool for working on research papers and complex documents.

One of the perqs of being a journalist is that I often hear about software and events before most people. A case in point is Writer's Tools, an extension for OpenOffice.org Writer being developed by my fellow journalist Dimitri Popov, whose articles about macros have taught me most of what I know on the subject.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that a word processor can’t help you to become a better writer, you can use OpenOffice.org Writer with the Writer's Tools extension to improve your writing skills and make the writing process more efficient.

OpenOffice.org Writer is as much a desktop publishing program as a word processor.

It’s paper-writing time again, which means I’ve spent many long hours lately with OpenOffice Writer (for now, I’m still using version 2.4). Writer is a great application and a useful tool for getting work done. But there are some components that I continue to find endlessly frustrating, namely…

Nautilus (the GNOME file manager) is able to display thumbnails for several file types: images, video, audio (holding you mouse over a sound file for a few second), text, pdf, etc.

The purpose of this section is to provide the reader with a 5 minute review of Writer’s most used aspects to get you going as quickly as possible. The Writer area is simply where you will perform most of the real work in creating a document. Writer provides help for the user in intuitive icons on the toolbars.