PowerPoint has been getting a bit of a bad press of late, what with it being 20 years old and all that. We’ve had such a stunning response to our free Open Office Impress templates that we decided that it would be worth putting together a comparison of Impress and seeing where we think that it is actually better than PowerPoint.
Here are a number of areas where we think that Impress is better than PowerPoint.
1. Impress is free. Being Open Source – Impress is free to download and make your own modifications. PowerPoint on the other hand can set you back at current prices around £171 or $197 (so why exactly is it almost twice as much in the UK?)
For less than this you can get Open Office Impress, an iPod Nano and have enough left over for a modest meal.
I know which one I would go for.
2. Export to Flash. If you want to put your slides online it is pretty hard going in PowerPoint. With Impress you can export your slides to Flash. Sure it is pretty basic and you lose all animation, but it is easy to put online.
If you click on the example above you can see a simple file that I created in Impress and then converted to Flash.
3. Eyedropper tool. The eyedropper tool allows you to pick up a colour from an object or from a picture. You can do this in Photoshop, but it means opening up a new application. In Impress it is a tool within the application.
4. Visual indicator on the crop tool. It is pretty easy to crop images from within Impress. You have a measurement of how much you are cropping and you can also see the area to be cropped.
5. You can import PowerPoint files and you can save as PowerPoint.
While not a benefit over PowerPoint it makes it very easy to migrate from PowerPoint to Impress. Microsoft employed this trick in the early 90s when most users migrated from Lotus 1-2-3 to Excel.
This comparison has been made with PowerPoint 2003 (which is the version that most people have).
For a complete overview of Impress and PowerPoint you can read the Bruce Byfield article OpenOffice vs Powerpoint
So what do you think? Do you think that Impress is better than PowerPoint? Please leave us your thoughts below.
Related Posts
22 July 2007
Filed under OpenOffice Impress, PowerPoint Theme Single (new)
Comments on: Is Open Office Impress better than PowerPoint?
[...] technology. It contains a number of features not available in PowerPoint. See our posts on Is Open Office Impress better than PowerPoint? and Free Impress Templates. You can also read Bruce Byfield’s comparison of Open Office and [...]
Posted by Presentation Software - The Top Ten (10) - Presentation Helper — 20 August 2007 @ 11:55 am
Impress is as good as powerpoint thogh it lacks templates and a wizard it is free NEPRA just downloaded open office and thinks it is as good as ms office.
Posted by NEPRA — 9 October 2007 @ 6:14 pm
Nice Template Thanks for sharing. Pls do visit Bangalore Caterers.
Posted by Bangalore Caterers — 29 December 2007 @ 11:25 am
shti
Posted by khkhy — 29 May 2008 @ 3:55 pm
We prefer powerpoint- much easier to use!
Posted by Oliver, Matilda, Henry, Stella and Elliott — 19 June 2008 @ 7:49 pm
impress is good but powerpoint, especially 2003 & 2007, are far more better. impress is like powerpoint 97/2000.
Posted by bryant — 25 June 2008 @ 2:51 am
I don’t know if this is the right place but does any one have any points on why powerpoint is better than impress
Thanks
Posted by Scott — 22 July 2008 @ 3:35 pm
What if I have a slideshow that has a sound track (such as the accompanying lecture) — can I export it to a video format like AVI or MPG to put it on a DVD?
Posted by Todd Boyle — 21 August 2008 @ 6:33 pm
I work with some small, local nonprofits and Impress/Open Office makes a lot more sense than spending good money on MS Office that can be used to better purposes. Plus, the templates available for OO don’t look like the same, tired MS stock we’ve seen for years.
Posted by Theron — 25 August 2008 @ 1:32 am
[...] worse is still Powerpoint (I know, I know. My cool Mac friends tout Keynote and there’s groovy open-source stuff out there too, but we like to rock our presentations old-school here at [...]
Posted by Thinking Visually « PR MAMA — 17 September 2008 @ 7:07 pm
It may be important to point that your presentation files can be accessed anytime with any other application, because OpenOffice.org Impress uses an open (non-proprietary) file format.
PPT presentations depend on a proprietary application or in some other kind of import functionality (like OpenOffice.org Impress has).
Free your mind, share information, use free software.
Posted by Fefu — 26 October 2008 @ 10:44 pm
I’ve just started using Impress after many years on powerpoint. The biggest hassle so far for me seems to be printing- I often end up printing individual pages when I want handouts with multiple slides, and in some cases both individual pages and handouts get printed and I have no idea why. But, as mentioend above, the price can’t be beat!
Posted by Life Planner — 7 December 2008 @ 2:50 am
Yes, I think impress is much better for all the reasons listed by the author. It’s a great program, I have used it hundreds of times and I love it.
Posted by Sirley — 27 February 2009 @ 9:33 pm
Some one said that impress are like M$ powerpoint 97/2000 whatever. I should told him that started form version 2 of OpenOffice.org, the impress of OOo
has became the same looking (and the same using method) of 2003.
And how about when the 3.0 version compare with MS 2007?
Did you think a free thing will become too “user-friendly” (and u have to learn again anything in 2007)?
The OOo version 3.0 will not let you learn everything again .
Posted by ZumarX Ku — 14 April 2009 @ 7:37 pm
I’m using OOo Impress. No need for MS Office anymore!
Posted by Firefly — 7 May 2009 @ 6:15 am
Yes
Posted by Mohan Babu Dussa — 26 May 2009 @ 7:07 am
Powerpoint is faster, better looking, less prone to bugs and errors, and entirely more convenient than the pitiful excuse for a presentation program offered by OpenOffice. It is absolutely worth the price of buying it, especially if you’re planning on using advanced tools like custom animations. Heck, those animations look absolutely awful on Impress, even on very fast computers- how hard is it to make a picture move across a screen? And don’t even get me started on templates, list glitches and font issues. Absolutely awful experience if you try anything beyond the basics.
I had to use OpenOffice for months before I finally got to switch over to Microsoft’s program, and I must say I’m glad I did.
Posted by Mike — 8 June 2009 @ 6:12 pm
Open Office provides the core functionality that most people use in Microsoft Office. OK some would call the apps basic – but if that’s all you use why spend on the money on MS Office.
Posted by Microsoft Office Training — 20 June 2009 @ 9:33 pm
I am not sure which versions are you comparing, but after trying to make a simple presentation in Impress, I am very disappointed. It constantly provides some bugs – either font changes itself, or it crashes or some background elements disappear. Even Google Docs is more stable. I am sure this can be a great application, but developers should think of improving stability and providing a better design. I like PowerPoint, because it does not crash and everything is intuitive (so, I don’t have to look up the documentation). But, I agree, that the price hurts
.
Posted by Rryk — 26 June 2009 @ 6:59 pm
I am using Open Office. I felt also happy being not to get a product which has no license fee. But if you are professional, then the time you waste on silly things in Impress is better spent of buying Power Point license. I am extremly frustrated by this Impress 3.0. I had a simple problem where I have every time changed the text colour to black. And as soon as I save the file. The colour is again transparent for the text for no reason.
Posted by Frustrated from Impress 3.0 — 9 July 2009 @ 11:01 am
As a professional astroturfer I must say that Microsoft products are worth the money. Power Point is much easier to use and is professional software. If you are not a professional and you are a communist then second-rate, hack OSS solutions may do a partially adequate job of serving you. And while you are using superior Microsoft Office software why not upgrade to Vista? It’s the most stable, secure and easy to use operating system in the world.
Posted by Anonymous — 9 July 2009 @ 7:40 pm
Astroturfer I’m not sure that i would agree about Vista. I soldiered on with it for about 9 months and then downgraded to XP. It’s been great not to have crashes and for my PC to do what I want it to do.
One of my friends was almost in tears when I went to his office. He had just had the Vista “blue screen of death” and his PC was down for the day.
Posted by admin — 10 July 2009 @ 5:48 pm
Frustrated
I’m not saying that OpenOffice is perfect, but it is at least free.
It almost strikes me that we need to get a group of people together and form a fighting fund.
If we could get a number of companies to contibute a small proportion of what they spend on PowerPoint licences we could hire a number of developers and make it into a world beating (but still free) product.
Posted by admin — 10 July 2009 @ 5:51 pm
Three words… Quicktime movie file
Posted by SG — 15 July 2009 @ 8:29 pm
that is to say, powerpoint does not support quicktime and open office impress does, if you need high quality, low file size footage in your presentation then impress is by far and away the best possible choice.
Posted by SG — 15 July 2009 @ 8:34 pm
I teach college physics and use Impress for my slides because Open Office Math has a much faster interface than MS office equation editor. You can write any equation using just the keyboard. With MS office equation editor, you need to use the mouse as input device which is too slow to write anything but the simplest of equations.
Posted by Marc — 16 August 2009 @ 7:13 pm
I agree that powerpoint is more reliable than impress which seems to be the weakest application in the OOO suite. However, if its the best tool for the job that you are looking for then you have to try Keynote. I am able to run virtually any windows app on my mac, it’s such a same that PC users can not access Mac apps and really appreciate some of their cool abilities.
Posted by PAC — 19 August 2009 @ 8:05 pm
Although impress and whole bunch of OOo lacks a good look, it has improved much than earlier,however there are some glitches and OOo is less mature than powerpoint.however i use OOo instead of office as impress is free and got reduced hassles when doing work in legel way
.if you like to see officem 2007 look then google for open office Renaissance which got some mods over the current OOo.but the good part of OOo is that i’m free of additional software cost which will sum up about $500 ~ just for OS and office package!!!
Posted by Darshana — 24 August 2009 @ 8:25 am
Firefox plus Vista equals no crashing here… its Internet Explorer that drives me batty.. no problems ever with PowerPoint…I love Fire Fox’s add-ons.. like the one that blocks dancing animations.. FLASH BLOCK!! Woo hoo, I love it. Also Add Block… nice clear clean pages, lovely… yay
Posted by Anonymous — 23 November 2009 @ 3:52 pm
If you are only getting PowerPoint 2003 or less, DON’T BOTHER!!!! Get OpenOffice.org FOR FREE!!! No trials, nagging popup messages, OR ANYTHING. A great piece of Open source freeware.
BUT if you are considering getting Powerpoint 2007, it is WORTH paying the money for all the MORE UPDATED tools you get! ALSO COMES WITH FONTS YOU NORMALLY HAVE TO PAY FOR. And don’t forget the AMAZING clipart, photos, animations, .etc.
FOR OPEN OFFICE: I can’t belive this program is free for lots of high-quality programs that other people think you’ve payed for.
AGAINST OPEN OFFICE: Not enough themes or clipart. Gradiants can be “liney” and “pixellated.
FOR POWERPOINT: One think I absolutely LOVE about PowerPoint is the “Set transparency color” feature. If you get an image off Google that has a white background, it can look awful if you use a background color or picture, but if you use the tool, it makes it looks amazing.
AGAINST POWERPOINT; When I first got PowerPoint, I was used to Powerpoint ‘03 and OpenOffice.org, I found the new menu system a little fustrating, trying to find the correct tool, but after a while you get used to it! ALSO THE PRICE “EEEEEKK!”. I got mine discounted anyway! yay!
So for the basic features DOWNLOAD OPENOFFICE, for more professional presentations GET POWERPOINT!!
Posted by MSWindowsStuff — 26 November 2009 @ 8:38 pm
linked to my other message
SORRY I MEAN IMPRESS, NOT THE WHOLE OF OPEN OFFICE!!!
Posted by MSWindowsStuff — 26 November 2009 @ 8:41 pm
Right, well… I have a PC and also a laptop, and the PC has the Microsoft programms installed. I wanted to get all the Microsoft programming for the laptop but within the boundaries of my budget it was something I could not afford, and I found myself settled with a laptop without a CD drive. I can, therefore, obtain none of these programs. OpenOffice was the only alternative without becoming an illegal file-sharer, and I chose OpenOffice. I must say, it is useful in its own right- yes, Microsoft is superior- but the no-pricetag attachment is very attractive indeed. Say what you will, but OpenOffice is a charming little program. And in comparison to Flynote, the other competitor of Word and the OpenOffice equivalent, OpenOffice wins each time. I hope this helps.
Posted by Neutral-Pro — 16 January 2010 @ 7:33 pm
Oh, and another thing… Microsoft’s own free alternative, Microsoft works, offers only a viewer, not a creator, for powerpoints. Another point in favour of OpenOffice. I have Works on my laptop freely to use, but I prefer making my own powerpoints, not watching somebody else’s. I’ll go now, promise!
Posted by Neutral-Pro — 16 January 2010 @ 7:36 pm
For everyone saying PPT is better because it has more animations… I am very, very glad I have never sat through one of your presentations. Animations are the bane of professional presentations (well, along with clashing colours and cluttered slides).
Just Say No to powerpoint animations!
Also, for those saying ‘not enough themes’, there are lots available to download online.
On-topic: I prefer Impress because it means I don’t need to boot over to Windows to write a presentation…
Posted by James — 18 January 2010 @ 2:19 pm
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