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Instructions for Downloading and Installing OpenOffice.org 2.0

Last updated: 2007-02-08

A more extensive (which covers a wider variety of operating systems in great depth) setup guide is available in PDF format here: Extensive setup guide.

Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista Quick-Start Guide for OpenOffice.org 2.0

Welcome to OpenOffice.org's Quick-Start Guide for Windows environments. Below you will find step-by-step instructions to download and install OpenOffice.org version 2.0 on your system. You may want to print this instruction sheet for reference before beginning to download and install OpenOffice.org.

If you are experienced with the Windows operating system, you can use the instructions provided in the next section. Otherwise, skip to Comprehensive Installation Instructions section.

Overview of the download and installation procedure

To download and install OpenOffice.org 2.0, follow this checklist:

Be aware: OOo 2.x replaces an earlier 2.0.x installation

  1. Review the System Requirements for OpenOffice.org use.
  2. Download and install Java JRE if you need the features that are Java dependent. More information on Java & OpenOffice.org.
  3. Download OpenOffice.org 2.0.
  4. Login as administrator (if required).
  5. Unpack and install the downloaded OpenOffice.org 2.0 files.
  6. Run OpenOffice.org 2.0 to ensure that the installation was successful.

Comprehensive Installation Instructions

This section describes in detail how to install OpenOffice.org on your computer system.

The first thing you'll want to do is read through these instructions completely, and use the OpenOffice.org site to answer any questions you might have. The site contains documentation for users of all levels, beginner to advanced; a good place to get started for all new users of OpenOffice.org would be browsing the FAQ.

Note: Log in as an administrator if your computer only allows people with administrator privileges to install programmes.

Review the System Requirements

Your computer needs these resources as a minimum to run OpenOffice.org 2.0 :

  • Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2 or higher), Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista
  • 128 Mbytes RAM (64Mb Minumum, 256Mb Recommended)
  • 300 Mbytes available disk space
  • 800 x 600 or higher resoluation with at least 256 colors

Download OpenOffice.org 2.0

To download OpenOffice.org from our website, you do not need to login. Also, it does not cost anything other than what your costs are to connect to the internet and download a large file.

If your connection is not very fast (and or you are behind a dial up connection), you might consider a program that enables you to pause/resume the download. We've listed some popular download managers here.

To download the most current version of OpenOffice.org:

  1. Display www.openoffice.org, and click on the large green Download button displayed in the middle of the web page. This will display the downloads page.

  2. Do you see a blue box? Inside the blue box, the first drop down menu is prompting you to select your language. Click on the down arrow to the right of this drop down menu and select your language from the list.

    For those languages where more than one mirror site is available you will be prompted to choose the operating system (platform). "Windows" is at the top of the list.

    Choose a mirror (download location) closest to you.

  3. An interim page will be displayed with some information on how to contribute to the project and how to locate other resources, and seek support.

    Click the "Continue to Download" button to proceed to download OpenOffice.org to your computer. You will be prompted by a dialog window as to where you want to place the download file on your computer. Note this down, as you will need to find it later to install OpenOffice.org on your computer.

    Note: You may also want to copy the downloaded file to a backup medium (CD-ROM, ZIP disk, etc.).

  4. To check the integrity of the file that you have downloaded, please refer to the md5sums linked from the download page.

Unpack and install the downloaded OpenOffice.org 2.0 files

  1. Either using Windows Explorer or Mozilla/Netscape's Download Manager, navigate to the OpenOffice.org file you downloaded.

    Windows Explorer users will want to find the file and double-click to launch the unpacking and installation program. Alternately, Mozilla/Netscape users will want to open the Download Manager, highlight the file, and click Launch File. In either case, the unpacking program will start.

    The Welcome window is displayed to note that you have downloaded OpenOffice.org 2.0. Click Next to continue.

  2. The Select Folder window is displayed. Accept the folder name displayed in the text box or enter the name of the folder in which to save the unpacked files, and click Unpack.

  3. Once the files are unpacked, the OpenOffice.org 2.0 Installation Wizard is displayed. Click Next to continue installing OpenOffice.org 2.0.

    4. Follow the prompts, and OpenOffice.org will be installed on your system, ready for use.

  4. Read the information in the Welcome window and then click Next.

    The License Agreement window appears.

    Note: You will need to use the scroll bar to view all of the license text If you do not wish to accept the license, you will be prompted to confirm this before the installation programme closes.

  5. Read the license, select "I accept the terms in the license agreement", and click Next.

    The Customer Information window appears.

    You may leave this form blank, or enter your User Name and if applicable, Organisation.

    Note: If you logged in as administrator you will be prompted to install for all users.

  6. Complete Customer Information form and click Next.

    The Setup Type window appears.

  7. Select a setup type (we recommend Complete) and click Next.

    The File Type window is displayed.

  8. Select the file types that you wish to open with the OpenOffice.org program.

    The default configuration is that all the file types are selected. This means that the OpenOffice.org programme will start when these file types are opened. De-select (click on the ticks) to view, edit and print these file types with your existing word processing, spreadsheet or presentation program.

    Note: If you change your mind, returning to the prior state is tedious. You will need to reassociate all word processing, spreadsheet or presentation files with the appropriate file type. To read more, please see the file associations FAQ on the OpenOffice.org web site.

    You can use file types not associated with OpenOffice.org, by starting Openoffice.org then open the file by choosing Open from the File menu.

  9. Once you have selected the file types click Next.

    The Ready to Install the Program window is displayed.

  10. Click the Back button to return to previous windows to change your installation options, otherwise click Install to begin the installation process.

  11. Click the Finish button when the Installation Wizard Finished window is displayed.

  12. If you logged in as administrator, logout. Each user can then invoke OpenOffice.org from the program menu which will allow the user to configure OpenOffice.org as a workstation copy with no further effort on the part of the user.

Run OpenOffice.org to ensure that the installation was successful

When you first run OpenOffice.org after a successfully installing the program, you will be prompted to accept the license, enter your user name and register your copy.

  1. Login using your user account, and if you installed OpenOffice.org successfully it will appear on the Programs sub-menu of the Start menu.

  2. Click on one of the OpenOffice.org components (we recommend Writer). The Welcome window is displayed.

  3. Click Next to display the License Agreement window.

  4. Scroll to read the license and click Accept to continue. The Transfer personal data window is displayed.

    If you wish to reuse personal data from a previous installation click Next

    If you do not wish to reuse any settings from a previous installed version, unmark the checkbox and click Next.

  5. The user information window is displayed.

    You are prompted to enter your name. This is used in the document properties, templates and when you record changes made to documents. This is useful if you are working on a document with others, but you don't need to complete this information in order to proceed. This information can also be entered later when using the program.

  6. Complete the form and click Next to display the Registration window.

    You will need to be connected to the internet if you select "I want to register now" and click Finish. Your browser will display a welcome message on the OpenOffice.org web site and then redirect you to a user survey page.

    If you are not connected to the internet, you can choose to register later.

    Registration of OpenOffice.org and completion of the user survey is optional and is not required for you to ensure full use of OpenOffice.org.

    Note: Registration of the OpenOffice.org programme is completely separate to subscribing to various OpenOffice.org mailing lists and registering yourself with the www.openoffice.org site to submit bugs, enhancement requests and contribute to projects.

You have successfully installed and run OpenOffice.org. You should now refer to the online help (Choose "OpenOffice.org Help" from the Help menu) or connect to the internet to obtain support from the www.openoffice.org web site by clicking the Support tab available from any web page.

Thank you for using OpenOffice.org, and welcome!

Linux RPM-based Installation

Prerequisites

If you want Java integration, you want to make sure you have the latest JRE installed. It should be at least JRE 1.4. You can find the JRE for Linux at the Java JRE for Linux download site. Or, you can choose to have the JRE included with your OpenOffice.org download. Alternatively, a JRE might be included on the installation media of your distro as part of a complete Java development environment.

Installation Steps

  1. Unpack the downloaded image into a directory. For example, currently, the following command would unpack into the current directory:
  2. tar xvzf OOo_2.0.4_LinuxIntel_install.tar.gz
    This will create a source directory with the OpenOffice.org installation. The directory will have a rather long name but be prefixed by "OO...".
  3. su to root, if necessary, and navigate to OpenOffice.org installation directory, the OO... source directory.
    Since the default packaging of OpenOffice.org for Linux is RPM, you will likely need to be root to run the rpm command.
  4. cd into the RPMS subdirectory of the source directory.
    You should see a lot of rpms here and one sub-directory called "desktop-integration".
  5. Install this new version by typing rpm -Uvih *rpm.
    By default, this will install OpenOffice in your /opt directory.
    NOTE: See additional installation options and other useful information in the Setup Guide.
  6. Finally, cd to desktop-integration. Depending on your package manager/system, install the appropriate desktop interface.

Packages for Linux Distributions (Not compiled by OpenOffice.org staff)

Many Linux distributions now include a version of OpenOffice.org in their own native package manager format (.rpm, .deb, etc.). These packages have been built and are supported by the distributions' own teams, not by OpenOffice.org. Some distributions have strict policies around licensing, which means they have chosen to disable parts of OpenOffice.org which rely on software which does not meet their criteria (e.g. the Fedora rpms have disabled the parts of OpenOffice.org which require Java).

Note: Please check carefully before using a third-party build that it does actually include all the parts of OpenOffice.org that you will require. Replacing a 'native' distribution build with the full OpenOffice.org original build can be tricky, but can usually be successfully accomplished by completely removing the existing 'native' install.

Installation instructions for Apple

Apple users, please have a look at these pages:

A short install instruction for Apple is not available yet. If you have written one and think it would suit this page, please let us know at dev@website.openoffice.org. Thanks in advance!

$Date: 2008/02/11 10:32:06 $ $Revision: 1.4 $