I hear you, damccoy....my memory is NOT what it used to be either and my attitude is NOT what it used to be either. I find myself "cranky" about having to spend my valuable time learning something new when what I was doing was perfectly fine and suited my needs. AND I would really prefer spending my time doing something else more fun...like quilting or sewing or reading on my kindle or gardening or scrapbooking or cooking or most anything than sitting in front of a computer screen. And I know that I may learn a new trick or two but I really don't care....I was a happy camper with things the way they were! "Obstinate and cranky in her old age" Murphy

I use OO and it suits my needs well. I've not used LO yet, and since they are so closely related I wouldn't expect the differences to impact me very much. Since both are free, you should just flip a coin and take one for a test drive. There's really nothing to lose.

If you're writing simple .docs and working simple spreadsheets, OO will be just fine. If you use any advanced features in Office, you may have to relearn how to perform the same operations in OO. If you are sharing files with other Office users, you'll have to remember to save your files in MS format instead of the default Open format. Nothing to lose by giving it a test drive.

pippi, You can use OO Writer to make a list of your plants, highlight the list and then choose Tools>Sort at the top. The default is set to put them in order alphanumerically. Click on OK and your list is alphabetized. I use spreadsheets for my garden and have a different workbook for each bed. To sort a spreadsheet, enter your plant names one by one beneath each other in Column A. Highlight Column A, click on Data at the top, then click on Sort, then click OK. It will alphabetize your plant names. Let me know if I'm not being clear. :)