Introducing the Interface

If you've ever used an office suite such as Microsoft Office, you shouldn't find it too hard to get around in OpenOffice.org. As with Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org relies primarily on toolbars, a main menu, and separate context-sensitive menus that appear when you right-click. In addition, OpenOffice.org provides floating palettes that offer quick access to useful functions, such as paragraph styles within Writer.

Figure 13-3 provides a quick guide to the OpenOffice.org interface, showing the following components:

Menu bar: The menus provide access to most of the OpenOffice.org functions.

Standard toolbar: This toolbar provides quick access to global operations, such as saving, opening, and printing files, as well as key functions within the program being used. The standard toolbar appears in all OpenOffice.org programs and also provides a way to activate the various floating palettes, such as the Navigator, which lets you easily move around various elements within the document.