File extension .rtf

[Lemur]

Oh, you OpenOffice snobs. Why not just jump into XML and be done with it?

[sapi]

Because that's another microsoft standard?

(NB: I dont' support either side of this debate)

[doc_bean]

Oh, you OpenOffice snobs. Why not just jump into XML and be done with it?

For actually writing something of decent length I prefer LaTeX, if only because it has by far the coolest name of any word processor out there

But sending people stuff in .odt and watching the following confusion is certainly fun too.

[Lemur]

Well, you learn something every day. I couldn't let your name-dropping rest, and I had to go read up on LaTeX. Yikes!

Like a C language program, LaTeX documents are created with your favorite text editor, looking a bit like raw HTML or WordPerfect documents in Reveal Codes mode. These files, when complete, are then run through a processor to create formatted output. The resulting "dvi" (device independent) binary file can be easily churned into PostScript, or PDF files, or X Window displays, or many other printer and typsetting machine formats.

Have I scared you off yet? If not, there's more. To really grasp the power of the LaTeX typesetting system, as well as the TeX engine underneath it, and all the other components associated with LaTeX and TeX, you pretty well need to immerse yourself, and that's not easy.

[doc_bean]

Yes, it can be a real time sink if you want to do something specific and you don't know how, but I just hate the Template functions of Word (haven't really experimented with OpenOffice that much) and you need those if you want consistency in a work of serious length.