MS-Publisher compatible software...

[Maz]

Hi

My son is doing some homework and the file is a .pub file.

I don't have MS-Publisher on my PC. Does anyone recommend a freeware alternative to MS-Publisher?

Thanks

 

[subaqua]

if you can't get hld of anything , then for £39 you can get the full hit MS office professional with all the bells and whistles from software for students http://www.software4students.co.uk/Microsoft_Office_2010_Professional_Plus-details.aspx

as your son is in school you qualify.

i have bought several items from here , wifey is a teacher and its a good perk, with no problems at all. order the discs rather than download unless you are confident of making a back up disc.

 

[terry_gardener]

sadly the only program to open publisher .pub files is ms publisher.

you can however you can convert them to pdf, just do google search for .pub to pdf

 

[vernon]

Zamzar is an online facility that will convert the .pub file into a range of file formats that your sone will be able to open including:

.doc
.odt
.pdf
.rtf

It's available here

Zamzar is very good at converting video, sound and graphics files too. It's not always instant as the speed of conversion is dependent upon the number of conversions in the queue.

 

[coffeejo]

Wouldn't Open Office do the trick?

 

[Maz]

Thanks.

I tried the Zamzar route and the file was converted, but I checked with my son and he said that some of the formatting was screwed up. The document also needs to be editable because his homework is incomplete and needs to be finished at home.

OpenOffice might work ok, but for £39 I might as well go the 'software for students' route, which seems like a bargain price.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

+1

Wouldn't Open Office do the trick?

 

[ian turner]

-1.

No it won't. Publisher format is like visio format. Too complicated for anyone to offer full support aside from microsoft.
Therefore schools should choose a package with wider support of it's default format by alternatives.

 

[mcshroom]

Therefore schools should choose a package with wider support of it's default format by alternatives.

Should but usually don't have enough knowledge to do so. I remember when I was at school we had Claris Works on the computers which was incompatible with just about everything at the time.

 

[vernon]

Wouldn't Open Office do the trick?

Nope.

The native file formats for any of desk top publishing programs are proprietary and non-readable by competing packages.

Any attempt by converters is, at best, a compromise.

There is a plug in for OpenOffice but is is far from satisfactory - I tried using it when my school abandoned Microsoft Office in favour of StarOffice and staff wanted to retain their publisher files for use.

The school needs to carefully consider its software policy when setting online or electronic formatted homework if it isn't going to disadvantage kids without computers or the necessary software to be able to access the e-worksheets.

 

[vernon]

Hi

My son is doing some homework and the file is a .pub file.

I don't have MS-Publisher on my PC. Does anyone recommend a freeware alternative to MS-Publisher?

Thanks

In light of the responses. Your son has a legitimate excuse for not doing the homework and you have a legitimate reason for asking that any e-worksheets used are in a format readable by any word processing program e.g. .rtf .odt

 

[Maz]

In light of the responses. Your son has a legitimate excuse for not doing the homework and you have a legitimate reason for asking that any e-worksheets used are in a format readable by any word processing program e.g. .rtf .odt

Thanks. He'll have to finish it off at school (or not do it) unless the school offers the homework in another file format, which i very much doubt.

 

[Black Sheep]

Nope.

The native file formats for any of desk top publishing programs are proprietary and non-readable by competing packages.

Any attempt by converters is, at best, a compromise.

There is a plug in for OpenOffice but is is far from satisfactory - I tried using it when my school abandoned Microsoft Office in favour of StarOffice and staff wanted to retain their publisher files for use.

The school needs to carefully consider its software policy when setting online or electronic formatted homework if it isn't going to disadvantage kids without computers or the necessary software to be able to access the e-worksheets.

when you get higher up the scale of dtp and away from the 'we lobbed this on your pc cos you might like it' range of software you will find that most image manipulation software (eg photoshop) and dtp (indesign / quark) will either open or import each others files - it sometimes needs a few mins to have it exactly as it should be but is possible.

The problem here is that publisher isn't really a useful piece of software (ok, i'm biased as I'm a graphic designer) it can't manipulate objects properly an no one other than small businesses keeping costs down (cos it came with the computer) or for making internal notices actually use it.

 

[Carwash]

The problem here is that publisher isn't really a useful piece of software (ok, i'm biased as I'm a graphic designer) it can't manipulate objects properly an no one other than small businesses keeping costs down (cos it came with the computer) or for making internal notices actually use it.

It is – if I may employ the technical vernacular – a bag of pants.