RyanWad82 wrote:So, there are no options to open text from OpenOffice in Word without breaking?
Well, the typical OpenOffice Writer document complies to a published standard format (the Open Document Format, or ODF). We have no influence on how Microsoft choose to handle files submitting to this standard. So if Microsoft products "break" your text created in OpenOffice, perhaps ask the Microsoft experts. (Good luck with that!)
Most commonly, content and basic structure is handled fine, but meticulous layout suffers. As I have repeated ad nauseaum in these forums, Microsoft Office and OpenOffice subscribe to different "schools of typography", which (among other things) treats spacing differently and has different ways to deal with marginalia (page headers/footers). Common consequences: Running text is reflowed, sometimes altering the page count. Tables filling an entire page (like what you would use to make a fillable form) may be significantly shifted, or split to new page (sometimes ruining a form setup).
If you have examples where the "breaking" you mentioned renders your files unusable or significantly degraded to a recipient using Word, you could ask a specific question in the forum, on "how best to adapt this so it can be used in Word". You should brace yourself for the "ask Microsoft" response, but then at least there is something to work with, and many of the helpers here have access to multiple Office suites on their computer. (For myself at time of writing: MSO365 Pro+, WPS free, LibreOffice 6.4.4, OpenOffice 4.1.8, and iWork "something" on a different workstation when I have to.)
- If you want a tool to enable working with documents in a structured and predictable fashion, use OpenOffice (or LibreOffice).
- If you want the highest degree of Microsoft compatibility, use Microsoft Office.
- If you want the highest degree of Microsoft compatibility but don't want to pay the premium price MS is asking (or can't bother to relate to their licensing terms), use WPS Office.
Either way, there are advantages and tradeoffs.