LakeBroker - sorry I missed your question before. LOL. No, Open Office is not like a discount no service broker. It gives me way more than Microsoft Office does - for free.
-Its own version of power point. Not really compatible w/ MS Powerpoint but if I need to do a presentation that I am going to give, it's excellent.
-Its own version of Publisher. Lacking a giant collection of clip art, though...has a modest selection of images. But I hate clipart anyway. Almost all clipart is tacky. I usually create my documents with my own. Publisher is not compatible at all...but this program does the same thing Publisher does - plus you can then easily export your documents to PDF.
-It's own version of Excel. From what I can see it is very compatible w/ Excel. I can open and edit Excel sheets in my Open Office spreadsheets program.
-Word processor that can open and save many document types, including Word & WordPerfect. I can create documents and save them as Word or WP to send to people who need that format.
You can send all documents to a PDF converter to create a VERY nice PDF.
There is also a database program which I do not use...I can't figure it out. lol
Taking into consideration all that OpenOffice does, they are the free full service broker where as Microsoft is the limited service broker who charges you an arm and a leg. LOL