Do I need to just update or should I download from scratch? And if I download a new version do I need to save my old odt documents and then re-install them? Will the newer version of Open Office be able to read all the old files?
Read these guidelines and ask a good question. In particular:
- make the title short;
- correctly specify the office suite that you use: there is no such thing as Open Office (although this term is used sometimes as a generic one for OpenOffice.org/Apache OpenOffice/LibreOffice and other forks and derivatives);
- get some education in computing to understand what files and directories are.
Just download the latest still version of LO - currently 6.4.6 - and install it over your current version. You will still be able to read files you have created with your older version of LO.
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and install it over your current version
OP currently has OpenOffice and installing LibreOffice won’t remove the current version of OpenOffice (at least on Linux this won’t happen and you finally end up having both suites on your system).
OP currently has
Huh, what the OP has is a mystery. OpenOffice.org ended with the version 3.4, as I remember. Apache OpenOffice is at 4.1.7. So, perhaps, he has LibreOffice actually.
You will still be able to read files you have created with your older version of LO.
Yes, if the files were created with LO only. However, LO does not support (anymore) files in old pre-ODF formats (sxw, sxc etc.). Thus, if the user has a couple of really old files, the only option is having Apache OpenOffice alongside with LibreOffice (won’t hurt anyway).
There is no version 4.2.3.3 of AOO; probably, like many posters, OP has likely confused AOO with LO.
@gabix - you are right. Oversaw version is 4.2.3.3, while current *OpenOffice* version is 4.1.7
@robleyd - of course you are right as well, sorry, should have read more carefully.