Hi Everyone, [GREETINGS:] I have a Dell Inspiron 1420 running Ubuntu 8.04, Hardy Heron. I bought it from Dell, preloaded with Ubuntu, at about the time Dell started selling linux preloaded. I'm knowledgable about computers relative to the general public but probably will be a perpetual "newbie" to this crowd since, for example, I have never learned how to use the comamnd line well. I started using linux seriously when distros like Ubuntu came out that, supposedly, took care of most of the technical details so that a "normal user" could use linux without spending all his free time troubleshooting and reading manuals. Part of what made me "convert" was fantastic folks like LUG members; I love the linux community and am grateful for the help WLUG members have offered at times. [THE PROBLEM:] Unfortunately, I am at my wit's end to upgrade OpenOffice from 2.4.1 to version 3 - which I need to open .docx and .xlsx files that my students at Springfield College constantly send me. I've been wanting to do this for months and haven't had any luck looking in online help files. The openoffice.org help files direct me to options that simply aren't there. For example: "Choose Help- Check For Updates to check manually" - but there is no such option in my help menu ! "To check for updates automatically, Choose Tools- Options - OpenOffice.Org- Online Update" - again, the promised option, "Online Update" , simply isn't there. I tried to uninstall and reinstall OpenOffice.org in "add/remove programs" , but the default package manager (adept?synaptic? it doesn't say which it is, but I think it is synaptic) won't let me uninstall the "base package" as other packages require it. I could try to upgrade the whole distro to Ubuntu 8.10, but am reluctant totake the risk of crashing the computer and feel it shouldn't really be necessary. [HELP?] Can anyone help ? Solutions comprehensible to a "perpetual" newbie will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Andrew Perry