I happen to have the latest build of Star Office 8 (based on OpenOffice.org) installed on my notebook so created a Flash file from a 72 slide Powerpoint presentation using both Flashspring and Impress. The Flashspring version is half the size of the StarOffice one, was created much more quickly, appears to be of the same quality, AND seems more feature rich (you are given play, forward and reverse buttons in the presentation that are lacking in the OpenOffice file. Finally, StarOffice loaded my cpu and rendered my computer unusable for several stretches of more than a minute while the file was being generated, with Flashspring I was able to keep using my computer with no discernible "hit" to performance. One thing related to this: I had to try to export the file three times from StarOffice and I could not select a filename because keyboard input took FOREVER. I typed the name of the file into the dialogue and then waited over 30 seconds for the first letter to appear, three minutes later the complete filename still hadn't finished rendering. So, the Star/OpenOffice implementation is free but far from user friendly. There are still several hours to snag a free copy and I say go for it!
Thanks Patteo - I missed this one today. I have giveawayoftheday set up as part of a group in Maxthon but went to bed early last night and forgot to check this morning. This is SWEET!
