OpenOffice.org, the free, open source alternative to Microsoft Office has released a beta preview of version 3.0. Among the changes in the new version are support for the Open Document Format v1.2, Microsoft Office 2007 import filters and native support for Mac OS X users.
The new OS X version eliminates the need to run OpenOffice through the X11 environment. Sun, which oversees OpenOffice, announced some time ago that native OS X support was high on its priority list and Mac users should be happy to hear the company is delivering on that promise.
Unfortunately the new OS X version was noticeably slower than NeoOffice, a Mac-specific OpenOffice offshoot, and most of the extensions I tried to install wouldn't work. OpenOffice still has a way to go before it's ready for everyday use on a Mac. For the time being NeoOffice remains the better choice for Mac OS X users, but at least OpenOffice is available now.
The other big news in this release is that OpenOffice can now handle the OOXML format — Microsoft's default document format for Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac OS X — making it a viable choice for those that need OOXML document support.
Other changes include a “Start Center”, some new, more legible icons, and a zoom control in the status bar. On the whole the beta doesn't look much different than previous versions, but each of OpenOffice's apps have received some welcome new changes features like improved PDF creation throughout and a much better Notes tool in Writer, the OpenOffice word processor.
The Chart tool has been revamped as well with some slick new graphical options and OpenOffice also now supports VBA macros. Although the VBA support is still somewhat limited, it's a step in the right direction for those that rely on VBA scripting to handle complex spreadsheet operations and more.
For those of you wondering why you need a full-fledged office suite when online alternatives like Google Docs or Zoho offer many of the same features, be sure to check out the OpenOffice.org2GoogleDocs extension which gives you the best of both worlds, syncing your OpenOffice docs with your online docs (note that the extension failed to install using the OS X version, YMMV).
As always OpenOffice.org is a free download and can be grabbed from the official site. Keep in mind that this is a beta release and the usual warnings apply.
[via ReadWriteWeb]
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