We've Relocated!
We've relocated our office to Sequim, but we're not gone! We welcome you to register with us to access our updated contact information. Also, as a registered user, you'll be able to learn more about our newly-implemented LogMeIn Rescue service, which enables us to solve many computer problems within minutes of your call! Register today!| OpenOffice.org 2.0 Released |
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| Written by Tim | |||
| Friday, 21 October 2005 16:22 | |||
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It's a week later than expected, but it's here. OpenOffice.org
2.0 has been released a week after the fifth anniversary of its birth
as an open-source project. The one-week delay was caused by some
last-minute bug squashing. New to version 2.0 is Base, a database
application which joins Calc (spreadsheet), Draw (a vector drawing
program), Math (mathematical function creator), Impress (for
presentations), and Writer (word processor). OOo 2.0 currently
supports Windows, x86 flavors of Linux, and Solaris for both x86 and
SPARC. FreeBSD, Linux PPC, and Mac OS X are still on version 1.1 and
that will only run on Mac OS X under X11. OpenOffice.org 2.0's biggest selling point may be its use of OpenDocument as its default file format. OpenDocument is an open-standard XML format that was recently in the news when the state of Massachusetts mandated the use of open formats for document exchange effective January 1, 2007. That leaves Microsoft Office and its proprietary XML format out in the cold for now. OOo 2.0 can also open and save Microsoft Office documents, including password-protected ones if the password is known. From a quick test this morning, it seems to work, at least with Word. Smaller PowerPoint files can be opened with Impress, but require a bit of reformatting to look acceptable. Unfortunately, Impress choked on larger PowerPoint files. Nota bene: that these are just my impressions based on playing around with OpenOffice.org 2.0 for about a half-hour this morning. Your mileage may vary. Other features new in OOo 2.0 include support for up to 65,536
rows in Calc, which is on par with Excel; the ability to import Word
Perfect files; a new user interface; and a new mail merge wizard. Is
it ready for the enterprise? Based on its functionality and user
interface alone, definitely. However, if it cannot import older
Office documents with a minimum of fuss, that will raise the barrier
to entry for OOo 2.0. The price tag—free—is certainly attractive,
and even if it doesn't catch on in the corporate world, it's a great
alternative for Windows users who don't want to buy Microsoft
Office. written by Eric Bangeman
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