OpenOffice 3.0 beta available

[Logos]

I didn't find any section for this in the software section, hope it's OK to post it here. Just found the news here:
http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=273029

the software can be found there:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/3.0/...ementbeta.html

not such an "extreme" news you might think, but well, the program is free and is very useful. Hope people are interested.

extract:
"What's new in OpenOffice.org 3.0?

The most immediately visible change to OpenOffice.org 3.0 is the new
"Start Centre", new fresh-looking icons, and a new zoom control in the
status bar. A closer look shows that 3.0 has a myriad of new features.
Notable Calc improvements include a new solver component; support for
spreadsheet collaboration through workbook sharing; and an increase to
1024 columns per sheet. Writer has an improved notes feature and
displays of multiple pages while editing. There are numerous Chart
enhancements, and an improved crop feature in Draw and Impress.

Behind the scenes, OpenOffice.org 3.0 will support the upcoming
OpenDocument Format (ODF) 1.2 standard, and is capable of opening files
created with MS-Office 2007 or MS-Office 2008 for Mac OS X (.docx,
.xlsx, .pptx, etc.). This is in addition to read and write support for
the MS-Office binary file formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt, etc.).

OpenOffice.org 3.0 will be the first version to run on Mac OS X without
X11, with the look and feel of any other Aqua application. It introduces
partial VBA support to this platform. In addition, OpenOffice.org 3.0
integrates well with the Mac OS X accessibility APIs, and thus offers
better accessibility support than many other Mac OS X applications."

I guess they had to do something to compete with IBM Lotus Symphony (freeware as well, and based off of OO).

[Revv23]

My issue with all of these freeware office apps is that since most businesses use MS office I'm locked in. It doesn't matter how close it is, I need my stuff to look PERFECTLY how i designed it. My job depends on it. If this new openoffice can do that (creat documents that can be opened in MS office and look EXACTLY the same) then i would love to switch.

[Logos]

My issue with all of these freeware office apps is that since most businesses use MS office I'm locked in. It doesn't matter how close it is, I need my stuff to look PERFECTLY how i designed it. My job depends on it. If this new openoffice can do that (creat documents that can be opened in MS office and look EXACTLY the same) then i would love to switch.

just give it a try, the download is fast, and make your opinion. If this is your first time with OpenOffice, you'd be better off may be with version 2,4 , latest stable. Lotus Symphony is also worth trying, and might get closer to your expectations:
http://symphony.lotus.com/software/l...hony/home.jspa
it's still at beta stage as well but that's a beta 4, so pretty stable. RCs should come out shortly.

[red]

My issue with all of these freeware office apps is that since most businesses use MS office I'm locked in. It doesn't matter how close it is, I need my stuff to look PERFECTLY how i designed it. My job depends on it. If this new openoffice can do that (creat documents that can be opened in MS office and look EXACTLY the same) then i would love to switch.

yep yep

http://www.theultimatesteal.com/stor...ffice_ultimate

Come on it's just $60 now too.

[Revv23]

I tried it in one of the earlier 2.x revisions and was not impressed. Formatting and fonts came out all wrong when i saved a file as a word format document and opened it in word.

[Logos]

I tried it in one of the earlier 2.x revisions and was not impressed. Formatting and fonts came out all wrong when i saved a file as a word format document and opened it in word.

OK I understand that. It just saves you a lot of money when it's not for professional use, or MS Office compatibility. So I guess for many home users it's still a good choice (I know MS Office is superior, it's just that I personally don't need it to the extend of spending hundreds of Euros. MS Office is terribly expensive in Europe).

adding: as the whole French administration for instance is switching to Linux, they got to use OpenOffice, and it will soon or later become a bigger reference.

[Psykocyber]

Until they the intigrate Math editor in the Writer part and get a proper danish dictionary, I'm for one am gonna use Office 2007.

OOO were definetly a better choice than <2007, but now... no way.

[Revv23]

Yes I have been planning a linux build for a while and i will be using open office for that most definetely.

I really understand and respect the open office people i think they are doing great things it's just not for me... yet.

[initialised]

Thanks, but does anyone know where I can get a plugin to enable docx?

[rogueagent6]

Lotus Symphony is also worth trying

If it's anything like the kludge that is lotus notes then I wouldn't waste the bandwidth.

[Logos]

If it's anything like the kludge that is lotus notes then I wouldn't waste the bandwidth.

forget Lotus Notes, Lotus Symphony is just cool...

[FischOderAal]

OpenOffice.org is great for personal use, but when you need it for your job Office is (sadly but true) the one and only way.