Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Office, OpenOffice.org, Open Source, Beta
Sneak peek at OpenOffice.org 3.0
by Brad Linder Mar 20th 2008
So what else does OpenOffice.org 3.0 have that version 2.3.1 is missing? Well, a bunch of bugs. This is a developer preview, after all. But there's also a ton of new features, including the startup screen you see above. That's what you'll get if you launch OOo-dev without choosing a specific application like Writer or Calc first. Here are a few other changes:
- Multi-page view in Writer
- Office 2007 document support
- New Calc theme
- Maximum number of columns in Calc jumps from 256 to 1024
- Multiple users can edit spreadsheets simultaneously
[via OpenOffice.org Ninja]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Parker said 11:56PM on 3-20-2008
I'm curious about the Mac-native version. Will it be a full aqua interface? Does this mean I won't need to use NeoOffice anymore? Sign me up!
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Shaun McDonald said 9:04AM on 3-23-2008
The aqua version will mean that you can dump NeoOffice if you want. You can give it a try today.
Tom said 11:57PM on 3-20-2008
I hope 3.0 opens faster. 2.4 takes forever.
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Andrew Ziem said 11:58PM on 3-20-2008
Hi Tom. The original article addresses performance issues.
http://www.oooninja.com/2008/03/openofficeorg-30-new-features.html
Michael said 11:58PM on 3-20-2008
I'd like to see integration with Google Docs.
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Andrew Ziem said 11:58PM on 3-20-2008
Here:
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/ooo2gd
Conda said 11:59PM on 3-20-2008
im hoping they make it more voice recognition friendly
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Rocketboy said 11:59PM on 3-20-2008
Full VB support please. Without VB, I just can't use Open Office. If you're using spreadsheets, and not using VB, you're spinning your wheels.
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Barius said 3:03PM on 3-21-2008
I think there was a mistake in your statement there. It should have been:
"If you are using spreadsheets and VB you should be fired immediately."
Brian said 10:00AM on 3-22-2008
Nobody trusts a Microsoft Office document with any VBA code in it, and rightfully so. Nearly 100% of them will screw up something on your computer -- why do you think you get huge warnings FROM MICROSOFT'S OWN APPS every time you open one? lol
I think it's best to leave this out of OO.org myself, or at the very least allow smart people to not install that crap. If you need an application, write an application -- don't try to act like Excel (Calc) is a development platform.
Rocketboy said 5:09PM on 3-25-2008
Barius... Really? Wow, that's amazing. I never thought of it that way. Yes, I can really see how using Visual Basic to automate repetitive tasks in Excel really is bad.
Brian.. No kidding. That's why you keep your tools internal. Only an idiot would run VB macros all willy-nilly. But if you can take a 2 hour manual task, and bring it down to a few minutes, you would be just as big of an idiot for not using automation tools (VB).
BradOn said 12:00AM on 3-21-2008
Pivot tables in OOO3 calc
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Andrew Ziem said 1:15PM on 3-21-2008
What's wrong with the OOo Calc DataPilot? It's about the same thing.
rickb said 10:03AM on 3-22-2008
I agree-true pivot tables are a requirement for significant OOO penetration into business.
john m howitt said 8:34AM on 3-21-2008
Why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why does OO office open with the default normal font as Times New Roman 12pt. Who in their right mind and with even the faintest modicum of a sense of style would never use that to type anything. Why don't OO go the whole hog and make it caps as well?
Apart from that loaded it on Leopard and it looks good
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kj.moran said 12:09PM on 3-21-2008
"Who in their right mind and with even the faintest modicum of a sense of style would never use that to type anything"
...um...The London Times?
wanderingcleric said 12:35PM on 3-21-2008
I'd say default font is fine with me, but we would never understand each other.
Go to options and change the default font to one you like.
Felipe said 12:27PM on 3-21-2008
kj.moran said...
"...um...The London Times?"
Although no longer used by The Times, it is still widely used for book typography.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_New_Roman
John M Howitt said 2:14PM on 3-21-2008
ok, but a) it doesn't use it any more and b) that is a N E W S P A P E R not a web site. Serif fonts are much harder to read on a screen than sans serif and one assumes that a lot of docs get read rather than printed, so a sans serif and a bit smaller would be perhaps a better choice? Maybe Verdana that was designed to render better on screen? Ok so you can change it but how many people will?
I mean it's not that important and i don't want to start an argument, it was just a passing comment.
Elliot said 7:24PM on 4-12-2008
I think that they should change the default font, and I highly agree with John. The default font should be more appealing, like Arial! Microsoft changed, I changed, OpenOffice.org should change it!!!