OpenOffice.org 3.0 is out

For eight years ago today started the OpenOffice.org project, after Sun had released the source code to its competitor to Microsoft Office, Star Office. The day is celebrated with the release version 3.0 that comes with many new features and improvements. Among other things, you can now open Microsoft Office 2007 files such as. Docx.

Start Center

The first difference you'll notice when you open OOo 3.0 is the new Start Center. There you can choose whether to open a new text document, spreadsheet, presentation (similar to MS PowerPoint), draw sheet, database, or a new document in Math, a program for those doing advanced mathematical calculations. Alternatively, you can open a template or an existing document, or you can visit the website for information about OOo, to download new templates, or to download the extensions.

Construction on the new features even

This latest may prove to be the most important news in OOo, namely the ability to extend the functionality using extensions . The support for extensions can be said to be one of the leading causes of the browser Firefox 'enormous popularity and it will be interesting to see if it will be as much innovation around OOos extensions.

Sun has already created an extension that allows you to import and edit PDF files. Dictionaries now also are installed as extensions, and English dictionary can be found here.

"Native" support for Mac OS X

Another important news in OpenOffice 3.0 is the much improved support for Mac OS X. Previous versions have used the X11 to run in OS X, and they have not been seen visually well integrated with the operating system. This is fixed in version 3.0. In addition, OOo received support for accessibility features in OS X that will make it much easier to use the program for the blind and weak impaired. In this area turns OOo 3.0 Microsoft Office.

Other news in OpenOffice.org 3.0 should include a strong note improved function, the opportunity to work with others on the same spreadsheet, an improved appearance, a zoom slider that lets you view multiple sheets at once while working on a document, support for the 1024 columns in the spreadsheet. More information about these and more news can be found at openoffice.org.

OpenOffice.org 3.0 is free software and can be downloaded free for Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X and Linux.

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