Open Office 2.0 Beta Candidate Released 415
JPyObjC Dude writes "The
OpenOffice.org 2.0 beta candidate has been released. You can find the feature guide that covers the wide array of improvements over the current 1.1 release. There are a bunch of problematic UI quirks in 1.1 that have been fixed in 2.0." Feature categories include increased interoperability with Microsoft Office, Asian Language Features, Developer-Specific Features, and new Internet based features. Commentary and an interview with Colm Smyth available at NewsForge.com.
Native Widgets! (Score:5, Interesting)
(From TFA)
Native system theme integration (native widget rendering)
To enhance integration of OpenOffice.org with the underlying operating system, all user interface elements (such as buttons and scrollbars) will have the same look as those used in most other 'native' applications for that platform. OpenOffice.org will react on-the-fly to changes of the desktop theme, so when the user changes the desktop colors or theme, OpenOffice.org will adjust its own appearance to match.
Native system theme integration will be available for Gnome (version 2.4 or higher), Microsoft (R) Windows (including XP and future versions), and KDE (version 3.2 and higher) desktop environments. On Windows XP the 'Windows XP Style' must be chosen under Settings - Control Panel - Display - Appearance to achieve the correct look.
Theme integration will be the default for desktop environments that support it (listed above). Systems (for example, Windows 98/ME/2000, CDE) that do not support it will see no visual change in OpenOffice.org. On supported systems OpenOffice.org will always adopt the theme of the system and cannot choose not to do so.
How's the database? (Score:5, Interesting)
Rundown of what to expect? (Score:4, Interesting)
It sounds like "Release Notes, a list of know issues, system requirements are in preparation" but I assume that'll be written for the LCD and hard for folks to get the big picture from.
So... if anybody in the know is out there, what's this release like? How buggy is it? What's the worst-case scenario if I start using it?
RD
Re:One day it'll be as good as MS Office! (Score:5, Interesting)
But you would not believe how many people came to me asking how to get their Office Toolbar to show up again. They just piled everything into it, and ignored the start menu altogether.
I was so disappointed to find out just how many people really like those toolbars...
just curious (Score:3, Interesting)
I can't wait (Score:5, Interesting)
Just today, I got a friggin' Excel spreadsheet from my distributor. They wanted me to complete it and send it back to them. It would kill me to fork over my hard-earned dough for Microsoft Office, but thanks to OpenOffice.org I never have to. I just fired up the OpenOffice spreadsheet, inserted the data, saved it as an .xls file, and my distributor won't have any idea I don't even own Microsoft Office.
This wasn't the time and place, but whenever I get a chance I tell people they can probably get by with OpenOffice.org instead of purchasing Microsoft Office. OpenOffice 1.1 is more than good enough for most tasks, so I can't wait to see how good 2.0 is. It's always nice to use a fantastic product that also just happens to keep me from having to pay the Microsoft tax.
Re:Native Widgets! (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting - no mention of OS X. I know the OS X port has now essentially been left to the excellent NeoOffice [neooffice.org] - I wonder if a beta 2.0 of that is now on the cards?
Cheers,
Ian
Re:just curious (Score:5, Interesting)
I Just Switched to NeoOffice J Today and . . . (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Maximum row number (Score:2, Interesting)
However it seemed like the biggest problems with 1.1 for me was the slow start up time and the fact that it won't open some Excel documents, mostly password protected ones. I hope some of those issues were fixed.
Re:Native Widgets! (Score:2, Interesting)
Per my experience the theme is quite different on Windows 2000. Personally I don't like it. It reminds me of the psychodelic sixties, a lot of color that accomplishes nothing.
Beyond that, the Impress presentation program seems to be a lot slower than the 1.1 version.
It's so slow it's annoying to me. I just updated yesterday a 100+ page tutorial I'd written using 1.1 and it was torturous on my 2ghz machine (1 gig of ram, no swapping involved).
Now smaller! (Score:5, Interesting)
Wonder why...
I miss Clarisworks (Score:2, Interesting)
Created in the shadow of Mt. Hood: http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/~bob/hood.jpg [mit.edu]
Sigh. Everything was so simple and clean back then.
All these new office suites make me feel depressed, and they make baby Jesus cry.
:(
User Interface de-Windows-ized? (Score:3, Interesting)
Does the descriotion for this mean that the user interface will now ACT like the native OS interface, or just LOOK like it now? My main gripe with OOo is that it seemed to try and emulate the MS Windows user interface in its operating window. While it seems the widgets drawn will no longer be trying to look like MS Windows widgets, I'm more interested in how I'll interact with the program.
If it's still an MS Windows-like _interaction_ then I'll still be less happy than if it used native OS style user interactions, in terms of actualy scrolling the scrollbars and other stuff that don't feel like they're Solaris or Linux interactions in 1.x versions. The user interactions in MS Windows is the major reason I don't get along with it well, and was disappointed to see older OOo versions trying to bring that baggage to different OSes that I otherwise got along with better.
Impress Templates (Score:5, Interesting)
column limit (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:just curious (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:One day it'll be as good as MS Office! (Score:3, Interesting)
Back to the topic... I'd be keen to find out how OO.o handles .xlt files - the MS Office viewers bite, and buying licences for Office is a waste when we only need it for test stations that don't need anything but Excel! Is OO.o truly an Office clone? Or is it still an occasion where we need to have both to get the useful features of both?
Looks good (Score:3, Interesting)
I have two issues with this version in my short test, one was that they removed the program shortcuts from the "Quick Starter" in the tray?! Why on earth would they do that? Now the only thing you can do with the quick start is decide if it should load at windows start, and exit it.
The second thing is that I chose File - Wizards - Install new dictionaries - Chose the language I wanted to install, and then nothing happens when you press the "Start DocOOo"-button, so no automated installation of dictionaries I guess.
Re:How's the database? (Score:4, Interesting)
Currently some of this can be done through the OO Writer, but all forms and things have to be stored in separate documents, making organizing a full database application a real pain. Plus, even if you just want to build a quick and dirty single-user system, you still need the overhead of a server like Postgres.
Re:Impress Templates (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:OO.o for OS X? (Score:1, Interesting)
64 Bit? (Score:1, Interesting)
I've just gotten wine cross compiled(as all windows binaries are 32 bit) and the only major tool left for my system is openoffice, but 1.x does not like 64 bits aparently(according to everyone in the gentoo forums who has tried).
So, anyone know if it works?
Embedded Java applets in Impress (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=
Re:Native Widgets! (Score:2, Interesting)
Personally, I don't know how much interest there is in Open Office for Mac OS X period. The interface by Mac standards makes me want to claw my eyes out. Contrary to what I am sure most Windows users assume, Macintosh versions of PC software are usually different aesthetically (and typically have more functionality).
I'm sure most Mac users are either not interested in using Office or an Office clone or would rather pay for the real deal to get the interface (I know I did).
Re:Maximum row number (Score:3, Interesting)
But nobody should use Excel with that many rows anyway. There is scientific software (Mathematica, R, S, SPSS. Maple and friends) or databases for that. I was really shocked when a friends wife complained about the row limit, because she did statistical analysis (market reseach) on huge datasets - with excel. Her solution was to split the data in 2^16 row pieces manually and add up all the stuff again later.
Thats what they get teached at the universities I guess - at least in the department of economics.
Re:Where is the grammar checker? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Not really a theming engime on Windows (Score:2, Interesting)
Anyway, it appears that they do their own drawing, so it's likely things won't work correctly with WindowBlinds. Anyone else tried it with WW? The menu fonts, sizes are noticeably different from Windows. Dialog box buttons are oversized. In fact, it seems like the fonts they use are slightly too big. At least the fonts use ClearType properly; JBuilder's ignorance of ClearType made it virtually unusable for coding on an LCD screen for me.
I know I'm being knitpicky, but it really is a problem when all Windows apps look one way, and then a strange duckling such as OO.o comes along. Some of you may point out that Office and Visual Studio look different, but I believe the difference is that they're used more often, and that people get used to the different look. Of course, the same could happen with OO.o, but it'll have to overcome that initial bump in looking different first before it'll be okay to look strange.
Re:One day it'll be as good as MS Office! (Score:3, Interesting)
But seriously OO.org has a chance to compete because MS has not done much useful in MS Office in about 10 years. The only interesting thing they did was gut Foxpro, put a cheesy GUI on the Rushmore engine, and say look ma we can make one of them new fangle databases.
So as soon as OO.org makes it to fully to Office 95, and has a cheesy database GUI, then I will be happy. Hopefully it can maintain compatibility with the latest formate without falling into the pitfall of useless features.
Re:How's the database? (Score:4, Interesting)
The OOo project is a front-end, and can access various SQL databases. They just include HSQLDB so that people who want to stick some information in a database in an ad hoc fashion don't have to set up a database service.
A step forward (Score:5, Interesting)
I think it's a great step forward. I signed up to be a beta tester for Star Office 8 and while I have only downloaded it this afternoon and won't get to install and play until tonight, I'm looking forward to the new features:
Word Perfect import, a cleaned up user interface, better PDF export, better input filters for crapomatic Microsoft documents, and a database front end that can interface with MySQL? Who's yo daddy? Those are features that mean a lot to me.
I'm a writer and I'm picky about my tools. And I take a Mac to school with me but run SUSE 9.1 and Xandros XD3 at home. Openoffice is the only software that really allows me to bridge the gap between those two platforms. On the Mac I run NeoOffice/J - a tremendous piece of software that's far more robust than people make it out to be. It doesn't load quickly, but once it does it gives me all the goodness of Openoffice.org with all the power of Mac OS X, and the interface is nice and clean, including native Mac print dialogues, and the like. I don't know what kind of alchemy went into marrying OO.o to Java to Mac OS X but I'm grateful someone went ahead and did it.
Look closely at OpenOffice 2.0r1 and what you see is an attempt to steal marketshare away from existing MS Office users. That means cleaner widgets, better import/export capacity, and a look and feel that isn't too foreign. It's not breaking any barriers in the document-writing paradigm here (check out Mellel for Mac OS X for that), but it is making it easier for existing Office users to jump ship. And jump they will.
There are several things I like about OO.o, including the stylist and navigator, the export to PDF functionality, and the way the interface meets my needs. At work I use MS Word 2003, and I swear to God I hate it, not because of who produces it but because it's the most awkward, confusing, automatic-in-unnecessary-ways piece of crap I've come across. And all that additional complexity has done little to make the secretaries I work with write good documents. I'm talking about borked-up formatting, inconsistent styles, and so on. OO.o deals specifically with those issues in a way I really appreciate.
The new database component is a huge addition. To all you pinheads pontificating about how important an Access-like program is for the future of OO.o, shame on you for not having RTFA. This could very well be a killer app when all is said and done (the Star Office 8 beta forums make it look like it's still a bit buggy). That is: a front end that "looks like" Access, tied into a MySQL back end. That's fantastic! I currently use Rekall for my database front end, but I can't get a version for Debian, which is a major pain in the butt.
In sum, ease up on all the "they better have included feature X." This is a major but manageable step forward, and while it doesn't solve all our problems, I think it's a big step forward to improving upon the success of previous editions of OO.o, and a big step forward to convincing potential MS Office refugees to give something new a shot. As for myself, I've decided compatability with MS Office users is no longer a concern to me. I'd rather just work alone with my grumpy ol' self.
Re:OO.o for OS X? (Score:5, Interesting)
I think OSX is getting very marginilised, which is a real shame since it's a very nice OS. When Linux supports my _printer_ and I can set it up in 1 minute using the GNOME printer configurationg tools, but I can't do it whatsoever on a much more expensive Mac, I think there is a problem.
This is only going to happen more often as Linux starts to become the de-facto OS for 'simple' tasks - a hell of a lot of businesses only need an OS which can run a web browser (Firefox), do email and print, thanks to the huge amount of web-based applications which are coming on board. I still think it's got a way to go before businesses will completely migrate to it (even though Novell Linux Desktop makes it so much easier than any other distro I have used), but I think we'll certainly see more and more hardware/software being supported first on Linux, then Mac, if at all.
Re:That ONE feature that I need... (Score:2, Interesting)
Cross References (Score:3, Interesting)
I need to easily reference numbered sections, figures, and bibliographic entries. The problem is that OpenOffice doesn't automatically create a reference point for numbered sections.
Something else not touched on... (Score:3, Interesting)
By default, OOo 2.0 now installs an 'all users' install, meaning that there are no more issues with OOo registering icons or having one person mess with everyone else's settings.
To me, this was the hugest issue of all next to MS Word compatibility (check the OOo forums if you don't believe me) and yet very little is said of it.
Everyone has their 'one feature'... (Score:3, Interesting)
By the way, an abbbreviation expander program is something that looks for you typing something like abd and it expands it to abdomen. Obviously, the programs she uses (shorthand and speedtype) are aimed directly at the medical transcriptionist market and come preloaded with abbreviations, but even something that she could customize would suffice for her needs. There are other MTs that are looking into Linux as well, and they could probably spread the load of inputting the medical terms into an abbreviation database and share it with one another, if only a word processor on Linux supported this. Any suggestions? I spent a goodly amount of time yesterday surfing google trying to find anything, and came up empty.
Can't do NWF on OS X without being native. (Score:3, Interesting)
There's no support for them in Mac OS X because OpenOffice.org itself still runs in X11 on Mac OS X. The Native Widget Framework doesn't actually use native widgets at all. The way the NWF works is by introducing a new abstraction layer (first pioneered by NeoOffice/C) that allows the OOo SFX/VCL based widgets to call a platform-specific function that essentially translates to "draw a button background here" or "draw a scrollbar thumb here". On Mac OS X you can only get access to low-level widget rendering routnies through the Appearance Manager (Carbon) or the HIToolbox (Carbon/CG). Neither of those are available to X11 applications.
Besides...I think it'd be frustrating to have "Aqua-ish" buttons in an X11 app that can't even copy to the clipboard correctly. Kinda defeats the purpose putting the look onto an app that doesn't even have the right Mac OS X functionality, not to mention the "feel/UI design"
ed
Re:OO.o for OS X? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Native Widgets! (Score:5, Interesting)
My understanding of their Native Widget Framework is that the VCL (the toolkit used by OO.o), in addition to drawing the widgets itself, can be used as a wrapper for Qt, GTK, MFC, or whatever else you are using on your system. So a little bit of overhead is there, but OpenOffice 2 should bring trully native look and feel.
Re:64 Bit? (Score:3, Interesting)
This is the beta (hell...beta candidate) however, maybe when the final release is out?
sadly, you're right :( Re:it has clippy (Score:2, Interesting)
And OO has more annoying "features" turned on by default... however, they are all listed on just a handfull of tab thingies.. so after 4 minutes or so my OO.org system is up and running without goofing up my grammer...
(I type dogs, then want to type dog(newline) and it types dogs for me.... stupid, stupid stupid)
But heck, I avoid MS office, MS and Bill Gates do enough things that I don't agree with that, I'd even work extra to not give them a penny.
The only things I need for OO to suit me, are email form letters (not for spam, I swear!) and better impress printing of multiple slides, and an embedable chart that can take data from other embeded documents, rather than manually type the entire huge dataset by hand on every change