Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

OpenOffice 2.3 Released

Posted by Zonk on from the yay-free-software dept.

ClickOnThis writes "Surely I'm not the only one who noticed that OpenOffice.org has announced the release of version 2.3! From the website: 'Available for download now, OpenOffice.org 2.3 incorporates an extensive array of new features and enhancements to all its core components, and protects users from newly discovered security vulnerabilities. It is a major release and all users should download it. Plus: It is only with 2.3 that users can make full use of our growing extensions library.' You can download it but be kind and use a P2P client instead, such as bittorrent."

6 of 293 comments (clear)

  1. Error bars - woohoo! by Goonie · · Score: 5, Informative
    Openoffice's charts have been pretty much useless for any scientific work because they don't support proper error bars.Apparently the new charting tool will have full error bar support.

    With any luck, I won't have to fire up MSOffice ever again...

    --

    Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
    --Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
  2. Re:I wonder by Virtual_Raider · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well I didn't want to come across as a whinger and I did want to get the first post so I had to make it quick ;) but I was referring to a general sluggishness. It does work. It does work well and I use it as my main suite at home, and I have never had any problems with MS formats (other than some obscure PPSs with macros but I understand why this is like that [and how to fix it] so I don't complain about that). Nevertheless it does take its sweet time to load the application and to open large, heavily-formatted files. Also the fact that it freezes while saving is annoying. So my point was: it is good, but rather than adding extra functionality I would like it better that they made the excellent stuff they have now to work faster. Like somebody else rightly said, making it feel smoother adds a lot to the "it's a serious and professional app" experience.

    --
    +Raider of the lost BBS
  3. Re:I wonder by the_womble · · Score: 5, Informative

    Have you tried turning off Java and increasing memory usage?

    Doing that makes OO on Linux run about as well as MS office on Windows on a P4 with 1Gb (I know, I know, but its the only comparison I have).

    It is still slower than Gnumeric or Lyx, which start up instantly and are never sluggish, but that is not an altogether fair comparison either.

    Of course Oo are still at fault for using defaults that MOST people would be better off changing.

  4. The big feature! by aurelito · · Score: 4, Informative

    The big feature, as far as I'm concerned, is the fact that the page is now centered in print layout view. Until now, it was left-justified, and that absolutely drove me nuts on my wide screen monitor. If it bothered you too, check this version out.

  5. Re:British English. by Corporate+Troll · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, you're not the only one... However, the language settings are part of the "Character format". Which makes sense... Include it in your styles (e.g. "Body Text French", "Body Text English" and it becomes way easier than in Microsoft Office... Where it really seems to be document-bound (Tool->Languages->Set Language).

  6. Re:As a Gentoo user... by UberLord · · Score: 4, Informative

    That is why we provide the openoffice-bin ebuild for our OpenOffice users who don't have distcc compile farms

    So be troubled no more :)