OpenOffice is a full-featured office suite that comes as a more affordable alternative to the popular Microsoft Office. OpenOffice brings alternative solutions for each major tool bundled into Microsoft's very own suite, which means that you can switch to this application even if you are a fan of MS Word, Excel, Power Point or Access.
OpenOffice has them all, obviously under a different name, but boasting almost the same powerful functions as Microsoft's software package. The installer allows you to select which components you wish to drop on your computer; OpenOffice allows you to install only the things you need, so checking twice before clicking them is highly recommended.
Using OpenOffice is quite easy after you get used to the menus and the places functions are located. Sure, it might be a bit overwhelming for first-time users, but it's only the way such a complex application may interact with its users.
'Writer' is a part of the suite designed as a direct replacement for Microsoft Word. It comes with spell checking, it allows you to insert tables, pictures, files or graphs into new documents, change formatting, build macros, switch to another language or even install extensions from the same rich interface.
OpenOffice 'Calc', Excel's equivalent, has everything you need, be it spreadsheet functions, filters, forms, charts and drawings. OpenOffice 'Impress' component, on the other hand, challenges PowerPoint and relies on a wide assortment of built-in animations and effects to make your presentations more appealing.
OpenOffice comprises all the necessary tools to become your office suite of choice. It is reliable, easy to use and runs very smooth, even on older computers.
What's New in This Release:
GENERAL REMARKS:
· OpenOffice 4.0 features an innovative new Sidebar user interface, additional language support for 22 languages (including 3 new languages), 500 bug fixes, improvements in Microsoft Office interoperability, enhancements to drawing/graphics, performance improvements, etc. You can read the details of these later in these Release Notes.
NEW FEATURES AND ENHANCEMENTS:
New Sidebar:
· The Sidebar makes better use of today's widescreen displays than traditional toolbars. The 'Properties' deck is context-sensitive and shows panels with the document properties that are most frequently used for the current editing task.
Interoperability Improvements:
· Fidelity and interoperability improvement is an ongoing goal for Apache OpenOffice. And there are many improvements going in to the new version.
DRAWOBJECT IMPROVEMENTS/ENHANCEMENTS:
New Color Palette:
· The Color Palette is enhanced and extended with a selection of more useful colors, arranged in a new scheme to make finding c...