Filed under: Software, Productivity
Give thanks and praise: native OpenOffice arriving next month
No, you aren't hallucinating: Macworld UK is reporting that a truly native version of OpenOffice (not the java-powered NeoOffice port) will be shipping next month. OpenOffice's journey to running on Mac OS X in a native format has been a rollercoaster ride over the years, with a post on their site in January of '05 basically nixing a native port altogether.However, the stars have realigned and the port will see light of day after all. If you need visual proof, one of OO's developers posted some native screenshots on his blog. As far as when we can get our hands on a non-X11 OpenOffice package, we're tossing our chips in with Macworld UK's that we'll most likely see this release at September's OOoCon. Stay tuned.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
schwa said 9:11AM on 8-31-2006
That ugly thing is a Mac app? Blecch.
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peeweejd said 8:28AM on 8-31-2006
wow, thats GREAT news!! I have a feeling that the recent popularity of intel macs will generate a lot of interest in this project.
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fil said 8:38AM on 8-31-2006
The release also seems likely to debut at OOoCon in Lyon, France, which runs between 11-13 September.
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Kirk said 8:48AM on 8-31-2006
Thank the NeoOffice folks - if they had not gone off and embarassed the OpenOffice community (my opinion), this would have never happened. The difficulties getting the OS X community to assist initially in development slowed both products, but it looks like the new life and growth of OS X actually had some impact. Both Patrick and Ed (and the rest of the contributors) deserve our thanks and gratitude.
NeoOffice remains a great effort - I hope that the 2 development groups can work together to make an even better product. However, some of their rationale for the branch still exists - we'll see what happens.
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Chris Meisenzahl said 9:20AM on 8-31-2006
Very cool, looking forward to it!
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Jeff said 8:56AM on 8-31-2006
Kirk,
I don't think NeoOffice embarrassed them at all. They announced several years ago that they were discontinuing a native build until OpenOffice.org 2.0 shipped. Its now been out a year. So the timeline seems correct.
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Ted said 9:02AM on 8-31-2006
I don't believe they are shipping next month, although they will be doing some demos showing the progress that they have made. The timeline on the developers site says that they will be shipping next summer. They still have a lot of work to do, but I believe they want to make a presentation to show how far they have come.
On the plus side, I've just tried NeoOffice 2 Aqua beta 3, and it is superb. Sure, it's a little slow (as it's always been), but they've done a terrific job aqua-fying the entire suite and it looks great. I'm sure it will get speedier with each release.
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Daniel Brauer said 9:14AM on 8-31-2006
I hate to be the jerk who says this, but it's still ugly as sin. I suppose with it being native, the non-standard bits can slowly be replaced by more Mac-like ones?
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Michael Strck said 9:28AM on 8-31-2006
Daniel, you are right :-) OpenOffice is practically a carbon-copy of Microsoft's Office, less around a million features and some spit and polish. Word and Excel aren't exactly pretty, so it's amost by definition that their OSS counterparts are even uglier. The developers seem to think they have to very closely mirror the style and functionality (right down to the order and wording of menus) of Microsoft's apps. That is probably the right decision - nobody wants to re-learn his basic office apps. However, that does not exactly encourage innovation on the usability front...
I really like the fact that OpenOffice.org exists, and admire their work, but so far it has never been an innovative project, and it probably never will be. You are simply looking in the wrong place if you want to see new things done in the office-application area.
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LD said 9:37AM on 8-31-2006
Michael, I think you've entirely missed the point of OOo.
It's not supposed to be new and innovative. It's suppose to be a free, open source alternative to Microsoft Office.
But it also has been somewhat innovative by moving to Open Document long before MS. This has convinced some gov'ts to move to OOo because of the open format.
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Kirk said 9:41AM on 8-31-2006
Maybe this would be a great time for NeoOffice to be that innovative, Mac specific application, and branch off the "ugly" OpenOffice tree?? MS Office compatibility is nearly mandatory in corporate environments, if nothing else, to minimize training on a new application. Without that, no migration will ever occur.
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RWD fan said 9:55AM on 8-31-2006
I'll be sticking with NeoOffice for the time being, thanks anyways.
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thefireguy said 11:32AM on 8-31-2006
The real question is Why?
NeoOffice is both Mac based and truly dynamic in it's full function format, as seen in it’s latest release and having put up with it’s development why would anyone want to return to OpenOffice when they have NeoOffice that been getting the job done so well - hell there both based on OpenOffice in the first place!
It’s like finding Camino, a Mac based Web browser getting it, loving it’s simplify, putting up with it’s development and then being told that there is about to to be a Firefox Mac based version released in the near future - hell there both Mozilla based in the first place - so who needs Firefox - if your already using Camino?
I for one will stay with NeoOffice - it opens MS Office on demand, lets me communicate with my MS clients, saves me the cost of MS office while letting me say that I’m running a 100% Mac based small business - and that’s a good thing!
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Matt said 10:12AM on 8-31-2006
It may be "native", but in the pics that I see, it sure isn't "Aqua". It still retains the X11-ish scroll bars and such. Also, why does every window have to have it's own tool bar? I can't think of a single app that replicates the same toolbar in every window. Photoshop, Illustrator, Canvas, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc, all have one toolbar, or toolbox, for multiple windows. Dunno, just seems ugly and a waste of screen real estate to me.
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Bruce Anderson said 10:42AM on 8-31-2006
"That ugly thing is a Mac app? Blecch." - schwa
"I hate to be the jerk who says this, but it's still ugly as sin." - Daniel Brauer
Thanks for reinforcing the image of Mac users being shallow, elitist jerks, guys. These people spend all that time just making it work-a non-trivial task-and all you can do is flame them for how the app LOOKS?
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Matt said 11:22AM on 8-31-2006
Bruce:
Remember that Apple has Interface Guidelines (TM) so that all apps act and look the same. It makes it easier for neophytes to figure out how to do things, and lowers the learning curve for the rest of us. Compare ArcView or AutoCAD to Word on Windows, and you'll understand why Apple has these guidelines.
Sorry, but I don't want to look at plain-jane grey X11-ish scroll bars on an app as important and oft-used as an Office replacement, and I don't want something so functionally backwards as toolbars on EVERY window (VERY PC-like behavior, BTW). It's a Mac, not a PC or a beige *nix boxen. Is it shallow? Sure. But it's also a deal-breaker for me.
I appreciate that they are adding to the software base, but OO just isn't for me yet. Besides the nit-picks I've already mentioned, it's SLOW, and doesn't handle Powerpoint files well at all. Fancy transitions? Forget it. Did I mention slow?
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Dave said 11:29AM on 8-31-2006
"Thanks for reinforcing the image of Mac users being shallow, elitist jerks, guys. These people spend all that time just making it work-a non-trivial task-and all you can do is flame them for how the app LOOKS?"
That's what defines Macs as Macs. Us mac users actually put as much weight on how the product looks and feels as to the background gears and elbow grease. Otherwise we'd just be Windows users, if we didn't care how our software and OS looked.
It isn't about being shallow, elitist, or jerks. It's about not settling for half-assed bullshit nonsense. Software should be beautiful - inside and out.
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Chris said 11:52AM on 8-31-2006
Unless it's amazingly fast, NeoOffice has them beat in so many ways...
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blah said 1:15PM on 8-31-2006
I see it's time to volunteer my "troll"... er, I mean, comment:
This announcement explains why the Neo Office team charged money for early access to their beta, before releasing it on the 29th: they knew the OO people were going to make this announcement, and wanted to try and make a quick buck before OO undercut all their development efforts.
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Aaron said 2:37PM on 8-31-2006
Thanks and praise? Guess we'll have to wait and see. Viewing the screenshot, it looks as if the new aquafication of NeoOffice is much nicer.
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