OpenOffice.org, sorta-Aqua edition

MACOS, OPEN SOURCE

As of yestderay, an early version of OpenOffice.org for the Mac is available for download. Not the X-Windows port, but a step toward a full-fledged native application. Until this point, you only had NeoOffice if you wanted Aqua widgetry and a semblance of native OS X experience. NeoOffice is quite good, but it launches terribly slowly. Whereas this new build of OOo launches in under ten seconds on my slowish Powerbook.

Don’t get too excited just yet; this is for tweakers only. Here are some of the problems and gaps they warn you about:

  • You cannot print
  • PDF export does not properly work as the text won’t show on the page right
  • Starting OpenOffice.org from a shared folder does not work
  • Copy and paste does not fully work
  • OpenOffice.org will crash after quitting [didn’t crash on me, actually – Paul]
  • Some text is not drawn in places like Impress
  • Impress will not recognise multiple monitors

They forgot:

  • This may be the ugliest program you have ever run on your Macintosh

But if it’s the next step in breaking the hegemony of Microsoft Office, I’m all for it. There’s nowhere to go but up!

Kai commented on Fri Jun 29 04:51:56 2007:

I’m testing it for a few days now, and it’s fantastic. Everyone should take a look!

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