OpenOffice.org Releases New Version of Free Software Alternative to Microsoft Office

The OpenOffice.org Community announces the release of OpenOffice.org 2.4, a new and enhanced version of the leading open-source office suite. The free software package provides a viable alternative to Microsoft's Office 2007 product - and an easier upgrade path for users of legacy MicrosoftOffice products.

Edinburgh, UK (PRWEB) March 27, 2008 -- The OpenOffice.org Community is pleased to announce the release of OpenOffice.org 2.4, the latest version of the leading open source office productivity suite. OpenOffice.org 2.4 includes new features, enhancements, and bug fixes to all its core components.

Users will appreciate changes such as usability improvements in printing, and further enhancements to PDF handling (OpenOffice.org creates PDF files 'out of the box' to ISO standard). The default font is now DejaVu, which supports more languages/localisations than the previous BitStream Vera -part of a raft of localisation improvements covering languages from Hiligaynon to Quechua. Mac OS X users will appreciate the use of the native Quicktime player and spell-checker.

Writer, OpenOffice.org's word processor, now has easier selection of the language for spellchecking; users can set options for printing hidden and place holder text and for following hyperlinks; text selection and 'find and replace' have been improved; and 'power users' will appreciate new extra keyboard shortcuts for paragraph styles.

Regular users of Calc, OpenOffice.org's spreadsheet, will appreciate the streamlining of data and formulae entry. Other new features include a 'smart move and copy' for blocks of cells; the ability to transform data into columns; and improvements to printing, data filtering, and the Data Pilot.

Usability improvements have been made to Draw, the drawing and diagramming module, and Impress, OpenOffice.org's application for creating presentations. Both applications have enhanced PDF export capabilities. In addition, Impress now has a new range of thrilling 3D transition effects supported through an extension.

The Chart module, used throughout OpenOffice.org, continues to evolve rapidly. Novice users benefit from more intelligent default choices from the graphics engine; advanced users have more options allowing them to fine tune a chart exactly the way they want it.

OpenOffice.org's database application, Base, now supports MS-Access 2007 (accdb files on MS-Windows), and has enhanced capabilities for MySQL, Oracle/jdbc, and native (HSQL) databases. The Query Designer is also improved.

OpenOffice.org 2.4 is the eleventh release in the 2.x series (launched in October 2005) and demonstrates the Community's commitment to continuous and regular improvement of its software. The next major release - 3.0 - is planned for the autumn/fall this year.

About OpenOffice.org

The OpenOffice.org Community is an international team of volunteer and sponsored contributors who develop, translate, support, and promote the leading open-source office productivity suite, OpenOffice.org®. OpenOffice.org's leading edge software technology (UNO) is also available for developers, systems integrators, etc to use in OpenOffice.org extensions or in their own applications.

OpenOffice.org uses the OpenDocument Format OASIS Standard (ISO/IEC 26300) as well as supporting legacy file formats such as Microsoft Office, and is available on major computing platforms in over 80 languages. OpenOffice.org software is provided under the GNU Lesser General Public Licence (LGPL) and may be used free of charge for any purpose, private or commercial.

The OpenOffice.org Community acknowledges generous sponsorship from a number of companies, including Sun Microsystems, the founding sponsor and primary contributor.

Links

* Download OpenOffice.org 2.4 (http://download.openoffice.org/?cid=923971) free of charge

* OpenOffice.org Native Language Projects (http://projects.openoffice.org/native-lang.html) for local language support

Further information about OpenOffice.org products:

* the OpenOffice.org office suite (http://www.openoffice.org/product/?cid=923970) for users

* OpenOffice.org Universal Network Objects (http://udk.openoffice.org/) (UNO) for developers

* OpenOffice.org Software Development Kit (http://api.openoffice.org/SDK) (SDK) for developers

Press Contacts

Louis Suarez-Potts (UTC -04h00)

OpenOffice.org Community Manager

louis @ openoffice.org

+1 (416) 625-3843

John McCreesh (UTC +00h00)

OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Lead

jpmcc @ openoffice.org

+44 (0)7 810 278 540

Florian Effenberger (UTC +01h00)

OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Co-Lead

floeff @ openoffice.org

+49 8341 9966 0880

Worldwide Marketing Contacts (http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html)

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