larryni.me.uk

OpenOffice.org released the latest version of their free open source software alternative to Microsoft Office today. It includes updates for the word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and database packages. They also patched some security holes which were recently discovered. Here’s a rundown of the improvements:

• improvement in the quality of text display in all parts of OpenOffice.org due to kerning enabled by default
• enhanced pdf export function with the addition of the optional creation of bookmarks feature
• support for user-definable export of form fields.
• new cosmetic changes available in Vista
• smaller download and install size for Apple Mac users
• Apple Mac Intel version has many stability improvements and bug fixes. Version 2.2 now requires Mac OS X 10.4.x running X11.
• additional enhancements to support MS file formats in Calc
• improved support for Pivot Tables and some specialised trigonometric functions
• improved SQL editing functionality as well as a new Queries within Queries feature for Base
• improved compatibility options for some database drivers
• improvements in the handling of hidden Impress slides.