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 OpenOffice.org, commonly known as OOo or OpenOffice, is an open-source application suite whose main components are for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. It is available for a number of different computer operating systems, is distributed as free software and is written using its own GUI toolkit. It supports the ISO/IEC standard OpenDocument Format (ODF) for data interchange as its default file format, as well as Microsoft Office formats among others. As of November 2009, OpenOffice.org supports over 110 languages.
OpenOffice.org originated as StarOffice, an office suite developed by StarDivision and acquired by Sun Microsystems in August 1999. The source code of the suite was released in July 2000 with the aim of reducing the dominant market share of Microsoft Office by providing a free and open alternative; later versions of StarOffice are based upon OpenOffice.org with additional proprietary components. The OpenOffice.org project is primarily sponsored by Oracle Corporation (having acquired Sun Microsystems). Other major corporate contributors include Novell, Red Hat, IBM, Google and others.
The project and software are commonly known as OpenOffice, but this term is a trademark held by a company in the Netherlands co-founded by Wouter Hanegraaff and is also in use by Orange UK, requiring the project to adopt OpenOffice.org as its formal name. Although branded as OpenOffice.org, the office suite included in most Linux distributions (including Ubuntu, openSUSE and Mandriva Linux) is actually a fork or an unofficial branch called Go-oo.
Features
OpenOffice.org 3 is promoted as being available in many languages, working on all common computers, storing data in an international open standard format and being able to read and write files from other common office software packages, as well as being available for download and use completely free of charge for any purpose.
In particular, the publishers of the office suite stress that it is the result of over twenty years' software engineering, it is easy to use, and it is free, released under the LGPL licence
Platforms supported by OO.o include Microsoft Windows, Linux, Solaris, BSD, OpenVMS, OS/2 and IRIX.The current primary development platforms are Microsoft Windows, Linux and Solaris.
Support for Mac OS X exists for OS X's native Aqua user interface, as of version 3.0. Previous versions required installing the X Window System component. NeoOffice is an independent fork of OpenOffice, specially adapted for Mac OS X.
- Operating system compatibility
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FreeBSD: v3.2.0
Linux
OpenBSD
NetBSD
Solaris: v3.2
Mac OS X v10.2: up to v1.1.2
Mac OS X v10.3: up to v2.1
Mac OS X v10.4–v10.5 (PowerPC): up to v3.2
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Mac OS X v10.4–v10.5 (Intel): v3.2
Mac OS X v10.6: v3.2
Windows 95: up to v1.1.5
Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6 – up to v2.1
Windows 98 – Windows ME: up to v2.4.3
Windows 2000 – Windows 7: v3.2 (Tablet PC input is not supported)
OS/2 and eComStation: up to v3.1.1
IRIX (mips4): up to v1.0.3
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OpenOffice.org comprises a collection of applications that work together closely to provide the features commonly included in modern office suites. Many of the components mirror those available in Microsoft Office. The components available include:
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Notes |
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Writer |
A word processor similar to Microsoft Word and WordPerfect. It can export Portable Document Format (PDF) files with no additional software, and can function as a basic WYSIWYG editor for creating and editing web pages. |
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Calc |
A spreadsheet similar to Microsoft Excel and Lotus 1-2-3. Calc provides a number of features not present in Excel, including a system which automatically defines series for graphing, based on the layout of the user’s data. Calc can also export spreadsheets to the PDF format. (See ooWriter entry, above, for details of PDF). |
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Impress |
A presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple Keynote. Impress can export presentations to Adobe Flash (SWF) files, allowing them to be played on any computer with a Flash player installed. It also includes the ability to create PDF files, and the ability to read Microsoft PowerPoint's .ppt format. Impress lacks ready-made presentation designs. However, this can be overcome by downloading the Sun_ODF_Template_Pack2_en-US from the Openoffice.org Extensions website.. |
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Base |
A database management program similar to Microsoft Access. Base allows the creation and manipulation of databases, and the building of forms and reports to provide easy access to data for end-users. As with MS Access, Base can function as a front-end to a number of different database systems, including Access databases (JET), ODBC data sources and MySQL/PostgreSQL. Base became part of the suite starting with version 2.0. Native to the OpenOffice.org suite is an adaptation of HSQL. While Base can be a front-end for any of the databases listed, there is no need to install any of them. Raw SQL code can be entered by those who prefer it, or graphical user interfaces can be used. |
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Draw |
A vector graphics editor comparable in features to early versions of CorelDRAW. It features versatile "connectors" between shapes, which are available in a range of line styles and facilitate building drawings such as flowcharts. It has similar features to desktop-publishing software such as Scribus and Microsoft Publisher. Draw can also export its creations to the PDF format. (See ooWriter entry, above, for details of PDF). |
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Math |
A tool for creating and editing mathematical formulae, similar to Microsoft Equation Editor. OOo users can embed formulae inside other OpenOffice.org documents, such as those created by Writer. It supports multiple fonts and can export to PDF. |
- Connectivity: OOo can interact with databases (local or remote) using:
- ODBC: Open Database Connectivity
- JDBC: Java Database Connectivity
- SDBC: StarOffice Database Connectivity
Download Open Office
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