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OpenOffice.org (OO.o or OOo) is a free cross-platform office application suite. It uses OpenDocument Format (ODF), the ISO standard for data interchange, as its default file format. It also supports Microsoft Office ′97–2003 formats, and as for version 3.0 it has the ability to "open" documents with Microsoft Office 2007 format. So if you’re looking for a free alternative to Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org is the way to go.

OpenOffice.org is available for these operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows
• Linux RPM
• Linux DEB
• Solaris x86
• Solaris SPARC
• Mac OSX Intel
• Mac OSX PPC

OpenOffice.org is a collection of applications that work together closely to provide the features expected from a modern office suite. The components available include:

Writer

A word processor similar in look and feel to Microsoft Word or WordPerfect and offering a comparable range of functions and tools. It also includes the ability to export Portable Document Format (PDF) files with no additional software, and can also function as a basic WYSIWYG editor for creating and editing web pages.

Calc

A spreadsheet similar to Microsoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 with a roughly equivalent range of features. 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 is also capable of writing spreadsheets directly as a PDF file.

Impress

A presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. It can export presentations to Adobe Flash (SWF) files, allowing them to be played on any computer with the Flash player installed. It also includes the ability to create PDF files, and the ability to read Microsoft PowerPoint’s .ppt format. Impress suffers from a lack of ready-made presentation designs. However, templates are readily available on the Internet.

Base

A database 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 Access, Base may be used 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 ooBase can be a front-end for any of the databases listed, there is no need for any of them to be installed.

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.

Math

A tool for creating and editing mathematical formulae, similar to Microsoft Equation Editor. Formulae can be embedded inside other OpenOffice.org documents, such as those created by Writer. It supports multiple fonts and can export to PDF.

What’s new on OpenOffice.org 3.0

In addition to read and write support for the Microsoft Office binary file formats (.doc; .xls, .ppt, etc.), OpenOffice.org 3.0.0 is now capable of opening files created with Microsoft Office 2007 or Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac OS X (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, etc.). Thus, OpenOffice.org users can interact with users still using Microsoft Office. The various filters for the Microsoft Office file formats also make mixed environments possible, so that some users stay on Microsoft Office while others use OpenOffice.org.

Mac OS X users will be pleased with 3.0 as OS X support is even more robust. OpenOffice.org 3.0 works right out of the box with minimal effort. Another good news for OS X users is that features that were dropped from the Mac version of Microsoft Office such as the spreadsheet Solver and VBA support are included in the Mac version of OpenOffice.org.

Better collaboration is one of the new features in OpenOffice.org 3.0. Spreadsheet collaboration is now possible among multiple editors with the Workbook Sharing feature. The spreadsheet now can have up to 1024 columns of data compared with the 256 available to previous OpenOffice.org. As for collaboration on Writer, different editors get different colors to help keep the note taking and editing process more streamlined. The author note location shifted from the document text itself to the margin, similar to Microsoft Word, which greatly improving readability.

In the latest version, the crop and other drawing tools get updates, they are now more polished and intuitive to use. Simple things like cropping a picture within a presentation slideshow or document have become much easier as the layout and functionality of the tools now have adapted standard interfaces the user has already familiar with. The chart engine is improved, which now renders charts more quickly and with a lot more options than before.

Today, the OpenOffice.org servers have been hit hard, but so far download speeds is quite well.

"Apologies - our website is struggling to cope with the unprecedented demand for the new release 3.0 of OpenOffice.org. The technical teams are trying to come up with a solution.

Thank you for your patience."

~~ OpenOffice.org website on October 13, 2008

OpenOffice.org 3.0 download links