LibreOffice - A step in the right direction

I recently switched from the slow to start, heavy and annoying (ad) on MS Word Starter 2010 to OpenOffice.org 3.2. Apart from finding it dull to look at and at time frustratingly slow, I was okay with the software because it did not have the advertisement at least.

Soon, I grew tired of it too, installed LibreOffice 3.4 and I was pleasantly surprised! This thing is fast, has a much better look/feel and gets the basics right. And the best part, it is coming to Android and will have a cloud version too!

LibreOffice developer shows prototype Android and HTML5 ports
By Ryan Paul

The Document Foundation (TDF) announced plans last year to create mobile and cloud versions of LibreOffice. A preliminary iOS porting effort that was undertaken earlier in 2011 demonstrated the viability of the project and showed that the open source office suite could have a future beyond the desktop.

In a presentation this week at the FOSDEM conference, SUSE developer Michael Meeks shed some light on the current status of the porting project. The presentation slides, which he published on his blog, offer insight into some of the underlying technical details and the rationale for some of the high-level design decisions.

Those wondering why it is fast, look here: LibreOffice stats: 400 total contributors, thousands of code commits every month

*static.arstechnica.net/2012/02/03/tdfbugfixes-4f2c763-intro.png
*static.arstechnica.net/2012/02/03/tdfunusedcode-4f2c763-intro.png
Both taken from Ars Technica.

From the article linked above:

LibreOffice is gaining lots of momentum among users, too. Last year, TDF estimated that the number of users who have tried the open source office suite is approximately 10 million. LibreOffice 3.5, a major update with lots of improvements, is expected to arrive next week.

And the best part, LibreOffice is developed by TDF. :))

The Document Foundation.

Eagerly waiting for the major update: version 3.5.

Nice..!! Even I prefer Libre Office instead of Open Office. I guess it's much light on system...!!

Active community support is the key to that. They removed the bloat from open office.

moving to it. ty,

Been using it for a month or so now. Quite fast. No bloat. Startup time is lot better than OpenOffice.
Would recommend this anyone ocver OpenOffice

Using LibreOffice since its birth. Great news is that its coming to Android.

Thanks Krow..I use Openoffice in office.
but after looking at the screenshots in its website...is it also developed by sunmicrosystem coz the icons are same as openoffice?

No, icons are very different. I think they look much better. Just install it and see for yourself.

And libreoffice is developed by the document foundation.

S

^^^ But it is branched off the OpenOffice.org development right?

Arun

Yes. LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice.org.

Never (ever) tried any open source office suite. Since M$ office runs in my veins right from the beginning of time!

But, I will have to give LibreOffice a chance! Just because Krow posted the article about it in such good words.

(And probably because it's developed by TDF

)

Haha. Yes, try it. I was happy with the MS Word 2010 Starter edition but it is annoyingly slow. So moved. So far so good.

*tdfsc.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/tdf-infographics2.jpg

Version 3.5 Release Candidate 3 can be downloaded here: Download QA builds LibreOffice

I was using open office from long, for me it is there only because sometimes people send me files in doc format else for me there is rarely any use of office application, I shifted to LebreOffice few months back and definitely its better than Open Office and little lighter too !

Version 3.5.1 is out. LibreOffice seems to have done away with that annoying gray border which OpenOffice had. Okay, you can disable it but I dislike it on by default. So far I am happy with LO. Doesbthe job and does not take eons to do it.

IT would have been great if we could update just by clicking update button rather than downloading setup everytime.

or did I miss the update button?

^Yes, I agree. Although it is not necessary to update unless there is a major release.

Using it as default in Ubuntu. Unfortunately nowhere near MS Office in terms of looks.

Currently on 3.4.2
Is it worth upgrading to 3.5.1?

Depends on what you are looking for. Not too many changes will be noticeable if you use only Writer. If you are into Draw/Impress/etc. then upgrade.

I mostly use Writer and impress.
I couldn't understand the need of Draw in a office suite. Does it have any other function than drawing?(like making graphs?)
Can it now export documents properly to ppt(x)?

Draw lets you build diagrams and sketches from scratch. A picture is worth a thousand words, so why not try something simple with box and line diagrams? Or else go further and easily build dynamic 3D illustrations and special effects. It's as simple or as powerful as you want it to be.

I think you can save presentations as pptx. If you mean Draw to pptx then I can't help you, I do not use it.

^ in 2.4.2 it would save the files in the pptx but all the formatting would be gone. I wanted to know if the problem still persists.

Niilesh said:
^ in 2.4.2 it would save the files in the pptx but all the formatting would be gone. I wanted to know if the problem still persists.

You mean formatting would be ruined when opened in Microsoft Powerpoint? I do not own a copy of Powerpoint so I cannot help you there as well. But why bother using LibreOffice if you own MS Office anyway? Use it if you are going to be opening it in LibreOffice, no point using it in MS Office.

Sometimes its needed when you are sending the files outside who have MS Office.

I know what you mean. Well, I have not even installed anything apart from Writer. No idea about compatibility. Luckily, my company uses OpenOffice.org. So, I use ODF all the time.

Does anyone know if MS Office supports ODF yet? Version 2007 could not open it. Not sure about 2010.

Krow said:
You mean formatting would be ruined when opened in Microsoft Powerpoint? I do not own a copy of Powerpoint so I cannot help you there as well. But why bother using LibreOffice if you own MS Office anyway? Use it if you are going to be opening it in LibreOffice, no point using it in MS Office.

Skud answered the quesion
BTW the formatting would be gone even if you open it in LibreOffice again(in ppt format)

Krow said:
I know what you mean. Well, I have not even installed anything apart from Writer. No idea about compatibility. Luckily, my company uses OpenOffice.org. So, I use ODF all the time.

Does anyone know if MS Office supports ODF yet? Version 2007 could not open it. Not sure about 2010.

2010 could not open it but i found a plugin on sourceforge to make it support ODF.
Found the link : OpenXML/ODF Translator Add-in for Office

libreoffice or openoffice?? which one is preferable the most for windows os?? ur thoughts??

Libreoffice. Answer is in first post in this thread.

Krow said:
Does anyone know if MS Office supports ODF yet? Version 2007 could not open it. Not sure about 2010.

There are plugins available for it afaik. Even read articles in Digit Magazine about it.

bhushan05d251 said:
libreoffice or openoffice?? which one is preferable the most for windows os?? ur thoughts??

Libreoffice. Lot less bloated and good to use.

when libreoffice coming for android??
looking forward to it!!

Krow said:
I know what you mean. Well, I have not even installed anything apart from Writer. No idea about compatibility. Luckily, my company uses OpenOffice.org. So, I use ODF all the time.

Does anyone know if MS Office supports ODF yet? Version 2007 could not open it. Not sure about 2010.

2010 Starter version supports odt and ods files. I guess Powerpoint probably supports odp files too.

Have a look at this LibreOffice 3.6 Beta guys
Download LibreOffice 3.6.0 Beta 2 - FileHippo.com

Well since no one has posted this here yet,

LibreOffice 4.0: Release notes

Using it for many months in parallel of MS Office.....I use both depending on the need.

I have preffered this tooo but the Libre office documents are not compatible with windows. When i painfull typed 27 pages for my project then tried it on a PC i got irritated and frustrated because of this!! I hope this thing is fixed/or will be fixed because this is the main challenge according to me on changing to Linux (other than gaming which i dont care

)!!! This is the main thing!! Because even if this is fixed or not, am not going to leave the Linux, but it will stop me from recruiting many....

LibreOffice isn't compatible with Windows? But I have been using it right from it's inception on my Windows 7 PC. Come on if you want to troll don't end up trolling yourself

Installation on Windows » LibreOffice

thetechfreak said:
LibreOffice isn't compatible with Windows? But I have been using it right from it's inception on my Windows 7 PC. Come on if you want to troll don't end up trolling yourself
Installation on Windows » LibreOffice

Friend, i meant that the documents created by libre office from a linux machine is shown real messy when we open it from a PC which uses MS OFFICE!! I know that the installation is available in windows

I used libre office first on a PC

UPDATE : I have specifically told that libre office documents on windows even though didn't refer the MS OFFICE

Didn‘t understand what mess up you are talking off. LibreOffice ia working flawlessly. It opens MS office formats too.
Post a screenshot of what you call “messed up“

NikiNfOuR said:
Friend, i meant that the documents created by libre office from a linux machine is shown real messy when we open it from a PC which uses MS OFFICE!! I know that the installation is available in windows I used libre office first on a PC

UPDATE : I have specifically told that libre office documents on windows even though didn't refer the MS OFFICE

Maybe a big? Did you report it?

thetechfreak said:
Didn‘t understand what mess up you are talking off. LibreOffice ia working flawlessly. It opens MS office formats too.
Post a screenshot of what you call “messed up“

How can i post screenshot of the thing i was doing for my project that i was doing to submit for the next day in my hostel without any internet!! And i am talking about the Libre Office created documents not working properly on a windows machine when opened with the MS office!! Dude pls do read before you post, cheers

harshilsharma63 said:
Maybe a big? Did you report it?

No friend i was doing my project day before the deadline in my hostel room,so i couldn't report!! I was not using 4.0 i guess