14 DAY TRIAL // LibreOffice was, is, and will definitely continue to be the top alternative to Microsoft Office, and thanks to the just-released version 5.3.4, replacing Redmond’s famous productivity source with the open-source sibling just got easier.
Version 5.3.4 includes over 100 patches, The Document Foundation says, and the highlights are definitely the ones that are aimed at Microsoft’s own Office suite.
Specifically, this new version of LibreOffice includes interoperability improvements for Microsoft Office RT and OOXML documents, and is certainly good news not only for home users, but also for authorities and organizations across the world who have been struggling to complete the transition to open-source alternatives.
Document interoperability issues have been the roadblocks for several city authorities across the world who planned to give up on Microsoft Office, so each update that includes fixes in this regard is more than welcome.
Technical notes
For the more technical users, TDF explains in the release notes that this version introduces DOCX importing bug fixes, as well as refinements aimed at RTF documents. Both importing and exporting of RTF files should work correctly after updating to LibreOffice 5.3.4, TDF says.
At the same time, the developing team focused on improving interoperability with OOXML documents, and one particular line in the release notes indicates that LibreOffice should now open Microsoft Office 2003 documents in this format without any bugs. This is again fairly important because most organizations planning the transition to LibreOffice typically come from older versions of Microsoft Office.
Even though this new release comes with so many improvements, The Document Foundation says LibreOffice 5.2.7 is the one recommended for enterprise deployments, as it has the backing of professional support by certified professionals. This means that fewer bugs are likely to be in this version and someone will also be there to offer support should you come across other problems.
As usual, you can download any LibreOffice version from Softpedia, be it for Windows, Linux, or macOS.