14 DAY TRIAL // The Apache OpenOffice suite has been updated to version 4.1.0, which is now in beta but offers so many new features that it will be impossible for anyone to resist installing it. Beware though, beta software is not to be relied upon.
As with any office suite, the Writer app is the heart and soul of Apache OpenOffice. Users can now punch in comments/annotations on text ranges instead of only on text positions, a feature introduced in the OpenDocument file format (ODF) that also improves the interoperability with OOXML.
According to the development team, “The OSBA OOXML improvement project includes the implementation of this feature. Accordingly, the implementation based on the integration of the work done by SUSE for this OSBA project – corresponding patches had been provided under ALv2.”
Editing Input Fields has also been improved. Writer users can now modify the content of an Input Field directly in the document's text area, and they get feedback about Entering and Leaving the Input Field when traveling with the cursor in and out of the field.
Users get a more intuitive cropping experience with Graphic Object content, thanks to the addition of an Interactive Crop feature for selected Graphic Objects in Draw/Impress.
You can now copy/paste Slides and easily replace the Graphic content of Graphic Objects without changing their Position or Orientation.
Any performance problem you may have involving big 3D charts should now be addressed. Initially, a document with a huge chart containing 100x100x5 vertical 3D data boxes could not be imported at all, but that’s no longer the case now.
Further improved is the Clipboard support for exchange of PNG images. As a result of these changes, transparency in Pixel-based graphics will be preserved in more places than before.
According to the Apache Software Foundation, “Pixel-based Graphic modification cycles (e.g. copying graphic content to an external Application, modifying it and copying it back to AOO 4.1) will work better with more external Image Editors of your choice.”
New translations are now available for Bulgarian, Kazakh, Danish, Norwegian Bokmal, Hindi, and Thai. Translations that have been updated include Basque, Dutch, German, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish. There’s also a new Lithuanian dictionary inside this beta, and the English dictionary has received a few adjustments as well.
The system requirements remain unchanged, and the download links for all supported platforms can be found below, as always.
Download Apache OpenOffice 4.1.0 Beta for Mac OS X