[tdf-discuss] OpenOffice.org articles in Linux Format March 2011

Hi,

I thought someone was going to summarize the articles on 
OpenOffice.org 3.3 in the current issues of Linux Format (March 2011).
There are two articles: a review (page 27) and one about things to improve.

The review mentions significant improvements in Calc (one million 
rows of cells instead of 65536, better CVS import, ...) and points 
out that: "Importing DOCX continues to be problematic and there's no 
option to export the format, which is surprising after four years of 
mainstream usage." The reviewer also regrets that the developers 
"don't take time to integrate a decent set of document templates into 
the software."

The other article is: "20 things we'd change about OpenOffice.org" 
(pages 50-51):
1. Improve the loading speed.
2. Learn/dare to be different instead of imitating the look and feel 
of MS Office.
3. Implement grammar checking.
4. OOo tries to load too much when starting; more modular loading 
could improve this.
5. Find a better name.
6. OOo needs stronger competition to help developers focus on 
improving the product. (*)
7. Current PDF import isn't useful; even simple editing and 
re-exporting as PDF would be a step forward.
8. OOo should be perceived as a powerful office suite in its own 
right, not as a cheap alternative for people who can't afford a 
"proper" office suite from Microsoft.
9. Loading time should be faster. A built-from-source installation on 
Gentoo loads faster, so it should be possible.
10. OOo should look like a native application on the main desktops.
11. We should be able to compile it from source; the build process is 
too fragile.
12. Improve cross-application cut and paste, e.g. copying table cells 
from Calc to Writer.
13. If there are two ways of doing something, OOos seems to go for 
the most complex one. This is often the most flexible method, but not 
the most productive one. People should at least have a choice.
14. A greater set of useful extensions. OOo comes with only 3 
extensions, the project site has less than 150 extensions.
15. Macro recording should be easier and less error prone.
16. Fix some of the 14.500 bugs/"issues" and implement some of the 
9.500 feature and enhancement requests.
17. Pop-up help. True productivity is not possible without an 
irritating animated character like Clippy. (What were the editors 
drinking when they wrote this?)
18. The extension manager should not simply be a dialogue that asks 
for an extension file; users should be able to browse and search extensions.
19. OOo is basically good and this amplifies the annoyances.
20. Once more: faster loading.

(*) None of these articles mention LibrOffice, although the review 
says: "developers are falling away like pine needles from a Christmas 
tree and competitors are making inroads to its market."

Best regards,

Christophe


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Christophe Strobbe
K.U.Leuven - Dept. of Electrical Engineering - SCD
Research Group on Document Architectures
Kasteelpark Arenberg 10 bus 2442
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BELGIUM
tel: +32 16 32 85 51
http://www.docarch.be/
Twitter: @RabelaisA11y
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