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OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER
Volume 05 - Issue 16 - 10/2008
Please send news clippings to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Contents
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1. Announcements
================
* Registration opens for the OpenOffice.org Annual Conference
* OO.o 3.0 Final Release available
* Announcing OpenOffice.org 2.4.2
2. Success Stories
==================
* South Africa’s IT agency to migrate to open source in coming year
3. Featured News
================
* eWeek: OpenOffice.org Grows Up
* A Survey of Open Source Surveys
* Treat yourself to a suite alternative: OpenOffice.org 3.0
* OpenOffice Hits 3.0: Can It Challenge Microsoft?
* OpenOffice 3.0--No longer an alternative
* Office without the MS
* OK, now OpenOffice is definitely good enough
* Microsoft Competitor Gets Fresh
* Computerworld Review of OpenOffice.org 3.0
* OpenOffice 3.0 ships
* First Look: OpenOffice.org 3.0
* Review: OpenOffice.org 3.0
* OpenOffice 3: Useful, Compatible - and Pretty
4. Tips & Tricks
================
* Why OpenOffice.org Failed – and What to Do About It
5. ODF News
===========
* Governments head to SA (South Africa) to discuss Open Document Format
* Microsoft's OOXML Endgame Revealed?
* Venezuela adopts ODF for government
* Microsoft makes another play for UK schools
* DNA: ODF likely standard for e-gov
* IBM May Quit Technology Standards Bodies
* 2nd International ODF User Workshop in Pretoria
6. Solution of the month
========================
PALO - Commercial Open Source Business Intelligence - just do it easy.
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Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!
http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
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Announcements
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Registration opens for the OpenOffice.org Annual Conference
===========================================================
Please note we have now opened registration for our annual international
conference OOoCon 2008, to be held in Beijing, China between 5th.-7th.
November. This OOoCon is a double first - it's the first OOoCon to be held
outside Europe, and it will also see the biggest concentration of
OpenOffice.org developers ever assembled in one location on the planet.
Links:
Conference website: http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2008
Programme: http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2008/programme.html
Registration:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2008/travel.html#registration
Press Release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/OOoCon/2008/prweb1177594.htm
OO.o 3.0 Final Release available
================================
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=373
Announcing OpenOffice.org 2.4.2
===============================
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=375
Success Stories
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South Africa’s IT agency to migrate to open source in coming year
=================================================================
"The South African State IT Agency (Sita), which provides IT services to
government, will itself migrate to open source software over the coming
year. This is according to the organisation’s 2007/2008 annual report
(PDF) which has been tabled in Parliament."
http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=3240
Featured News
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Steve Ballmer in an interview with Gartner Analyst Neil McDonald
[Google Apps] "don't have the best word processor or spreadsheet we
compete with; we get more competitive pressure from OpenOffice and
StarOffice than we do from those guys,"
http://www.internetnews.com/software/article.php/3778761/Ballmer+slaps+Google+Ogles+Yahoo+Anoints+Vista.htm
eWeek: OpenOffice.org Grows Up
=================================================================
"Nine years after Sun Microsystems bought StarOffice, the resulting
OpenOffice.org project is ready to roll out its 3.0 release. Enhanced
format compatibility and features put it on par with Microsoft Office."
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Linux-and-Open-Source/OpenOfficeorg-Grows-Up/
A Survey of Open Source Surveys
==============================================================
"One sign of the health of open source these days is the number of
surveys saying how healthy it is. For example, here's one from Actuate..."
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=1352&blogid=14
Treat yourself to a suite alternative: OpenOffice.org 3.0
==========================================================
"OpenOffice.org 3.0 is a great suite of office productivity applications
(word processor, spreadsheet, presentation & database) that's very
similar to Microsoft Office in function, and very different in price."
http://www.examiner.com/x-529-SF-Technology-Examiner~y2008m10d12-Treat-yourself-to-a-suite-alternative-OpenOfficeorg-30
OpenOffice Hits 3.0: Can It Challenge Microsoft?
================================================
"The office suite, which provides word processing, spreadsheet and
presentation applications, has long been among the most heavily used
applications on users' desktops. For much of the Windows-centric world,
that suite is Microsoft Office, but for open source users, more often
than not, the choice is OpenOffice.org (OOo)."
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3777636/OpenOffice+Hits+30+Can+It+Challenge+Microsoft.htm
OpenOffice 3.0--No longer an alternative
========================================
"It's been quite some time that OpenOffice was viewed as an alternative
to Microsoft Office. But the latest release of OpenOffice version 3.0
seems to be pointing to a different direction. It is ready for
primetime, to compete head-on with Microsoft Office."
http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/infochat/post.htm?id=63006865&scid=rvhm_ms
Office without the MS
=====================
"I never took to MS Office 2007. Having used earlier versions of MS Word
for years, I was frustrated when I couldn’t easily find the menus or
commands where they used to be on its newfangled ribbon interface. I
also disliked that its applications wrote by default to a file format
that was unreadable by earlier versions of MS Office."
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=business6_oct14_2008
OK, now OpenOffice is definitely good enough
============================================
There is a reason that the OpenOffice.org 3.0 servers are struggling to
keep up with demand. OO.org 3.0 really is a serious upgrade over version 2.4
http://education.zdnet.com/?p=1895
Microsoft Competitor Gets Fresh
===============================
For what has seemed like an infinite amount of years, Microsoft has been
the top dog for office or productivity software with its Microsoft
Office suite which includes Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft
PowerPoint, and others.
http://www.nillabyte.com/blog.php?b=114
Computerworld Review of OpenOffice.org 3.0
==========================================
The final version of OpenOffice 3 is out today, and if you're looking to
save yourself plenty of money, download it instead of buying Microsoft
Office --- you could save yourself hundreds of dollars, and not lose out
on many features.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/review_of_final_openoffice_3_why_buy_microsoft_office
OpenOffice 3.0 ships
====================
OpenOffice.org (OOo) has shipped a major update to its free,
cross-platform office suite. OpenOffice.org 3.0 features native Mac OS X
support for the first time, along with more MS Office interoperability
including "Open XML" and ".accdb" file format support for Office 2007
and Access 2007, respectively.
http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS5116175814.html
First Look: OpenOffice 3.0
==========================
The third iteration of the OpenOffice productivity suite has been
released and we've taken a first look at the final product.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/reviews/2228213/first-look-openoffice-org
First Look: OpenOffice 3.0 Is a Free Replacement for MS Office on Mac
=====================================================================
OpenOffice 3.0 is hot off the presses and now, for the first time,
includes a native Mac OS X version of the popular, free, open source
alternative to Microsoft Office. The new release also has the ability to
open documents saved in Microsoft’s new office standard format, OOXML.
http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/First_Look:_OpenOffice_3DOT0_Is_a_Free_Replacement_for_MS_Office_on_Mac
First Look: OpenOffice.org 3.0
==============================
At first glance, the suite seems like a more polished OpenOffice.org
2.0. Many of the shortcomings present in older versions of
OpenOffice.org have been fixed to some extent. For this review, I tested
OO3 in a virtualized Windows XP environment.
http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?EditorialsID=10305
OpenOffice.org 3.0 scores strong first week
===========================================
OpenOffice.org 3.0 was downloaded 3 million times in its first week,
with about 80% of the downloads by Windows users, an official with the
group said in a blog post on Monday.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9117575
Review: OpenOffice.org 3.0
==========================
Version 3.0 of OpenOffice.org's free office productivity suite was
launched in mid-October and, while not a ground-breaking release, it
builds on an already mature software package to provide even tougher
competition for Microsoft's Office suite in the office productivity
suite market.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/software/2229014/review-openoffice-org
OpenOffice 3: Useful, Compatible - and Pretty
=============================================
The final version of OpenOffice.org 3, the open source Rackspace is the
expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions.
Click here to learn more. Latest News about open source competitor to
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft Office, came out
two weeks ago and looks better than ever.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/64981.html
Tips & Tricks
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Why OpenOffice.org Failed – and What to Do About It
===================================================
"Last week I noted that the release of OpenOffice.org 3.0 seems to mark
an important milestone in its adoption, judging at least by the healthy
News Linux News Linux – and continuing – rate of downloads. But in many
ways, success teaches us nothing; what is far more revealing is failure. "
http://www.e-linux.it/news_detail.php?id=6714
ODF News
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Governments head to SA (South Africa) to discuss Open Document Format
=====================================================================
"In just over a week’s time, government officials and representative
from around the globe will gather in South Africa for the second annual
Open Document Format (ODF) workshop.
The workshop, which will be held in Pretoria from 9-10 October, is aimed
at governments that are in the process of migrating to ODF as a standard
or have done so already."
http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=3233
Microsoft's OOXML Endgame Revealed?
===================================
"One of the mysteries concerning Microsoft's attempts to deal with the
threat ODF poses to its stranglehold on the office suite sector is why
some of its employees are making statements like that quoted"
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=1365&blogid=14
Venezuela adopts ODF for government
=========================================
The South American nation of Venezuela is the latest country to adopt
the Open Document Format (ODF) as a national standard. Speaking at the
Second ODF Workshop in Pretoria, South Africa, yesterday, Carlos
Gonzalez of the National Center of Information Technologies, announced
that the Venezuelan government had formally adopted ODF as a standard
for the “processing, exchange and storage of documents”.
http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=3334
Office 2007 SP2 due in early 2009
=================================
Among the new features coming in the desktop SP are previously announced
file-format changes — specifically support for Open Document Format
(ODF), ...
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1656
OpenOffice.org solution of the month
====================================
PALO - Commercial Open Source Business Intelligence - just do it easy.
With the Palo Server Jedox offers a compelling alternative to
proprietary BI solutions. Jedox pushes the concept of “Commercial Open
Source” for Business Intelligence and Corporate Performance Management.
By delivering a stable, high-end software, which is commercially
designed and developed and thoroughly tested, but still freely available
under a Open-Source license (GPL), Jedox combines the best of these two
worlds. The availability of a powerful spreadsheet-client for
OpenOffice.org Calc opens the door for a wide-spread use of Business
Intelligence and Corporate Performance Management throughout all layers
of the organization without obstacles in terms of high license or
training costs.
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This new section introduces a single solution which provides a OO.o
integration or based on OO.o technology. The idea behind it is to
support vendors who have an OO.o integration. The full list of solutions
is available here :
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Solutions
Drop me an email, if you want to have your solution listed.
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Newsletter Archive
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