Hi all,
I am trying to discover and list the MAJOR new features of OOo v2 for
the What is OOo? guide and need your input. To begin with what I think
is important and what you think are probably not the same...and the new
feature set is not completely available yet, so please give me your
input. If something is missing, tell me...if something I have included
is either wrong or trivial, tell me also.
I have heard "rumors" all over the OOo forums, so I would like good hard
facts! For instanc,e are there any NEW functions in Calc? Have the PDF
and Flash export features really been greatly improved?
This is what I have now (The wording has been copied verbatim from the
Guide to New Features located at the link at the end of this post), I
will rework it, with your help ;-) ...
New features in Version 2
* Simplified installation - There is a new dialog in the with no
need of using commandline switches (or flags). Instead of the
flags the new installation mechanism provides an unified
installation type. You can determine which version of Java is
used by OpenOffice.org. A check box also allows you to specify
that Java not be used.
* New database application - In this new stand-alone database, you
can create forms, reports, queries, tables, views and relations.
The forms, reports and queries are stored in a single file
format that you to handle your database the same way you would
other popular databases. Many database handling improvements
including enhanced LDAP connectivity and The file based database
drivers will be capable to execute, the in SQL92 described,
numeric, string and datetime functions.
* New file format - OpenOffice.org 2.0 and StarOffice 8 use the
new OASIS standard XML file format as their default file
format.The new file names are the same regardless of the product
vendor. You will not only find this new file format used in
StarOffice and OpenOffice.org, but also in KOffice and a growing
number of products that support this new standard.
* Native System Theme Integration - To enhance integration of
OpenOffice.org with the underlying operating system, all user
interface elements (such as buttons and scrollbars) will have
the same look as those used in most other "native" applications
for that platform.
* Redesigned tool bars - Tool bars retain their context-sensitive
behavior, but now the tool bars are structured in a more usable
fashion and displaying only carefully selected default tools.You
can change the tool bars in Writer, Calc, Draw, etc to suit your
needs. Moving, removing and duplicating a tool (icon) is fast
and easy
* Recently-used file list extended to 10 items - The File menu
gives access to recently used OOo documents. This list is
extended to 10 items. It is also a sub menu in order to improve
the usability of the File menu.
* New menu customization tab page - The usability of the Menu tab
page of the Tools - Customize dialog is being improved to make
it easier for users to create customized menus and menu items to
suit their needs.
* Changed "AutoPilot" to "Wizard" - The term "AutoPilot" has been
changed everywhere to "wizard". This conforms to common office
suite terminology and will help make our wizards more
recognizable for users.
* Drag and drop selections to create styles - Drag and drop a text
selection into the Styles and Formatting window to create a new
paragraph style or character style (soft formatting).
* Digital Signatures and Encryption - Digital signatures offer
secure protection of document content. The new XML encryption
algorithm offers additional security.
* New file thumbnails for preview in file explorer - The new
plug-in for the file system explorer displays a thumbnail
preview of an OpenOffice.org file.
* Updated filters:
* Import and export of spin buttons and scrollbars has
been added to the Word filters. Microsoft Office 95 and
Office 97 spin buttons and scrollbars has been added
* The import filter for Power Point documents will now
create text objects having font independent line spacing
enabled.
* Enhanced export to HTML to produce "XHTML 1.0
Strict".XHTML export enabled for Calc, Draw and Impress,
You can now install and use XSLT-based input/output
filters.
* Improved the document import/export of Microsoft Office
documents including the loading or importation of
Password Protected Microsoft Office Documents.
* Send Document as E-mail configuration changed - With File Send
Document as E-mail OpenOffice.org offers functionality to open a
new email composer window with the active document directly
attached. OpenOffice.org 2.0 will greatly simplify the task of
configuring the email client to be used for this feature.
* New and Improved Form Controls – These controls can be embedded
in all OpenOffice.org documents which support a form layer
* New Keyboard shortcuts - You can now use the keyboard to perform
the action otherwise found under Edit - Paste Special. When
multiple sheets in a spreadsheet are selected, it is now
possible to deselect them using the keyboard. You can assign
paragraph styles to key combinations which then allow you to
quickly apply Paragraph Styles while typing in a document, Basic
IDE keyboard shortcuts have been changed.
* Improved DataPilot - the DataPilot has been extended to allow
more settings for each field. Two new options for DataPilot
tables control the "Filter" button cell, and the interaction to
show or hide details. The "show details" function is able to add
fields to a DataPilot table (drill down).
* Enhanced number recognition in Calc - The behavior is more
understandable for Calc users as well as users migrating from
Excel or other spreadsheet applications.
* Increased row limit to 64k rows - The number of spreadsheet rows
has been increased to the same number of rows Microsoft Excel
offers. The maximum number of rows in a spreadsheet is now
65536.
* Enhanced Header/Footer Dialog - Choose from a predefined set of
headers and footers. This feature also increases compatibility
with Microsoft Excel header and footer handling.
* Enhanced page scaling for printing - Increased compatibility
with Microsoft Excel: You can specify the number of horizontal
and vertical pages.
* Programmatic Control of Menu and Tool bar Items - Now third
party developers can adapt menu bar and toolbar layouts to their
needs. Menus and tool bars are accessible to UNO developers and
provide access to interfaces to insert/remove and modify menu
items, popup menus and toolbar items at runtime.
* Basic IDE Macro Chooser and Macro Organizer - The Scripting
Framework allows the user to develop macros in languages other
than OpenOffice.org Basic. This document describes the changes
to the Tools->Macros sub menus and the dialogs it launches to
allow the user manage their macros.
* OpenOffice.org Scripting Framework - The Scripting Framework
allows OpenOffice.org users to write macros in a number of
languages and execute them in OpenOffice.org. Users can assign
these macros to menu items, keyboard combinations, application
and document events, form controls within documents and various
objects within documents.
For a complete, detailed, listing got to the OpenOffice.org 2.0 Office
Suite, Guide to New Features located at:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/2.0/featureguide.html#enduser
