Neolithic Office for Java(TM) (NeoOffice/J) is OpenOffice for the Mac without requiring X11 or messing with Unix libraries. It installs like a Mac application, from a simple installer. It also looks and acts increasingly like a real Macintosh Aqua application under OS X; that is, the menus are in the menu bar, rather than repeated in every window; it uses real command (not control!) keys; it supports scroll wheels and drag-'n'-drop within NeoOffice/J; the application doesn't quit every time you close the last document; printing uses the standard Macintosh printing system; it uses your real Macintosh fonts from the standard locations; and because it uses a separate preferences file, you don't lose your preferences with each update (multiple users can also have individual preferences). And it's well integrated in other ways, too: you can copy and paste between applications, and opening a NeoOffice/J document in the Finder will launch NeoOffice/J directly.
The developers are careful to advise that this is technically beta-test software; however, many users (including me!) find it stable enough for daily work. It does receive relatively frequent patches and updates (via installers), but it's smart enough to check for its own updates if your web connection is up at launch. Because NeoOffice/J is self-contained and doesn't mess with Unix libraries, you can install it in addition to the X11 version of OpenOffice; there will be no conflict (but you might never use the X11 version again!).
So, what's the downside? NeoOffice/J is currently built on OpenOffice v1.1.2; any bugs in that code will surely be present in NeoOffice/J. There are a very few font issues, but they affect primarily "oddball" fonts and will probably be resolved with the move to a newer version of Java. And at the moment, NeoOffice/J is lacking plug-in, applet, and inter-application drag-and-drop support--all of which are also lacking in OpenOffice, but forthcoming in NeoOffice/J.
If you're frustrated with the Unix- and Windows-like complexities of OpenOffice on the Mac, you'll appreciate the Mac-like ease of use of NeoOffice/J. The download is large and slow because of limited bandwidth, so you might do best starting the download at night, and you'll wake up to a whole new outlook on OpenOffice! Or if I'm wrong and you don't like it, just drop the application in the trash, and it's uninstalled.
A screen shot and download directions are at http://www.planamesa.com/neojava/en/index.php. Cheers,
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Gib Henry
