Datatude wrote:
Al,
OOo 2.3 works fine on Leopard, yes, but only after X11 on Leopard is
given some tweaking. If you run OOo with the preinstalled version of
X11 on a new Leopard install you will find that OOo doesn't act or
look as smooth as it could--window slow to repaint on resizing, menus
scroll down slowly when chosen, etc.
And if you're not familiar with the X11 environment but are familiar
with Macs, you may have some serious issues using OOo in X11. For
instance, keystroke combos use Ctrl instead of Cmd, and you will not
be able to copy/paste text between OOo and other applications that run
outside of the X11 "shell" (or whatever it is).
So you also have two other choices:
try the early release (it's only an Alpha, so be careful, but I can
say I use it myself without too much trouble) of OOo for Aqua
(available from the Download pages), or download and try NeoOffice
2.2, which has been in release for a good while now and does run as an
Aqua application.
In my experience, trying to be productive with an application that
runs in X11 on a Mac is nearly impossible, most especially because of
the copy-paste issues, the non-Mac file dialogs, and the keystroke
confusions.
I agree that NeoOffice is an excellent alternative. I like it, use it,
and, as it is donation-ware I have even sent the developers a few
dollars in gratitude. However, I got the impression from the NeoOffice
site that it is still very much an ongoing beta situation, and there are
caveats about relying on that software to do really important stuff.
Moreover, I have had the impression that flogging NeoOffice too
enthusiastically here is not appropriate for an OOo mailing list.
But my main loyalties are to OOo and I for one am really looking forward
to a release candidate for the Aqua version, or at least progression to
a pretty stable beta stage.
As for cutting and pasting, I did a quick experiment and I am able to
paste into X11 OOo fine from a doc in NeoOffice but formatting is not
preserved. Frankly, I don't think that cutting and pasting stuff into
and out of the X11 environment is nearly as prohibitive as you say it
is, but I will do some more experimenting. And I am not fussed about the
keystroke combos. I am mostly a mouser :)
I think one thing I am deducing from following this list is that the X11
"layer" may flummox some Mac users who went Mac in the first place for
ease of use and who have neither the sophistication nor the interest to
sort out the nuances of working with an OS within an OS. (I am a bit of
wannabe Unix/Linux nerd, so I don't mind learning about this, but I
don't expect every to be like this.) For this reason, if OOo is to take
over the world when it comes to office suites, the dedicated Aqua
version is needed to win over us Mackies. I also use OOo in Windows XP
and Ubuntu 7.10 virtual machines when I have them open, and I would like
to see a fully working Mac version that integrates as well into the
native OS as the Windows and Linux versions. In the meantime, I really
think the X11 version is a good compromise, and it may be a little more
reliable right now than NeoOffice, if we are to listen to the latter's
developers.
I have become something of a self-appointed expert (ha!) on getting OOo
for X11 to work the best it can on Leopard. If anyone is interested I
could try to summarize some of my experiences as a sort of FAQ or wiki
or whatever. I can attest that I have been up and running just fine with
it since upgrading to Leopard and doing all of the Xquartz tweaking. I
would love to be able to pass on my learning a little more efficiently.
Les
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