Overview | Office.org

An Overview of OpenOffice

With OpenOffice, the developer Apache is offering an Office software under a free license. In addition to Windows and MacOS, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, and other Unix variants are also supported. The fact that this open-source software is widely supported by so many platforms is among its strengths. The office package includes all standard applications, such as a word processor, a spreadsheet function, and software for creating presentations. Along with those applications, it also has an editor for generating formulas, an illustration program, and a database program. When it comes to creating professional documents, users will find that they can do it well with OpenOffice.

The File Format of OpenOffice

Nowadays in the field of professional applications, the file format often plays an important role. Modern teamwork and the modern exchange of documents with business partners require that file formats can, whenever possible, be opened on any computer.

The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) is responsible for defining the data format of OpenOffice With the OpenDocument format, OASIS has decided on an open exchange format and, along with that, broad support across different application programs. OpenDocument files are packed XML files. In principle, the advantage of these files is that they can be unpacked by any archiving program, and the text files contained inside can be viewed by any text editor. This ensures that any user really can handle the documents. It is also interesting to note that the European Union wants to make OASIS’s format the standard file format for its own documents.

It is also interesting to note that the European Union wants to make OASIS’s format the standard file format for its own documents. This is advantageous to authorities because retention periods for electronic documents are often scheduled to extend over many years, and the OpenDocument format complies with these requirements, even in the long term, via unlimited file access.

An Overview of the Features

The usefulness of a particular office package depends on the different office applications that it has. And OpenOffice really has a lot to offer in that area. First of all there is Writer, OpenOffice’s word processing program. From short notes to entire books or scientific papers, you can write practically any type of text with Writer. Writer offers a variety of formatting options and allows multiple pages to be shown while editing. Notes and references can be added to the document at any time. And the software supports a variety of publishing options. Among them, documents can be saved in HTML or PDF format as well as MediaWiki format. It also supports .DOCX and .DOC file formats, which can also be useful for Office users. Other parts of the software, such as Calc for spreadsheets or Impress for creating multimedia presentations, are similarly extensive and multifunctional.

One of the special features of the Office package is the Math program. When entering mathematical formulas, office applications often stumble. Not every program offers a suitable solution here. Math, on the other hand, is a powerful formula editor that allows the later integration of the finished formulas into Writer, for example.

With Draw, OpenOffice continues to offer its own illustration program. This is another special feature of the software because not every office package on the market has its own program for creating illustrations. From simple sketches to complex diagrams, From simple sketches to complex diagrams, Draw allows you to professionally implement a variety of illustrations. or example, it is possible to create flowcharts and organizational diagrams as well as to integrate photos. Once again, you do not necessarily have to open or edit documents within Draw itself. You can use whichever OpenDocument-compatible program you prefer.

Development and Distribution

OpenOffice is an advancement of the popular StarOffice and continues to use parts of its source code. In Germany today, the software, which is distributed under the Apache license Version 2, enjoys popularity among private and professional users to the tune of a distribution rate of about 20 procent. The fact that the software is freely available to anyone has certainly contributed to its high distribution rate.

Take advantage of this attractive offer and benefit from a modern and powerful office software package to increase productivity at your company.