NeoOffice

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NeoOffice

NeoOffice 2.0 Writer
Developer:	Planamesa Software
Latest release:	1.2.2 (based on OpenOffice.org 1.1.5) March 30, 2006 2.0 Beta 3 Patch 7 (based on OpenOffice.org 2.0.3) / November 1, 2006
OS:	Mac OS X
Use:	Office suite
License:	GPL
Website:	http://www.neooffice.org

NeoOffice is a port of the open source OpenOffice.org office suite for Mac OS X. It implements nearly all of the features of the corresponding OpenOffice version, including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program, and graphics program. It is developed by Planamesa Software, and uses Java technology to integrate OpenOffice — originally developed for Solaris and Linux — with the Aqua interface of Mac OS X.

1 Characteristics
2 Development
3 History
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Characteristics

NeoOffice is one of two functional OpenOffice-based packages for Mac OS X; the other is "OpenOffice.org for Mac OS X (X11)", a version developed and distributed by the OpenOffice.org team, which runs in an X11 environment and requires either X11.app or XDarwin to be installed. NeoOffice is based on that package, replacing the X11 interface with one built using Apple's toolkits (Java, Cocoa, Carbon) for "native" Mac OS X applications.

NeoOffice is the more "Mac-like" of the two, with easier installation, better integration into the OS X interface (with pull down menus at the top of the screen, and familiar keyboard shortcuts, for example), use of Mac OS X's fonts and printing services without additional configuration, and integration with the Mac OS X clipboard and drag-and-drop functions.

However, it requires more memory than the X11 version to perform well, some functions are marginally slower, and the additional code it adds to the main OpenOffice.org code base is not as fully tested. Because NeoOffice is based on releases of OpenOffice.org, its development lags behind it.

As of August 2006, the "release" version of NeoOffice is 1.2.2. This is based on version 1.1.5 of OpenOffice.org (the most recent of the 1.x branch), and has the ability to import OpenDocument-format documents created by OpenOffice.org 2.0. The developers also claim speed and stability advantages over previous versions. However, it will not run on Macintosh computers with Intel processors, due to the limitations of the Rosetta emulation software these systems use to run PowerPC-compatible applications.

Meanwhile, NeoOffice 2.0 is in beta development. It is based on OpenOffice.org 2.0, and runs on either Intel- or PowerPC-based Macintoshes. In addition to incorporating the source application's new features, it includes a redesigned interface using Apple's Aqua design elements, giving the application an appearance more similar to other Mac OS X software. An alpha version is freely available; the beta version was initially available to members of NeoOffice Early Access Program, but is now offered to the public as of August 29, 2006. A date for the final "release" version has not been announced.

[edit] Development

Unlike the "OpenOffice.org"-branded packages, which were originally released under SISSL, a license that facilitated the creation of proprietary versions of the software (notably StarOffice), NeoOffice is released only under the GPL, to ensure that any software based on it would remain free. Versions of OpenOffice.org starting with 2.0 are licensed only under the LGPL, but the authors of NeoOffice have stated their intention to continue releasing all versions under the standard GPL.

[edit] History

NeoOffice began as a project to investigate methods of creating a native port of OpenOffice.org to Mac OS X. The project now called NeoOffice was originally dubbed "NeoOffice/J", reflecting its use of OS X's Java integration to enable a native application. A related project was NeoOffice/C, which was a simultaneous effort to develop a version using Apple's Cocoa APIs. But NeoOffice/C proved very difficult to implement and the application was highly unstable, so the project was set aside in favor of the more promising NeoOffice/J. The "/J" suffix was dropped with version 1.2, since there was no longer another variety of NeoOffice from which to distinguish it.

version history: 22 June 2003: Incendiary Goblin build, aka NeoOffice/C 0.0.1 (based on OO.o 1.1); September 2004: NeoOffice/J 1.1 Alpha 2 (based on OO.o 1.1.2); December 2004: NeoOffice/J 1.1 Beta (based on OO.o 1.1.3); March 2005: NeoOffice/J 1.1 RC (based on OO.o 1.1.4); 22 June 2005: NeoOffice/J 1.1 (based on OO.o 1.1.4); November 2005 NeoOffice 1.2 Alpha; 2 January 2006: NeoOffice 1.2 Beta; 1 February 2006: NeoOffice 1.2; 30 March 2006: NeoOffice 1.2.2 (based on OO.o 1.1.5); 25 April 2006: NeoOffice 2.0 Alpha PowerPC; 1 July 2006: Neooffice 2.0 Alpha 4 (based on OO.o 2.0.2); 1 August 2006: NeoOffice 2.0 Aqua Beta 2; 29 August 2006: NeoOffice 2.0 Aqua Beta 3