Mac OS X-friendly OpenOffice to go public next month
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No more X11... soon A version of OpenOffice that will run natively under Mac OS X's Aqua user interface will be demo'd in public at Apple Expo Paris next month, the team behind the software have revealed.â¦
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You can't spend five minutes online these days without learning about the release of Apple's newest operating system upgrade. If you have Macs in your workplace, here's what you need to know so you're ready to run with OS X Leopard.
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The update to&#160;Apple&#39;s Mac OS X operating system, called Leopard, went on sale at the Apple Store in Tokyo on Friday evening, part of a global launch that will unfold around the world over the next 24 hours.Apple is putting the software on sale at 6 p.m. local time at stores worldwide. That means customers in Australia and New Zealand got a head start on the rest of the world, although Tokyo marks the first launch of the OS, also called Mac OS X 10.5, at an official Apple Store.About 200 people queued in light rain in Tokyo&#39;s Ginza district for the start of sales, looking on as Apple staff prepared themselves for the event with cheers, countdowns and high-fives. The Apple store had been closed since 4 p.m. to allow for the launch preparations.At 6 p.m. the first customers entered the store, already clutching T-shirts and a copy of the OS that Apple staff were handing out as they entered. Then it was off to the counter to pay.Leopard is the fifth major upgrade that Apple has made to its OS, and its first in two and a half years. The software will be installed on all new Apple computers, or priced in the U.S. at $129 for an upgrade. Apple has said the vast majority of Macs sold over the past four years will be able to run Leopard, as well as some older machines depending on their configuration.The major advances include Time Machine, which automatically creates snapshots of the OS from an earlier point in time, allowing users to retrieve files and applications that have been deleted, or even earlier versions of documents that have been updated.A feature called Spaces allows users to flick between a series of &quot;virtual monitors.&quot; This allows busy desktops to be broken into several parts, and could make using a Mac easier for people who have a clutch of applications open at once.Another new and likely welcome feature is Quick View, which allows users to preview documents without opening the relevant application. Word processor files, pictures, presentations and even movies can all be previewed right away.There are also some cosmetic upgrades, such as a mirrored base on which the dock icons now sit. Other changes aim to better organize files: Downloads now all flow into a single folder, for example.Apple is also releasing a server version of Leopard on Friday. Updates include an improved set-up process, a new version of the iChat Server software, and tools for hosting podcasts and wikis.Leopard&#39;s launch continues Friday around the world. A French Apple dealer has promised a live leopard in a cage at one of its stores outside Paris.(James Niccolai in Paris contributed to this report.)
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Adobe and MuleSource tune open source assault Radio Reg MacWorld, MacWorld, MacWorld. Let those proprietary clowns play with their toys and false idols. We'll stick with open source decency - thank you very much - and dish out Episode 9 of Open Season.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - After years of holding out, IBM has joined the OpenOffice.org open-source community and will contribute code to the office suite that serves as an alternative to Microsoft's Office software. IBM has been using code from the project in its development of productivity applications it included in Lotus 8, the latest version of its collaboration suite, but until now had not been an official member of the community, said Doug Heintzman, director of strategy for the Lotus division at IBM. The company now will contribute its own code to the project and be more visible about its work to integrate OpenOffice.org into Lotus, he said. Heintzman acknowledged that theÂ International Organization for Standardization's (ISO's) recent vote to reject Microsoft's Open XML file format as a technology standardÂ was one reason IBM decided to join the effort. OpenOffice.org uses ODF (Open Document Format), a rival file format to Open XML that is already an ISO technology standard. IBM is one of the companies pushing for the use of ODF in companies and government organizations that are creating mandates to only use technology based on open standards in their IT architectures. "They are certainly related," he said of the ISO vote and IBM's decision to join OpenOffice.org. "We think that it's now time to make sure there is a public code base that implements this spec so we can attract a critical mass to build these new value propositions." Sun founded OpenOffice.org and offers its own commercial implementation of the suite, called StarOffice. The company, a long-time IBM competitor in the hardware and software markets, also has been the primary contributor to the code, one of the reasons IBM balked for so long before joining the group. "[The community] has had some challenges in recruiting an awful lot of big names to support the activity, but [now] we think there are some that can provide an example to us all to provide a vibrant place to add value," Heintzman said. "We hope that our voice at the table will help us evolve the community." Intellectual-property attorney and well-known ODF supporter Andrew Updegrove noted that the ISO's decision andÂ recent interest in StarOffice by GoogleÂ may have been enough to inspire IBM to set aside any competitive differences with Sun and work with them to promote OpenOffice.org as an alternative to Microsoft Office. Momentum from the ISO's rejection of Open XML is a prime opportunity for OpenOffice.org to become a real alternative to Office, he said. "Most likely, the setback for [Open XML] ... and Google's announcement a month ago that it would include StarOffice 8 in its free Google Pack download figure into IBM's decision," Updegrove wrote in an e-mail to the mailing list for his Standards Blog. "Those events help provide the type of public momentum that ... offer the prospect for the type of greater rewards that help displace other considerations and historical impediments. Whatever the reasons may have been that have kept Sun and IBM from working together to support OpenOffice over the past four years more fully, the reality is that a chance to break an industry monopoly that generates $15 billion in revenues a year comes only once in a generation -- when it comes at all." In a press statement, Sun welcomed IBM's addition to the group, which claims it has had 100 million downloads of its software since it launched in 2000.
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Office for Mac 2008 has been released to manufacturing, meaning the suite of apps is on track for an official debut at next month's Macworld Expo in San Francisco.
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It's official: Salesforce CRM tools work with Safari on Mac OS X machines.
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Apple gave Apple Developer Connection members a mostly complete version of their latest OS last Friday. Are they getting close to unchaining Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard?
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Microsoft's Mac Business Unit worked to make Exchange -- the e-mail client included in Office 2008 for the Mac -- more stable and reliable, not a clone of Windows' Outlook, according to Microsoft developers.
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Microsoft outlined a new feature that will be included in Office 2008 for Mac.
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Photoshop beta will have native Mac support; also coming are CSS Advisor and Ajax tools for Web designers.
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Microsoft has exposed a little more information as to what&#39;s inside Office 2008 for Mac, this time looking at user-focused Excel Ledger Sheets.Ledger Sheets use Excel but are designed to make it simple to handle common budget management tasks using pre-formulated cells.Ledger Sheets are accessible from the Elements Gallery and are designed to be useful for people who don&#39;t necessarily make great use of Excel. There&#39;s templates for checks, accounts, and investment portfolios, all pre-populated with appropriate formulas.It&#39;s the third update to the company&#39;s Office-focused Web site as&#160;Microsoft engages in its campaign to generate interest&#160;in the&#160;Jan. 15, 2008, release&#160;of its suite of productivity tools.Most recently the company confirmed better Exchange support in the future version of Entourage, particularly in terms of calendar event syncing in workgroups.Microsoft also recently explained Toolbox, a collection of tools for Office for Mac which combines the original Toolbox and Formatting Palettes.Office 2008 for Mac will also offer better document handling and formatting and more powerful publishing tools for users.The company also recently revealed My Day, a stand-alone application that provides an at-a-glance view of daily schedule and tasks to help users stay on top of priorities.Office 2008 for Mac will support the Office Open XML file format and the package will be a Universal Binary that runs on both Power PC and Intel-based Macs.Three versions of the suite will be available: the basic package includes all the Office applications. The Home and Student Edition is targeted at consumers and includes a three-user license. The Special Media Edition comes with all Office software and the Expression Media for Mac image-management application.Macworld.co.uk is an InfoWorld affiliate.
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Microsoft-sponsored open-source group expected to release ODF translator for Word.
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IBM today joined the OpenOffice.org open-source community and will contribute code to the office suite that serves as an alternative to Microsoft's Office software.
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A native version of the free OpenOffice.org productivity suite for OS X may ship next year.
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The OpenOffice.org project has turned four years old, celebrating its birthday on the anniversary of Sun's donation of StarOffice to the open source community. With 31 million downloads and counting, the free office suite has helped push for mainstream acceptance of open source software by offering an alternative to Microsoft's pricey Office System. OpenOffice.org 2.0 is set for release next spring, complete with an open equivalent to Microsoft Access.
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General purpose system utility Cocktail has been update adding support for Mac OS X 10.5.2, among other changes.