OpenOffice.org Down Under!

I have finally had a chance to download the latest beta version of the new OpenOffice.org 3.0 for Mac OS X Aqua. First thing to address is that some people believe that it is only available for the newer Intel based machines, but that is not so as I am running it on my iBook G4 with Mac OS X 10.4 system. I obtained the beta version from the good site that supports PowerPC compilations at:

http://ooopackages.good-day.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/MacOSX/3.0.0beta/

This site has many different locales available, but I am looking at the en_GB based version at the moment.

My first reaction was how fast it seemed to load when the window popped up and displayed options for loading the different types of files handled by OpenOffice.org. This was lightning fast, coming up almost instantly which is why I was quite shocked. However, when I chose one of the options, it then took a bit more time for the second stage of loading. Don't get me wrong, it was still faster than the X11 version, but the initial screen may mislead some based on expected speed. Hopefully this second stage load will improve as development progresses.

Next part was obviously the interface and just seeing how the new Aqua interface looked compared to the X11 which is what I was used to currently. It was tricky trying to remember not to switch to X11 each time I went back to using OpenOffice.org :) The toolbars looked quite good and in that familar Mac OS X interface style with your pretty dot of red, green and orange. So the interface is pretty much identical to the existing X11 style for the toolbars, but with the proper Aqua windowing style.

Next was to try and load some existing documents to see if there were any crashes or weirdness happen. Much to my delight there was no issue with loading some of my existing documents. I have only tried the ODF documents to date, but will look at some of the other formats in later test trials. The format was identical to the X11 without any movement of objects, changes in styles etc. So this part gets the thumbs up!

I was contemplating what made X11 so tricky for my use was the fact that you had to change from the standard Command-C (or Apple-C for the more classic people) to Control-C in the X11 interface for doing copies, and all other shortcuts. It was not a major problem, and I got used to it very quickly, but it just adds another step that new users did not need. Well, trying the Command-C and Command-V in the new Aqua version and it worked fine. I was able to copy between other Mac OS X applications and paste into OpenOffice.org like a standard application and was quite happy with the clipboard now being standardised.

There was one major issue with the X11 version that I had addressed in an indirect way. Under Mac OS X, the function keys (F1-F12) all have a predefined action within the system e.g. Exposé. The trouble with this is that much of the major docks or working areas are defined under the function keys in the traditional interface. So when I pressed F11 under the Aqua version (which it still showed as the valid shortcut) to bring up the Stylist window, instead all my open windows were shrunk in standard Mac OS X style. With the old X11 application I had solved this problem by making X11 a separate full screen display and that allowed the system function shortcuts to be overridden by OpenOffice.org. So how do I solve the problem now, particularly when I am "stuck" in Aqua interface and can't go to a separate window?

Well, the porting project has already got this worked out and they do it with the Apple Human Interface Guide (AHIG) in mind. You can find the remapping of the shortcuts at the following url:

http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Porting_-_Keyboard_Sho...

There is still a lot to look at with version 3.0 that I will examine in more detail in coming weeks. In particular interest is some of the newer data features in the Base application, reporting mechanisms, extensions and charting module. I am also keen to find out learn more about the ODF1.2 format as it gets implemented and if there is any progress with the xforms implementation. Stayed tuned for more upcoming information!