What does LibreOffice give you?
http://www.libreoffice.org/features/
WRITER is the word processor inside LibreOffice. Use it for everything, from dashing off a quick letter to producing an entire book with tables of contents, embedded illustrations, bibliographies and diagrams. The while-you-type auto-completion, auto-formatting and automatic spelling checking make difficult tasks easy (but are easy to disable if you prefer). Writer is powerful enough to tackle desktop publishing tasks such as creating multi-column newsletters and brochures. The only limit is your imagination.
CALC tames your numbers and helps with difficult decisions when you’re weighing the alternatives. Analyze your data with Calc and then use it to present your final output. Charts and analysis tools help bring transparency to your conclusions. A fully-integrated help system makes easier work of entering complex formulas. Add data from external databases such as SQL or Oracle, then sort and filter them to produce statistical analyses. Use the graphing functions to display large number of 2D and 3D graphics from 13 categories, including line, area, bar, pie, X-Y, and net – with the dozens of variations available, you’re sure to find one that suits your project.
IMPRESS is the fastest and easiest way to create effective multimedia presentations. Stunning animation and sensational special effects help you convince your audience. Create presentations that look even more professional than the standard presentations you commonly see at work. Get your collegues’ and bosses’ attention by creating something a little bit different.
DRAW lets you build diagrams and sketches from scratch. A picture is worth a thousand words, so why not try something simple with box and line diagrams? Or else go further and easily build dynamic 3D illustrations and special effects. It’s as simple or as powerful as you want it to be.
BASE is the database front-end of the LibreOffice suite. With Base, you can seamlessly integrate into your existing database structures. Based on imported and linked tables and queries from MySQL, PostgreSQL or Microsoft Access and many other data sources, you can build powerful databases containing forms, reports, views and queries. Full integration is possible with the in-built HSQL database.
MATH is a simple equation editor that lets you lay-out and display your mathematical, chemical, electrical or scientific equations quickly in standard written notation. Even the most-complex calculations can be understandable when displayed correctly. E=mc2
Open Documentation just announced release candidate 3 of Libre office.
New Features-
http://www.libreoffice.org/download/new-features/
General
- Added the LibreColors to the palette;
- Added Quickstarter for Unix builds;
- Introduced Linux “Libertine G” and Linux “Biolinum G” fonts;
- Implement import of alpha channel for RGBA .tiffs [http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=30472];
- Show all appropiate formats by default on “Save As” [http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=113141];
- Use radio buttons for mutually exclusive menu options;
- Replace the “Help Support” menu item by the “License Information” one;
- Load and save documents in flat XML;
- Made Help system available via the WikiHelp;
- Option to enable saving of documents at all times (see Tools -> Options -> LibreOffice -> General -> “Allow to save document…”).
Calc
- [http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=30559]: Added new tab page ‘Compatibility’ in the Options dialog;
- Better default key bindings;
- Use Ctrl-Shift-D to launch selection list in LibreOffice;
- Added new image file used in the “insert new sheet” button. This image is not visible in read-only mode;
- Fix fake small caps resizing factor [http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=1526];
- Added dotted/dashed borders in Calc;
- Added icons for toggling sheet grids in Calc;
- Better performance and interoperability on Excel doc import;
- Better performance on DBF import;
- Slightly better performance on ODS import;
- Possibility to use English formula names;
- Distributed alignment – allows one to specify ‘distributed’ horizontal alignment and ‘justified’ and ‘distributed’ vertical alignments within cells. This is notably useful for CJK locales;
- Support for 3 different formula syntaxes: Calc A1, Excel A1 and Excel R1C1;
- Configurable argument and array separators in formula expressions;
- External reference works within OFFSET function;
- Hitting TAB during auto-complete commits current selection and moves to the next cell;
- Shift-TAB cycles through auto-complete selections;
- Find and replace skips those cells that are filtered out (thus hidden);
- Protecting sheet provides two additional sheet protection options, to optionally limit cursor placement in protected and unprotected areas;
- Copying a range highlights the range being copied. It also allows you to paste it by hitting ENTER key. Hitting ESC removes the range highlight;
- Jumping to and from references in formula cells via “Ctrl-[” and “Ctrl-]”;
- Cell cursor stays at the original cell during range selection.
Writer
- AutoCorrections match case of the words that AutoCorrect replaces. (Issuezilla 2838);
- Ability to turn off number recognition in Writer;
- RTF export (from GSoc);
- Port of Lotus Word Pro filter;
- New dialog box for title page.
Impress/Draw
- PPTX chart import feature;
- [http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=112421] make “Presenter Screen” default to laptop, not projector;
- Improve randomization in “Dissolve” transition.
Math
- Default to just printing the formula itself in Math;
- [http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=113400] Maths brackets malformed in presentation mode.
Base
- [http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=112597] Added display properties to control shapes.
Development
- UNO APIs for size and moveProtect of notes;
- Via Issuezilla bug #i80184: allow addition of drawing documents to gallery via API.
Productivity Enhancements
- New custom properties handling;
- Embedding of standard PDF fonts;
- New “Narrow” font family;
- Increased document protection in Writer and Calc;
- Automatic decimals digits for “General” format in Calc;
- 1 million rows in a spreadsheet;
- New options for CSV (Comma-Separated Value) importation in Calc;
- Insert drawing objects in charts;
- Hierarchical axis labels for charts;
- Improved slide layout handling in Impress;
- Manual setting for primary key support for databases;
- Support of Read-Only database registration;
- New Math command: ‘nospace’.
Internationalization
- Additional locale data.
Usability and Interface
- Common search toolbar;
- New easier-to-use print interface;
- More options for changing case;
- Redesign of thesaurus;
- Resetting of text to the default language in Writer;
- Text rendering of form controls in Writer;
- Changed defaults for charts;
- Colored sheet tabs in Calc;
- Adaptation to marked selection for filter area in Calc;
- Sort dialog box for DataPilot in Calc;
- Display custom names for DataPilot fields, items and totals in Calc.
Developer Features and Extensibility
- Grid control enhancements;
- New MetaData node for database;
- Extending database drivers using extensions.
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