OO-Features

The suite covers pretty much everything you need with a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, equation editor and a drawing program. It opens most major formats such as MS Office almost flawlessly (Macros aren't converted), saves to PDF* , has comprehensive help, and spellchecking in 15 languages. Having said that, let's detail some of the major features: The Entire OpenOffice Suite is a powerful yet simple environment for you to work. Allof the following features are used throughout the program.

• The ability to import and export many different types of documents and templates in a huge range of formats from HTML to MS Office XP. You can work seamlessly with your colleagues, school or friends, no matter what computer you use. Although we think the OpenOffice.org Open File Formats are technically superior many people are still locked into other products so you can set OpenOffice.org to use any other file format by defaultif you wish.
• Runs natively on almost every modern operating system except Mac OS X. This port is under development, and a volunteer porting team is working hard on it. You can give them a hand and get it running quicker by joining the project: http://mac.openoffice.org
• Import address books from Mozilla/ Netscape 6.x/7 or LDAP. You don't have to keep on typing in those contact details.
• Unicode support allows at least 23 localisations of OpenOffice.org. Not only will OpenOffice.org run on practically anything but it'll run in practically any language. There are more being added all the time. Even if yours isn't there yet we might be able to put you in touch will some fellow speakers to get the work done in double time. Together we work better.
• Vastly enhanced printing capabilities and options over all platforms, with extras like 'Print to PDF' under UNIX. If you want to see all that work in hard copy, OpenOffice.org will take care of it for you; or if you want to go for the 'paperless office' we can create 'digital paper' PDF files that can be read on practically anything. OpenOffice.org is all about bringing this sort of sophisticated, expensive functionality to the ordinary user.
• Autopilot guides you through creating complex document, clearly. Do you know what to do but aren't sure how to do it? Let the autopilot help. It'll ask you a few simple questions before creating a template for you to use again and again. Impress everyone with your brilliant skills, but don't let them know it was the autopilot!
• The Stylist allows you to change the entire look of your document instantly. It's that little box in the corner of the screen and it's an easy way to get a consistent look and apply formatting throughout your document. Just select some text, a cell or an object and choose a different option to move simply and easily between different styles. You can either use the built in defaults or create your own. And if it gets in your way just press F11 or click the little button near the top of your screen. You can get it back the same way or change styles in the box on the left hand side of the font selection.
• A native XML file format for small, yet powerful documents. File size is typically half that of MS Office formats. XML is the computer industry standard for data exchange. You're buying into the future and your documents will always be readable, even in a simple text editor.
• The powerful OpenOffice.org API allows you to create external functions to leverage the power of the suite just how you need it. Independent programmers can use our free software development kit (SDK) to extend the suite in ways we haven't even thought of. You can use OpenOffice.org Basic or Java and C/C++. More languages are being worked on at http://api.openoffice.org/.