OpenOffice.org 2.1 RC1 has been released and is calling your name. This new version is scheduled for release in about two-weeks (December 12) and the goal of 2.1 is to support extensions (none have been developed at this point). OpenOffice.org 2.0.4 supported non-code extensions which are more commonly referred to as templates but the “real” extensions should be usable in 2.1.
My initial though was “extensions for an Office suite?” Then I started to think about how powerful the extensions are for Firefox and I’m sure people would develop powerful extensions for OpenOffice.org as well. If you want the applications to do something special it might be as simple as searching the extensions page and performing a one-click install to get the feature. The other cool thing is that the extensions will automatically update themselves so that you don’t have to worry about manually checking for updated releases of your installed extensions.
I remember a few months back when I read about the extensions it sounded pretty interesting. It has actually been awhile since I last tried OpenOffice.org because I have been getting used to the Office 2007 Beta’s that Microsoft started to make available earlier this year. I have to admit that I’m used to the Ribbon that Microsoft put in Office 2007 and it would probably be hard for me to go back to toolbars. 
I’m pretty tempted to test out this version of OpenOffice.org though.
Download OpenOffice.org 2.1 RC1
Thanks for the tip Chris!
I actually had the idea of extensions for an Office suite myself a while ago. The idea struck me after realizing how good FFX extensions are. Drawing further comparisons to FFX, I had the idea that I should make an Office suite based on the OOo code, but only the basic features would be in it and it would have extensions. I then though it would be too much work, and since I am always very busy, I haven’t started it yet. However, since they are now making it a thousand times easier for me, I may just go ahead with it
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I think extensions for an office suite are an awesome idea! I really like OpenOffice as it is already. But being able to customize it with extensions makes it that much better.
I’ve also been using MS Office 2007 Beta, and to be honest, with the availability of OpenOffice for FREE, it makes me wonder if it’s even worth it to dump money into Office 2007; especially since OpenOffice is constantly being updated, while MS Office will probably remain unchanged for the next 5 years or more.
Now you’re making me think what else extensions would be useful for that doesn’t already support them. Have you thought about any other programs yet?
One of the really big things that is keeping my tied to Microsoft Office is that I program a lot in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) and as of right now OpenOffice has very poor support for that code. Many of my spreadsheets that I use would be become useless or complicated to fix if I switched entirely over to OpenOffice. I do wish that I could though because open source software rocks!
Most applications can easily benefit from extensions, such as media players, programming software, and even IM clients (though not to as great of an extent). On the other hand, utilities (file compressors, notepad replacements, etc) benefit far less because of their already simplistic nature.
The real benefit of extensions, though, is that they allow developers to strip down their applications to the features that only the majority of people use. If someone needs an unusual feature, it doesn’t have to be in the default package. This makes applications smaller, faster, more efficient, less cluttered, and more portable. If more open-source projects did this, they would probably see a growth in their popularity. I really do see extensions as the way of the future.
Free is good.
That was such an unbelievably perfect response and I think you should be a marketer for Firefox or OpenOffice.org (since it will have extensions).
Might be an interesting job on the side…
Thank you for that compliment. I appreciate it very much.
Nice I am looking forward to the Extensions, hopefully there will be a Wikipedia one available soon, as it would be god to highlight a word or a phrase and search in Wikipedia with a couple of mouse clicks. Also a Dictionary extension would be useful.
I think OpenOffice is so awesome and should be improved and designed to do everything MS Office does. The problem is, as you said Ryan, that MS Office is so familiar and compatible that it’s hard to use another suite of applications.
Anyway, I’ll download this new RC and check it out!
Why do you like to call them extensions? Plugins have been available for a long time. Winamp, IE, Google Desktop and even Microsoft Office let you write plugins ( [office-addins.com] ). So the idea is far from new.
Those are some great ideas for extensions…tying desktop Office Suite to the information on the Internet. They should have a site that accepts recommendations and then have people vote on them. Then they could develop the top 2 or 3 extensions that people are requesting to help get the ball rolling.
I could only imagine the uproar that would be caused if OpenOffice.org did something similar to the Ribbon in Office 2007. I remember reading a few years back about how much people hated that they were copying the Office interface back then and a Ribbon feature would cause a stir.
The problem that they receive by not copying Microsoft’s interface is that it makes it a lot harder for people to switch from Microsoft Office to OpenOffice. I just don’t know if there is a happy medium?
I call them extensions because that is what OpenOffice.org will be calling them. I guess when I look at extensions I often don’t view them as being the same as a plug-in even though they really are. I look at what Firefox users are able to do with extensions, which is pretty much make their own Web browser, and it makes me think about the possibilities that it offers to other products.
I’m not sure if I’m alone in my thinking but when I hear extensions I think of something that is more powerful and configurable than a plug-in.
I’d have to agree with Ryan. The extensions in FFX tend to change the application more drastically than plug-ins for Office and IE. Also, FFX has plug-ins as well as extensions. These plug-ins create support for things such as PDFs, Flash, and Quick-Time. By this definition, plug-ins are add-ins that expand the application’s current functionality, while extensions give the application new functionality (though there is some gray space where the two overlap). This seems to be the definition that is becoming more widely accepted.
That is the exact definition I was looking to say but the words just wouldn’t come out…you should definitely be an extension marketer.
Aren’t I? I’m marketing on this site!
Again, thanks for the compliment.