I was just over at the OpenOffice site browsing through some of their marketing materials to see if there was anything interesting. I came across a presentation that was given on September 19th at the OpenOffice 2007 Conference. The presentation was called “OpenOffice.org 3.0 and Beyond,” and it walked through some of the most notable features that are expected to be released in the next big OpenOffice milestone.
The presentation was actually pretty interesting to flip through, but the one thing that really caught my attention was their reference to including a Personal Information Manager (PIM). More specifically the presentation mentions bundling Thunderbird with their Office Suite, and refers to it as an “Outlook replacement.” This is all assuming that Thunderbird recently losing two of it’s main developers doesn’t affect the decision, because I’m sure OpenOffice wants to ensure that Thunderbird will continue to progress before including it.
A post that I made earlier this year regarding Thunderbird as an Outlook replacement really sparked some heated debates in the comments. People were saying that it will never happen, yet this is the direct goal of the new OpenOffice. They plan on including the Lightning add-on for Thunderbird so that in addition to email support, users will also be able to manage their schedule and appointments.
This is pretty big news, but the PIM that is to be included in OpenOffice 3.0 won’t be the only notable feature (click on a thumbnail to enlarge it):
- New Personal Information Manager
- Supports local and server-based calendars
- Task management
- Month, week, day view
- Multiple calendars support
- Free/busy management
- Connector to Sun Java System Calendar Server (WCAP, iCal, WebDAV, CalDAV, and Google Calendar
- PDF Import and Export
- Microsoft Office 2007 XML Importing
- Improved Pivot Tables and Solver in Calc
- Web 2.0 Support (Blogging and Wiki)
- Presenter Console with Multi-screen Support
- Vista Integration
- New Chart Engine and Wizard
- New chart types like regression curves, 3D exploded pie, 3D doughnut, 3D smooth lines, and more.
- Flexible source ranges
- Enhanced logarithmic scales
- Enhanced data editor
- Improved Notes
- Rectangle Selection in Writer
- New Report Engine for Base
- Improved Extension Management
- Icon Redesign
- Better Chapter Numbering in Writer
- ODF Toolkit
OpenOffice 3.0 is due out in September 2008 which is perfect timing for the Linux world. Most Linux distributions have a new version that comes out every spring and fall, so OpenOffice 3.0 should be able to make it into the fall lineup of Linux distributions.
Looks interesting, hopefully there would be UI change similar to IBM Lotus Symphony. Oh I tried out Microsoft Office 2007…and I really like the UI. When I saw it first I didn’t care too much for it and though that it was pretty lame, but after using Office 2007 I really changed my mind.
Good News! Thunderbird is my email client of choice but I found the lightning add on for lack of a better word incomplete, so I’m wary of this PIM. All the programs involved will need some sort of unified UI look. Overall though the improvements to openoffice.org look good and I am hopefully that they can get this right.
Microsoft did do a great job with the Office 2007 interface, and I’ve only heard very few people complain about it after having used it. I do like the look of Lotus Symphony, and the extended use of the sidebar. Hopefully the next version of OpenOffice will get something like that.
I’m guessing that OpenOffice will contribute to the development of Thunderbird and Lightning, so it should be a good thing.
Wow, looks really interesting..until now I considered OpenOffice to be a relatively weak effort…not enough to unseat MS..but this looks good.
A reaction to the recent news from KDE Office and Pim announcements? Any reason not to use an already established Outlook replacement such as Evolution?
I still have StarOffice 5.2 installed on my system, which offered an integrated desktop with email and news readers, calendar and all other PIM functions. Maybe OO should go back to their old code base and tweak it for todays users!
The single biggest missing feature in Thunderbird is shared address books. Currently there’s no way for a small company to have an easily editable companywide contact list. LDAP is no solution because Thunderbird can’t write to it. Why Thunderbird can’t use some sort of SQL database for addresses, is a mystery.
Address book sharing is the ONE thing V3.0 needs for me to replace all my clients’ Outlook setups.
I hope they finally got the outlining in the word clone right.
Undoing a “renumber from here” is already hellish in Word, but seems to be plain and simple impossible in OO writer.
Yes, there is – GroupDAV. There is a functional GroupDAV plugin for Thunderbird that works with the OpenGroupware, SOGo, and Citadel groupware servers.
[inverse.ca]
That’s right. GroupDAV is a wonderfully simple and elegant solution to exposing both vCard and iCalendar data to PIM clients. Combine this with a good open-source Exchange killer such as Citadel ([citadel.org]) and you’ve got an end-to-end Microsoft replacement.
I think this is awesome! The ONLY thing that bothers me with open office is the graphical interface. If they could just give it a intefacelift overhaul and make it look pretty, that would do it.
This is good news, but it would have to include the ability to synchronise with (at least) Nokia and Sony-Erikson phones. Seems like Outlook is the only PIM capable of doing this (not always very well) at the moment.
It is only a new way of distribution, but there is nothing new here
it does need a fresh new look, and Microsoft realized that they needed to do something new with their Office Suite already. Hopefully OpenOffice will follow, but it probably won’t be until at least version 4.
Unfortunately Microsoft already has all of the basics covered and are able to focus on details like syncing. OpenOffice, in my opinion, is still working on some of the basic necessities and isn’t able to start focusing on what the minority wants.
I know a couple people that are using that, and they say it is pretty good. Thanks for pointing it out.
What the heck is wrong with Evolution?
[novell.com]
It already has an Exchange connector and is a LOT closer to Outlook functionality than Thunderbird with Lightning!
Again, GroupDAV is the answer. There is a Funambol plugin for syncing via SyncML from most devices [over IP, including over-the-air] to any GroupDAV capable server such as OpenGroupware or Citadel.
Hi Ryan,
I dont know why you havent expressed your thougts about a few comments about using Evolution instead of Thunderbird.
I think this is one of the major pitfalls in the opensource industry. People keep inventing the basic things just to have their name heard. Has openoffice also fallen into that? I think instead of making a plugin for Thunderbird, they could have focussed that effort on making Evolution an even better competitor to Outlook. Evolution has a lot of amazing features that come close to Outlook’s. It would be better if Openoffice can work on making Evoultion the best Groupware client.
I simply haven’t used Evolution enough to have enough thoughts on it. I’ve heard great things about it, but have never actually tried it out beyond opening the application.
What I want in OpenOffice 3 is: grammar check for Writer, 16:9 widescreen support for Impress, multiple screen support for Impress, live previews for fonts (just like in MS Office 2007), Thunderbird with Lightning addon for Outlook equivalent, support for putting an audio track in the “whole slideshow” in Impress, updated icons, and updated widgets in the UI.
Ok, homonymous, just wait for Father Christmas
I have been using the older versions OOo for normal every day stuff and they have been fine. I think that the average user will never use half of the functions avaliable anyway. And the price is right – so i’ll go with the new version, just as soon as i can get to download it.
Evolution is not properly cross platform. It works on Windows a bit, but not well and is not supported by the developers on Windows. Thunderbird on the other hand works the same on other platforms and has a better support base.