OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 GA released

October 19, 2009 by joachim@mensys.nl

Effective immediately, Serenity Systems International will be distributing a GA version of OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 to all users who own an active Support Agreement for OpenOffice.org product. This version has been compiled to run on eComStation and IBM OS/2 as a native application. This release replaces OpenOffice.org version 2.4.

Features

NLS:

OpenOffice.org 3.1 for eComStation and OS/2 is released in English,
German, Italian, French, Spanish, Dutch and Russian.

Internet integration:

• E-mail related settings are now supported, you can email your
  current document, but only Thunderbird is supported.
• The default OS/2 browser will be used for opening web pages from URL
  links in documents.

Desktop integration:

• Support for WPS integration via seperate package.
• Support for the FreeType2 (FT2) font engine for improved text
  rendering.
• Support for XWP/eWPS sliding menu hilite (requires XWorkPlace 1.0.8
  or eCS 2.0 RC4 or newer)
• Support for clipboard bitmap formats and unicode text.
• Support for mouse wheel.

WPS integration package for OpenOffice.org 3.1 for eComStation and OS/2:

• Extends the WPS data file class to recognize OpenOffice.org document
  files
• Integrated support for WPS-Wizard hint and folder info area
• REXX hooks for reading document properties

Quickstart:

The quickstart feature has been implemented for eComStation and OS/2.

Availability

OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 is available to anyone with an active OpenOffice.org Support Agreement for eComStation and OS/2, via their download-area at the Mensys Online Shop:

http://www.mensys.net/login/

A mediakit is available as well, for those who prefer to have OpenOffice.org on CD.

What is new in OpenOffice.org 3.1

Below is a list of some of the improvements that are present in OpenOffice.org 3.1:

• Support for the Microsoft Office 2007 File Format - Beginning with
  version 3.0, OpenOffice.org supports importing and exporting of files
  in the Microsoft Office Open XML file format. This includes Word 2007
  (.docx), Excel 2007 (.xlsx) and PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) formats.
• Start Center - When launching OpenOffice.org 3.x, users are presented
  with the Start Center that allows the selection of an application
  within the office productivity suite without having to click the File
  -> New menu.
• PDF/A-1 Support - OpenOffice.org now supports the popular PDF/A
  format for creating read-only files.
  
• Enhanced PDF export - The PDF export feature in OpenOffice.org
  provides a huge set of formatting and security options; so that PDF
  files can be customized for many different scenarios.
  
• Calc Columns Support - the new version of Calc now supports a
  maximum number of columns of 1024, up from 256 in the previous
  version.
  
• View Multiple Pages in Writer - OpenOffice.org 3.x allows Writer users
  to view pages with single-page, two-page side-by-side and book layout
  options.
  
• Improved Notes - The new version of Notes in OpenOffice.org 3.x
  provides additional formatting, spell checking and accessibility
  features while displaying notes within the margins.

More information on the OpenOffice.org development roadmap can be
found at:

http://development.openoffice.org/releases/index.html

Information on the eComStation and OS/2 version can be found at:

http://www.ecomstation.com/openoffice/

User Support

For help with the OpenOffice.org 3.1 office suite, take a look at the
archives to find questions already answered on the 'users@openoffice.org'
mailing list at:

http://www.openoffice.org/mail_list.html

Alternatively, you can send in your questions to users@openoffice.org.
Remember to subscribe to the list to get an email response.

Also check the FAQ section at:

http://user-faq.openoffice.org/

Support specific to the eComStation and OS/2 version can be obtained
through the ticketing system at:

http://www.ecomstation.com/support/ooo2/

More information

More information on OpenOffice.org can be found at:

http://www.openoffice.org/

Information on the eComStation and OS/2 version can be found at:

http://www.ecomstation.com/openoffice/