Tuesday, August 23, 2005

As an OpenOffice.org and StarOffice trainer, I teach a lot of one-day classes on the core software features. As I introduce the program and then word processor (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc) and presentation maker (Impress), I teach students how to deal with the oddities of each application before we get into the primary lessons.

My first half hour of each section is gone.

The lessons on making the icon bigger, how to get to a different toolbar, how the option for wrapping Calc spreadsheet cells doesn't actually have the word "wrap" in it; my shtick on how the most important buttons in Impress are the tiniest -- all gone. I'll need to figure out some new jokes for my classes.

This makes me happy. Not only can I spend more time teaching new OpenOffice.org users how to really enjoy the software and use the more powerful features, but the changes in OpenOffice.org 2.0 means someone has been thinking about more than just spreadsheet rows. There are some smart changes in this release.

Just to be clear: OpenOffice.org 2.0 isn't out yet; I'm reviewing the 1.9.122 release. Release date for 2.0? I'm not sure. Indications are late summer, but it's late summer now. Check the OpenOffice.org Web site or subscribe to the announcements list. That's what I'll be doing.

This article is a look at what I like, as an instructor and user, about the new OpenOffice.org 2.0.