So you're telling me that the Mac version of OpenOffice actually RUNS ON A MAC now??

Wow. Maybe I can start suggesting this to my friends and family, unlike before.

Explaining the X11 environment to my grandmother just wasn't something I wanted to take on.

I know what you mean, Small White Car. Every time I mention Gimp or OpenOffice to my brother and I say 'X11', I get a distrusting groan. And even though I CAN use X11 personally, I certainly don't WANT to — it's just not a good Mac experience.

That's why I've always recommended NeoOffice, despite its annoying flaws (general slowness, clunky interface, overly-aggressive update notification). I look forward to giving this new OpenOffice a try. Hopefully it will be good enough to replace NeoOffice. Edit: Oh, it's Intel-only, so I can't. Doh!

As Mikuro states, OpenOfice Mac is Intel only. (Universal dead?) NeoOffice has been a useful tool for opening occasional Word docs which people send out. Hope it sticks around awhile.

it's a damn shame that openoffice.org sucks. i nootched a download of the beta to see if it's gotten any better.. still feels like an X11 app, even though it's not.

i know the free software people will hate me for this, but my money is on iwork.. it may not be as full featured as MS office, but it's at least a joy to use.. but i'll tell you what.. if i wind up a billionaire someday, i'll fund my own free and open-source office suite that will kick ass. firefox-style.

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burrito wrote:
if i wind up a billionaire someday, i'll fund my own free and open-source office suite that will kick ass. firefox-style.

We're going to hold you to that promise Mr. Stark.

It is not just for Intel-based Macs. there is a download for PowerPC based MAcs as well.

Ok, I tried it and ...

[EDIT] -- RETRACTED - SEE MY NEXT POST BELOW

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Guest wrote:
It is not just for Intel-based Macs. there is a download for PowerPC based MAcs as well.

Where? I only see a link for an Intel version of the 3.0 beta. Are you sure you don't mean older 2.x?

Same question to Small White Car: Are you sure you tried the 3.0 beta? Because the screen shots ( http://marketing.openoffice.org/3.0/images/685px-Solver_dlg.png ) show it using the real Mac menu bar.

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Guest wrote:
Small White Car: Are you sure you tried the 3.0 beta?

Thank you guest, yes, you are correct. I really thought I had 3 but you guessed correctly.

Ok, so ignore my earlier review, I just erased it.

I was pleasantly surprised by this version. There is still work to be done to make it feel more native, but it's certainly an improvement over the X11 version.

NeoOffice seems slightly slower to launch (possibly because it's based on OpenOffice 2.x), but its icons are more Mac-like. Aside from these differences, the two apps appear to be neck-and-neck right now.

I do appreciate the hard work done by the NeoOffice people, but hopefully things will improve at an ever faster rate now that OO.o officially supports a native port.