Native Mac OpenOffice

Mac users will soon see a working native Mac OS X version of the free multiplatform and multilingual office suite, OpenOffice. Since its original introduction on the Mac platform, the open-source OpenOffice project has been using the traditional X11 windowing system for compatibility with Mac OS X. Apple's own X11 implementation of the window system provides a standard toolkit and protocol for graphical user interfaces (GUI) for non-native Mac applications to run on Mac OS X. Though this has worked well functionally, some users have considered the appearance to be disappointing. Recently, OpenOffice announced that the new "Aqua"-based Mac native version (that does not use X11) is progressing well. The lead develper Eric B., has announced plans to demonstrate a working beta at Apple Expo in Paris, which takes place from September 12-16th. The current progress of the development can be followed via Eric B's blog or the project wiki. The current timeline released by OpenOffice.org, however, does not show the expected launch date of the Mac native version. Included is a screen shot of a recent native Mac build.

by MacNN Staff