The OpenOffice.org Project has announced the immediate availability of its version 1.1 Beta. This release incorporates many new features and changes introduced with the developer builds over the past year. New functionality includes: (1) additional import/export formats like PDF, Macromedia Flash, DocBook, several PDA Office file formats, flat XML and XHTML; (2) support for Complex Text Layout (CTL) and vertical writing languages, such as Thai, Hindi, Arabic, Hebrew; (3) enhanced integration with Java, with up to 10 times better performance; (4) support for Accessibility throughout the entire suite; (5) support for add-on components; (6) initial support for recovering damaged OOo files; (6) support for a new data source type [MySQL]; (7) improved online help. OpenOffice.org is "an open source, community-developed office productivity suite. It includes key desktop applications such as word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing programs. An open source version of StarOffice, OpenOffice.org is a multi-platform suite and runs on the Solaris Operating Environment, Microsoft Windows, and the Linux platforms. It works with a variety of file formats, including Microsoft Office. Available at no cost, this open source productivity software is ideal for small businesses, schools, or any organization that runs mixed operating systems."

Enhanced Functionality and Features in OpenOffice.org 1.1 Beta

[See the complete feature list for details]

Internationalization Features

• Support for Complex Text Layout (CTL) and vertical writing languages such as Thai, Hindi, Arabic and Hebrew.
• Support for various 8-bit Arabic and Hebrew text encodings / code pages.
• Support for the KOI8_U encoding.
• New CTL options tab in language options dialog.
• Rescue mode support for BiDi/CTL with X11 fonts.
• Sequence Input Checking (SIC) for languages like Thai and Hindi.
• Initial glyph fallback support.

Database Features

• Table control via keyboard navigation in table designer.
• Added ability to switch off brackets for bibliography fields.
• New database type in data source administration dialog - MySQL.
• Ability to add labels to field names in the report wizard.
• A data source can now use any character set known to OpenOffice.org.
• UI support for user installed database drivers.

General Features

• PDF export.
• Ability to mail a document as PDF.
• DocBook XML import/export.
• Support for mobile device formats (AportisDoc (Palm),Pocket Word and Pocket Excel).
• Support for exporting as a flat XML file.
• XHTML export.
• OpenOffice.org ActiveX Control - Windows version only.
• Accessibility support.
• Improved configurability of dialogs and toolbars.
• Configurable font for HTML and BASIC source code.
• Improved online help (F1).
• Auto-detection of newly installed languages for spellchecker, thesaurus and hyphenator.
• Support for copy/paste of bitmap graphics on Unix.
• A new java-native-uno bridge with up to 10 times better performance.
• Improved URL autocompletion in hyperlink dialog.
• The context menu now contains 'Open Hyperlink' if opened on a URL.
• Locking of user installations against accesses from multiple machines with shared directories.
• Command line tools and an API for importing configuration data into the backend.
• Support for registering add-ons and accessing add-ons via an auto-generated menu.
• New FTP file access component.
• Support for recovering slightly damaged OpenOffice.org files.
• Support for configuring font rendering via environment variables.