LibreOffice 24.8: Handy even if you're happy with Microsoft
(2024/08/23)
- Reference: 1724401751
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/08/23/libreoffice_24_8/
- Source link:
The second LibreOffice release of 2024 is here, with additional spreadsheet functions, improved presentation layouts, better searching, and more.
[1]LibreOffice 24.8 is the second release under the project's [2]updated version-numbering scheme . Similarly to Ubuntu, from the start of this year, [3]The Document Foundation (TDF) now assigns new releases a year-plus-month tag, rather than a slowly incrementing decimal.
Version 24.2 succeeded last year's version 7.6, and it's still in maintenance. It's up to 24.2.5 now, and is the current stable version, while 24.8 is the fresh new edition.
The Reg FOSS desk likes things minimal, and turns off all the toolbars for a clean uncluttered look
LibreOffice is the continuation of OpenOffice, and took over after [4]OpenOffice 3.2 in 2010 . That project is [5]still lumbering along but has only put out four fresh versions since the split, still on version 4.1. TDF passed that number in 2013.
We last [6]looked at LibreOffice this time last year, and this release isn't vastly different – but then, neither are new versions of Microsoft Office these days. The suite began as a [7]word processor for the Amstrad CPC in 1985, so it's had nearly four decades of development.
We practice what we preach around here, and presented at FOSDEM in February using LibreOffice Impress. The Notes pane would have been very handy
The [8]new features page calls out three significant new features. This vulture's personal favorite is the new Notes view in Impress, the presentations component (read: PowerPoint replacement). Now, if you're in the slide sorter, you can toggle an optional pane underneath that shows your text notes for that slide. (We find it helpful to think of the notes as stuff written on the back of the slide, and this way, you can see both sides at once without flipping the slide over.)
For navigating long documents, there's a Quick Find function in the [9]sidebar . When searching, rather than just leaping from one match to the next, this shows a list of all matches and a snippet of the context of each.
The new Find function shows all the occurrences at once, with some context
Spreadsheet users get nine new functions, most of which help querying ranges of cells. Ever since [10]the era of Lotus 1-2-3 , people have been using spreadsheets as databases, for the simple reason that they're easier than most database programs. (As a historical footnote, Lotus called their app 1-2-3 because it supported three functions in one program: Numerical spreadsheets, databases, and graphing.)
[11]Open source versus Microsoft: The new rebellion begins
[12]China's top Office clone copies Microsoft again – with an inconvenient outage
[13]New Outlook set for GA despite missing some key features
[14]Users rage as Microsoft announces retirement of Office 365 connectors within Teams
There's a lot more fresh functionality than this, as the [15]release notes explain over some 35 sections.
At risk of repeating ourselves, it's worth having LibreOffice around, even if you're perfectly happy with Microsoft Office – or indeed with any of its alternatives. We have been using it for decades to recover corrupted MS Office documents, but it has other tricks up its sleeve. It can open and converts formats that Microsoft can't – for instance, if you have been having fun [16]writing in WordStar , or perhaps the revived [17]WordPerfect for Unix , or even [18]banging numbers together in 1-2-3 . And if you're still using OpenOffice, it's time: Let it go, and switch to a more modern, faster replacement. ®
[19]
Get our [20]Tech Resources
[1] https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2024/08/22/libreoffice-248/
[2] https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleasePlan
[3] https://www.documentfoundation.org/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2010/02/13/openoffice_review/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2017/04/28/apache_openoffice_not_dead_yet/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/23/libreoffice_76_is_out/
[7] https://newdesign2.libreoffice.org/refs/heads/master/en-us/libreoffice-timeline.html
[8] https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/new-features/
[9] https://help.libreoffice.org/7.3/en-US/text/shared/01/menu_view_sidebar.html
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2014/10/02/so_long_lotus_123_ibm_ceases_support_after_over_30_years_of_code/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/15/opinion_microsoft_sovereignty/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/22/kingsoft_wps_office_outage_china/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/12/new_outlook_set_for_ga/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/09/users_rage_as_microsoft_announces/
[15] https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/24.8
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/06/wordstar_7_the_last_ever/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/20/wordperfect_for_unix_for_linux/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/25/lotus_123_for_linux_appears/
[19] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZshdxnWlSz1sq7b5zolQ4AAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
[1]LibreOffice 24.8 is the second release under the project's [2]updated version-numbering scheme . Similarly to Ubuntu, from the start of this year, [3]The Document Foundation (TDF) now assigns new releases a year-plus-month tag, rather than a slowly incrementing decimal.
Version 24.2 succeeded last year's version 7.6, and it's still in maintenance. It's up to 24.2.5 now, and is the current stable version, while 24.8 is the fresh new edition.
The Reg FOSS desk likes things minimal, and turns off all the toolbars for a clean uncluttered look
LibreOffice is the continuation of OpenOffice, and took over after [4]OpenOffice 3.2 in 2010 . That project is [5]still lumbering along but has only put out four fresh versions since the split, still on version 4.1. TDF passed that number in 2013.
We last [6]looked at LibreOffice this time last year, and this release isn't vastly different – but then, neither are new versions of Microsoft Office these days. The suite began as a [7]word processor for the Amstrad CPC in 1985, so it's had nearly four decades of development.
We practice what we preach around here, and presented at FOSDEM in February using LibreOffice Impress. The Notes pane would have been very handy
The [8]new features page calls out three significant new features. This vulture's personal favorite is the new Notes view in Impress, the presentations component (read: PowerPoint replacement). Now, if you're in the slide sorter, you can toggle an optional pane underneath that shows your text notes for that slide. (We find it helpful to think of the notes as stuff written on the back of the slide, and this way, you can see both sides at once without flipping the slide over.)
For navigating long documents, there's a Quick Find function in the [9]sidebar . When searching, rather than just leaping from one match to the next, this shows a list of all matches and a snippet of the context of each.
The new Find function shows all the occurrences at once, with some context
Spreadsheet users get nine new functions, most of which help querying ranges of cells. Ever since [10]the era of Lotus 1-2-3 , people have been using spreadsheets as databases, for the simple reason that they're easier than most database programs. (As a historical footnote, Lotus called their app 1-2-3 because it supported three functions in one program: Numerical spreadsheets, databases, and graphing.)
[11]Open source versus Microsoft: The new rebellion begins
[12]China's top Office clone copies Microsoft again – with an inconvenient outage
[13]New Outlook set for GA despite missing some key features
[14]Users rage as Microsoft announces retirement of Office 365 connectors within Teams
There's a lot more fresh functionality than this, as the [15]release notes explain over some 35 sections.
At risk of repeating ourselves, it's worth having LibreOffice around, even if you're perfectly happy with Microsoft Office – or indeed with any of its alternatives. We have been using it for decades to recover corrupted MS Office documents, but it has other tricks up its sleeve. It can open and converts formats that Microsoft can't – for instance, if you have been having fun [16]writing in WordStar , or perhaps the revived [17]WordPerfect for Unix , or even [18]banging numbers together in 1-2-3 . And if you're still using OpenOffice, it's time: Let it go, and switch to a more modern, faster replacement. ®
[19]
Get our [20]Tech Resources
[1] https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2024/08/22/libreoffice-248/
[2] https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleasePlan
[3] https://www.documentfoundation.org/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2010/02/13/openoffice_review/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2017/04/28/apache_openoffice_not_dead_yet/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/23/libreoffice_76_is_out/
[7] https://newdesign2.libreoffice.org/refs/heads/master/en-us/libreoffice-timeline.html
[8] https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/new-features/
[9] https://help.libreoffice.org/7.3/en-US/text/shared/01/menu_view_sidebar.html
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2014/10/02/so_long_lotus_123_ibm_ceases_support_after_over_30_years_of_code/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/15/opinion_microsoft_sovereignty/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/22/kingsoft_wps_office_outage_china/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/12/new_outlook_set_for_ga/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/09/users_rage_as_microsoft_announces/
[15] https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/24.8
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/06/wordstar_7_the_last_ever/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/20/wordperfect_for_unix_for_linux/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/25/lotus_123_for_linux_appears/
[19] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZshdxnWlSz1sq7b5zolQ4AAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Charlie Clark
While I'd agree with you in general, I think it's a massive omission that LO doesn't have an outline view like word.
If only there was a replacement for outlook...
Mark Fenton
...if I could find an outlook replacement - that included all the functionality - notes, calendar email and all nicely integrated or speaking to Office635 then I would ditch office entirely. And thence probably windows.
Pascal Monett
And that is why Borkzilla definitely does not want anything to talk to Office300 if it can help it.
Re: If only there was a replacement for outlook...
Charlie Clark
Outlook has to be one of the worst e-mail clients out there but there are replacements; you might want to give a [1]Open XChange a look. Then again, if you're wanting to stick with Windows365, then I think you may be beyond help! ;-)
[1] https://www.open-xchange.com/products/ox-app-suite
Notes view
Phil O'Sophical
I'm pretty sure LO has had a speaker's notes view for years, if not decades. I've certainly found it invaluable for presentations.
Libre Office Writer - whisper it quietly - is better than Word.
I write complex and quite lengthy documents having a variety of page formats, standard A4, A4 landsape and often A3 landscape. Whereas every time I insert a different page format in Word I have to go back and reset the margins and borders, Libre Office retains the same margins & borders automatically.
Oh, and you don't have to have the bl**dy ribbon.
There is one small issue with the new version, if you use special characters using the keypad e.g. ALT+0176 = ° then the new version won't let you do this out of the box as ALT+0 being up another function (can't remember what as I've changed it) hence you need to go into the settings and remove all the ALT+0 keyboard shortcuts. Once done it doesn't come back and so Karma is restored.
Other than that, I note that compatability with MS .docx has been improved.