OpenOffice.Org 3.0 Released
OpenOffice.Org 3.0 Final was released to the public this week. It is probably the only worthy adversary to the Microsoft Office suite of applications. After going through a long development process, alpha tests and beta tests, The open source and free Office suite of software came out to meet the public.
I guess a lot of people had been waiting for the release. The OpenOffice.Org official site really had problems coping with the amount of traffic it was getting following the release.
Don’t know what OpenOffice is? Well, it’s a suite of software very similar to Microsoft Office. It’s got word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and drawing applications bundled into a software suite.
Majority of the user out there who uses Microsoft Office probably only use the basic functions of the Microsoft Office suite. Unless you really are a power user, who uses the complex functions built into MS Office, then OpenOffice would certainly be sufficient for you. Here’s the best thing about OpenOffice – It basically does whatever MS Office can do (to a certain extent). It costs nothing too!
I’ve got the software suite downloaded. Will put up my first impression on OpenOffice.Org 3.0 very soon.
Have you given OpenOffice a test drive? What do you think about it? How does it fare against the likes of Microsoft Office? Would you stop using MS Office and use OpenOffice?
Dreamweaver CS4
Are you into web design and development? Fans of Adobe’s web authoring tool surely would have heard about the release of Dreamweaver CS4. Yes, a new version of your favorite big green web tool is now out. 
Check out the top new features of this new release:
- Live View – More than just a design view. CS4’s new Live View displays using an actual browser engine which is embedded inside the program. Tight integration between the code view and live view really makes web development work a whole lot less painfull, especially when dealing with Javascripts.
- Code hints for Ajax and Javascript Frameworks – Familiar with the word intellisense? That’s the code hints you get when writing your codes in your development tool. CS4 allows you to write efficient Javascript. They’ve improved support for Javascript core objects and primitive data types. You can also incorporate popular Javascript frameworks like jQuery and Prototype.
- Integration with Subversion – Want version control? CS4 integrates well with the leading open source version control application, Subversion. You can now check in and check out your source code files with ease.
These are just a few of the new features available in the new and much improved Dreamweaver CS4. You should head on over to the official site and read about all the new and interesting stuff they’ve included in this new offering of theirs
Are you already using CS4? What’s your first impression with it? Did it meet your expectations?
WordPress 2.7 Visuals
Do you blog? More importantly, do you blog with WordPress? Just a few months after releasing WordPress 2.6, the development team has just released visuals of WordPress 2.7. I have to say, they look very very very very impressive indeed.
WordPress 2.7 will have a redesigned back end interface. The new dashboard looks excellent. The goal of this new interface design is to make the most used screen accessible within only a click or two.
I have only been using WordPress for slightly more than a year. I think WordPress is simply the best blogging platform around. Trust me, I’ve tried and tested quite a number of them. I believe this new back end interface will certainly entice more users to move to using WordPress.
Do you WordPress? What do you think of the upcoming back end in WordPress 2.7? Would you like to have a WordPress blog?
Firefox 3.1 Beta
The battle of the browsers intensifies even further. How many browsers have you got installed on your PC? How many browsers do you really need?
We really are spoilt for choice when it comes to internet browsers. How many do we have right now? These are among the notable browsers:
- Firefox
- Flock
- Opera
- Safari
- Internet Explorer
- Chrome
There are probably more out there in the wild.
Firefox recently released Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 for public download.
I have been a FireFox user since it’s first release. To me, it’s the best browser out there at the moment.
Firefox 3.1 brings about:
- Tab switching shortcut – Previews of the tab you are switching to
- CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 support
- Support for and web elements
- Improved Smart Location Bar
Many more improvements are also included in this new version.
Are you using Firefox? Is Firefox the best browser in the world?
Microsoft Web Application Installer
Tired of figuring out how to install web applications into your Windows Server? Enter Microsoft’s latest installer – Web Application Installer (Web AI). It is still in Beta.
Web AI is supposed to assist you in installing the commonly used web applications like DotNetNuke, WordPress, Drupal and OSCommerce into your Windows Server. Familiar with the likes of Fantastico and SimpleScripts? Web AI probably works in a similar fashion.
Web AI will first perform a series of checks to acertain that your machine meets the prerequisites of the web application you want to install. It will then download the application from their source and present you with the configuration screen before installing the application.
I don’t really have the need for Web AI currently as my hosting runs on Linux. I will however download it and try it out in one of my virtual environment.
Do you have a need for such a tool in your current environment? Are you currently testing this out? Are you impressed?