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VValdo · Jun 21, 2005, 11:17 PM

It's official! After 6 months.... Neo/J is outta beta! The first official release...

http://www.planamesa.com/neojava/download.php

(this is basically a heavily OS-X optimized OpenOffice.org-based open-source FREE office suite. File compatible w/MS Office.)

Enjoy.
W

threestain · Jun 22, 2005, 07:00 AM

is it only the full download, no upgrade paths? drat!

NeXTLoop · Jun 22, 2005, 09:45 AM

This is an outstanding product. This release brings a number of bug fixes and enhancements. Also noticed in the release notes for the first time, that NeoOffice also opens WordPerfect files. I didn't realize that previously.

VValdo · Jun 22, 2005, 12:23 PM

I don't think it did open WP files before...

As far as upgrade paths.. I think this requires a new download from the beta, but subsequent patches should be small...

W

clarkgoble · Jun 22, 2005, 08:21 PM

It is *really* slow loading. (i.e. in minutes, not seconds) There are also a lot of annoying pauses and so forth. It's interesting. But will anyone be using it as their prime system?

sniffer · Jun 22, 2005, 09:00 PM

I don't think MS Office exists in my native, but NeoOfficeJ does. I like it alot. I started with the original under X11, but NeoOfficeJ had better font support. Haven't regretted moving over. I am just a casual Office user, so the OOo products is a good alternative for me instead of spending a fortune on MS Office.

VValdo · Jun 22, 2005, 09:04 PM

First time it loads is a little slower, but after that it's decent. Luckily, it's OS X and you don't have to close it

It just gets swapped when not being used...

BTW there is a patch already ("patch-0") to fix something that wasn't properly included in the final build (an alias from the Preferences menu to "Tools"-->"Options"). It doesn't fix a crasher or anything, but w/o out, the Preferences option goes nowhere...

And yes, it's the only *Office I have on my machine.

Reads word perfect files too...

W

threestain · Jun 23, 2005, 05:18 AM

The patch 0 is so small its ridiculous! But now it should all work!

Goldfinger · Jun 23, 2005, 05:23 AM

Meh. It's in Java right ?

threestain · Jun 23, 2005, 06:11 AM

yeah its in java, but it works well and is looking and working better with every release (which seeing as its only 2 guys, is pretty swift work)

wataru · Jun 23, 2005, 06:27 AM

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

Meh. It's in Java right ?

It uses Java to overcome the X11 version's various shortcomings. It's not really "in" Java though.

tie · Jun 23, 2005, 10:47 AM

Is there a critical review of this anywhere? I tried it and wasn't too impressed, but didn't have time to investigate fully. I'm most interested in Impress (Powerpoint).

VValdo · Jun 23, 2005, 12:07 PM

No, it's not "in Java". It's 99% C++. It uses Java only to replace the X11 stuff-- since Java has built-in integration w/Aqua, it displays stuff to the screen using Java routines rather than requiring you to have X11 running.

W

Tyre MacAdmin · Jun 23, 2005, 01:29 PM

Excellent... iIsaw this about a year ago on macslash. I love OOo on Windows and Linux but hated it with OS X due to the X11 stuff.

sminch · Jun 23, 2005, 04:04 PM

if it's loading in minutes on your system, i'd take the machine in to get it looked at - it's not a snappy loader, but on my ibook it's up and running in about twenty seconds the first time after a restart, maybe ten seconds after that. neither is ideal, but let's not get too carried away. if it's taking minutes to load your computer must be pretty sick (or old enough to remember the moon landing).

i use neo/j as my only word processor / spreadsheet app and have never had any problems. its compatibility with other apps has been great in my experience, it's been perfectly stable, and it does everything i have ever wanted it to do. my only gripe would be that it's not the sexiest suite in the world - that said, the prettiness factor isn't about to get me to shell out for office.

i wouldn't hesitate to recommend neo/j - worst case scenario you can give it a whirl and if it doesn't float your boat you can delete it again, no worriees, cos it's free.

sminch

mportuesi · Jun 23, 2005, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by sminch

i use neo/j as my only word processor / spreadsheet app and have never had any problems.

i wouldn't hesitate to recommend neo/j - worst case scenario you can give it a whirl and if it doesn't float your boat you can delete it again, no worriees, cos it's free.

sminch

What he said. I use Neo/J all the time on my 1.42 Mini. No complaints about startup time - about 20 seconds in my case too. No doubt the Java dependency slows down startup somewhat, but I prefer that to having to fire up an X server.

Living in a multiplatform house, I like the fact it runs on all the platforms I care about - Mac, Linux and Windows. It has much more functionality than AppleWorks and it's compatible with Office file formats. I give it a big thumbs-up.

kcmac · Jun 23, 2005, 07:58 PM

On their site, they say Neo/j opens most Word documents.

Does it do track changes? Don't really want to download just to find that out.

VValdo · Jun 23, 2005, 08:20 PM

Yes it does track changes. And by the way-- as far as the load times go.. I think the very first time you run it after installing, it takes a little while cuz it sets up preference files and configures itself and stuff... then, subsequent to that, first time you run after a reboot is a little slower because it loads Java stuff. But I've found that after loading 1x, load times decrease a lot....

so.. from what I've noticed (not scientific, but anyway...0

(a) first time ever running takes a while (cuz of creating preferences..)

then...

(b) first time after a reboot is faster cuz of java
(c) subsequent restarts after java is loaded is fastest.

note this is on a 3-year old powerbook with 768MB.. I would guess it's a lot faster on modern macs w/more memory.

W

threestain · Jun 23, 2005, 08:26 PM

I get quite slow start-ups, but then again I'm pretty sure its cos the Java gets chucked everytime/I use it so infrequently that I don't get the benefit.

Otherwise, its a very capable suite, and I'm getting to grips with the slight differences in Impress.

Spook E · Jun 23, 2005, 11:25 PM

any way to make it stop looking so damned ugly? the icons are hideous, as is the background on the menu bars etc

kcmac · Jun 24, 2005, 12:07 AM

One of you early adopters willing to write up a little review? I use Word in the corporate world. Would this be more compatible than office for the Mac?

VValdo · Jun 24, 2005, 12:25 AM

Originally Posted by Spook E

any way to make it stop looking so damned ugly? the icons are hideous, as is the background on the menu bars etc

Actually, there are alternate icon sets, which you can find by searching in the neooffice forums... I think there's a screenshot in the wiki, which is down at the moment due to a major /.ing.

As far as compatibility goes, I've heard some files that didn't load right in MS Office for Mac were successfully loaded w/Neo/J, but as far as whether it's better overall I can't say (haven't never used MS Office for Mac since Word 6.1...)

W

sminch · Jun 24, 2005, 03:23 AM

i've only transfered a few files from office to neo/j and vice versa, and haven't had any problems - that said, my sample size is literally three or four docs with no complex formatting, so i'd hardly rate that as conclusive.

sminch

wataru · Jun 24, 2005, 04:18 AM

The real beauty of OO.o and NO/J is that they will open Word docs that even Word can't open anymore because it's corrupted the file to hell.

Shades of Gray · Jun 24, 2005, 09:18 PM

Here is an interesting article about OO replacing FrameMaker, but with direct application to NeoO/j. Of course, we know it can't replace FM, but there are some crucial issues that make it worth looking at more closely.

Shades of Gray · Jun 26, 2005, 08:42 AM

I finally downloaded it (I had an early beta release). With a dial-up connection it took 10 1/2 hours. But what else would my computer do on Saturday? Anyway in the next few days I hope to actually use it!

Butch Hauke · Jun 27, 2005, 10:19 PM

One item of note for those of you who have installed Neo Office: it installs 4 fonts, and one of them gets reported as corrupt by FontBook. I can't remember the name of the font off the top of my head. Anyway, I hate when apps install fonts without letting me know.

Butch

wataru · Jun 27, 2005, 11:24 PM

Opening the NeoOfficeJ.pkg with Pacifist, I found the following fonts:

opens___.ttf
Vera.ttf
VeraBd.ttf
VeraBl.ttf
VeraIt.ttf
VeraMoBd.ttf
VeraMoBl.ttf
VeraMoIt.ttf
VeraMono.ttf
VeraSe.ttf
VeraSeBd.ttf

So there you go.

Eug Wanker · Jun 28, 2005, 12:12 AM

To uninstall, just drag the NeoOffice/J application from the Finder into the Mac OS X trash can.

Excellent. I will give it a whirl then. I don't want to install an application that's going to leave junk everywhere.

I already have a legal licence for MS Office, but what the hey...

EDIT:

Oh wait. If I install this, then uninstall it, is it easy to remove the extraneous fonts?

Butch Hauke · Jun 28, 2005, 12:30 AM

Opening the NeoOfficeJ.pkg with Pacifist, I found the following fonts:

opens___.ttf
Vera.ttf
VeraBd.ttf
VeraBl.ttf
VeraIt.ttf
VeraMoBd.ttf
VeraMoBl.ttf
VeraMoIt.ttf
VeraMono.ttf
VeraSe.ttf
VeraSeBd.ttf

So there you go.

opens___.ttf is the one that FontBook says is corrupt. And yes, they're easy enough to remove, but NeoOffice will reinstall them again if you launch it and they're missing. Why can't it just leave them in it's own package?

Butch

sniffer · Jun 28, 2005, 02:46 AM

Originally Posted by Shades of Gray

I finally downloaded it (I had an early beta release). With a dial-up connection it took 10 1/2 hours. But what else would my computer do on Saturday? Anyway in the next few days I hope to actually use it!

I hope you are not paying minute taxes, like the dial-up norm is here.

Shades of Gray · Jun 28, 2005, 08:18 PM

No, my internet access is unlimited (no extra charges, no long distance charges), even if at a snail's pace!

JKT · Jun 29, 2005, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by kcmac

On their site, they say Neo/j opens most Word documents.

Does it do track changes? Don't really want to download just to find that out.

FWIW, the track changes is also compatible with MS Office's tracking so you can view changes in .doc files as well.

Originally Posted by Butch Hauke

Why can't it just leave them in it's own package?

Presumably because they wouldn't work!

JKT · Jun 29, 2005, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by kcmac

One of you early adopters willing to write up a little review? I use Word in the corporate world. Would this be more compatible than office for the Mac?

Unlikely - while the compatibility is very good, it is not perfect. Then again, neither is it between various versions of MS Office, so there we go

Butch Hauke · Jun 29, 2005, 07:54 PM

Presumably because they wouldn't work!

Don't see why not. Print Shop has tons of fonts within it's own package, and they work fine. This is a valid font location, as far as I know. Of course, these fonts are never available to other applications.

Butch