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List:       koffice
Subject:    Re: KOffice compatibility
From:       Jacques Chester <jacques.chester () student ! usyd ! edu ! au>
Date:       2000-09-30 0:34:25
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On Sat, 30 Sep 2000, Ken Meyer wrote:
> 
> Hi!

Hello.

> However, I like the ability of StarOffice to
> import and export MSOffice files. This is an
> absolute necessity for me,

I am not the filter guy; but my understanding
is that most basic formatting from 97 and 2000
can be imported. Tables are a continuing nightmare,
being fiddly in both 97 and more fiddly in 2000.
Advanced features (such as revision tracking)
are not supported[1].

>  and, considering
> that with version 6.0 the StarOffice desktop
> will be optional, I am leaning strongly in
> that directions. 

Well here's the thing. Sun have hinted that SO6
will be a rewrite, or close to. That means that
the 6.0 release is at *least* 1-3 years away,
with much Mozilla-esque heartache in the middle.
At least Sun have cut straight to the rewrite!

In the meantime, KOffice has those years under its
belt, having commenced for KDE 1.x and now becoming
"flagship apps" (contrast killer apps) for the
KDE 2 development model (KParts, DCOP etc). The
real difference between KO1 and SO6 are:

a) The SO6 object model is bonobo, ie, mostly
   vapourware. KO1's object model is KDE2, which
   is largely functional and approaching release.
b) SO6 is vapourware, "press-releaseware". It does
   not exist except in a few documents. KO1 is
   still alpha-beta, but it exists and is somewhat
   usable.

The movie-trailer version is that KO has the headstart.
SO6 won't be released for some time yet. No point
waiting for it.

Depending on the complexity of your documents, I'd
go with KWord.


Hope this helps.

> Ken

be well;

JC.


[1]: Shawn, how hard would it be to develop a
revision management object for KDB? I'm not
familiar with KOffice's file-handling, but perhaps
it'd be possible to drop in some kind of CVS
object as the filesystem. The same object could
also be used by KDevelop etc.

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