History of NeoOffice and OpenOffice.org: NeoOffice

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This overview and history consists of several pages. Click on the links in the box to the right to move to the previous or next section.

Neolithic Office for Java™ (NeoOffice®/J)

In June of 2003, Patrick Luby, the lead developer on Sun’s old Mac OS X port of StarOffice™, introduced NeoOffice®/J, a second project under the NeoOffice umbrella. The immediate goal of NeoOffice/J was to remove the need for X11 when running OpenOffice.org. Leveraging Java’s status as a “first-class citizen” for Mac OS X programming, NeoOffice/J features superior integration with Mac OS X. For instance, NeoOffice/J uses the native Mac OS X printing engine and dialogue boxes, native Mac OS X fonts, rendering and text-layout technologies, language and keyboard support (including support for East Asian and RTL/CTL languages and input methods), native copy-paste/clipboard support, double-click and drag-and-drop opening of files, support for Macintosh file aliases, and more. A large portion of the “native” Mac code is Java, but C++, C, and Objective-C code also comprise the Mac-specific code in NeoOffice/J.

As NeoOffice/J had proved itself both stable and user-friendly with a growing following, it is considered by many of the Mac OOo developers as the best vehicle for further Mac OS X integration and the addition of a Mac “look-and-feel” to OpenOffice.org technology. Thus beginning with NeoOffice/J 1.1 Alpha 2 (September 2004; based on OpenOffice.org 1.1.2), Patrick Luby and Edward Peterlin embarked on a process of “Aquafication” of NeoOffice/J. The first step was the replacement of X11/Windows-style in-window menus with a native Aqua menubar; buttons, scrollbars and other Aqua interface elements are expected to be added in the coming months.

Alpha 2 also added mouse scroll-wheel support, text drag-and-drop (within NeoOffice/J itself only), WordPerfect file import using the libwpd and WriterPerfect libraries (libwpd.sf.net), patches delivered via the Apple Installer, and patch update notification. NeoOffice/J 1.1 Beta (December 2004; based on OpenOffice.org 1.1.3) featured new Finder application and document icons, a new splash screen, and language packs providing localized user interfaces for 40 languages. NeoOffice/J 1.1 Release Candidate (March 2005; based on OpenOffice.org 1.1.4) featured many other improvements, including support for drag-and-drop between NeoOffice/J and other applications and additional Aquafication improvements.

Currently only two developers, Patrick Luby and Edward H. Peterlin, are working on NeoOffice/J. Reflecting the size and complexity of a project based on (and fully compatible with) OpenOffice.org, maintenance of NeoOffice/J has become nearly a full-time job, and Patrick and Ed have spent approximately 3000 hours and $4000 over the past two years maintaining and developing NeoOffice/J.

Screenshots of NeoOffice/J

NeoOffice/J 1.1 Alpha 2 Patch 4 (First public Aqua menu patch, 10-Nov-2004)

http://homepage.mac.com/sardisson/neoj/neoj11aqua_newdoc_th.gif http://homepage.mac.com/sardisson/neoj/neoj11aqua_recordchanges_th.gif


Additional screenshots illustrating the process of "Aquafication" are available in the NeoOffice/J Screenshots Archive.

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