KOffice 1.1 is released

62

Author: JT Smith

“KOffice is a free, integrated office suite for KDE which utilizes open
standards for component communication and component embedding.
KOffice 1.1 constitutes the most stable and feature-complete release
of KOffice to date.”KDE’s Free, Integrated Office Suite Available for Linux/Unix

DATELINE AUGUST 28, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KDE’s Free, Integrated Office Suite Available for Linux/Unix

Leading Linux Desktop Ships Free Stable Release of KOffice

August 28, 2001 (The INTERNET).
The http://www.kde.org/”>KDE
Project
today announced the release of
http://www.koffice.org/”>KOffice 1.1.
KOffice is a free, integrated office suite for KDE which utilizes open
standards for component communication and component embedding.
KOffice 1.1 constitutes the most stable and feature-complete release
of KOffice to date. The KOffice team encourages all users of earlier
KOffice releases to upgrade to KOffice 1.1.

“KOffice is undergoing rapid development and its future looks very
bright,” stated Eugene Clement, Product Manager for
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/”>Mandrakesoft.
“Currently KOffice
has functionality well-suited for home and SOHO users, who generally
write letters, faxes, memos and similar documents. As the import
filters for proprietary document formats continue to improve and the
suite’s features continue to evolve, we expect that in the near future
KOffice will be ready to meet the needs of all but the most demanding
areas of the enterprise.”

“With this release the KOffice team has delivered a very stable and complete
office package,” said KDE and http://www.suse.com/”>SuSE
developer http://www.kde.org/people/waldo.html”>Waldo Bastian.
“KOffice
takes full advantage of the new printing support offered by KDE 2.2. For
example, each KOffice component allows you to email your documents in the
PDF format to your colleagues, or simply to fax them. KOffice is tightly
integrated with the rest of KDE, which makes it friendly on system
resources. And thanks to the powerful KParts component technology,
it is very flexible and extensible.”

This release includes the following components:
KWord
(a frame-based, full-featured word processor);
KPresenter
(a presentation application);
KSpread
(a spreadsheet application);
Kontour
(a vector-drawing application);
Kivio
(a flowchart application);
KChart
(a chart drawing application);
KFormula
(a formula editor); and
filters
(for importing documents created by, or exporting documents for use with,
other office suites or office programs).

KOffice and all its components are available for free under
Open Source licenses from the KDE
http://master.kde.org/stable/koffice-1.1/”>server
and its http://www.kde.org/mirrors.html”>mirrors.
As a result of the dedicated efforts of hundreds of translators,
KOffice 1.1 is available in 28 languages.

More information about KOffice, including
http://www.koffice.org/releases/1.1-release.phtml”>Release Notes,
a http://www.koffice.org/announcements/changelog-1.1.phtml”>list of
changes
since the KOffice 1.0 release, and a
http://www.koffice.org/faq/”>KOffice FAQ, are
available at the http://www.koffice.org/”>KOffice website.

Index

Installing Binary Packages

Binary Packages.
Some distributors choose to provide binary packages of KOffice for certain
versions of their distribution. Some of these binary packages for
KOffice 1.1 will be available for free download under
http://master.kde.org/stable/koffice-1.1/”>http://master.kde.org/stable/koffice-1.1/
or under the equivalent directory at one of the many KDE ftp server
http://www.kde.org/mirrors.html”>mirrors. Please note that the
KDE team is not responsible for these packages as they are provided by third
parties — typically, but not always, the distributor of the relevant
distribution (if you cannot find a binary package for your distribution,
please read the http://dot.kde.org/986933826/”>KDE Binary Package
Policy
).

Library Requirements.
The library requirements for a particular binary package varies with the
system on which the package was compiled. Please bear in mind that
some binary packages may require a newer version of Qt and/or KDE
than was distributed with the distribution version for which the binary
package is listed below. For general library requirements for KOffice,
please see the text at Source Code –
Library Requirements
.

Package Locations.
At the time of this release, pre-compiled packages are available for:

Please check the servers periodically for pre-compiled packages for other
distributions. More binary packages may become available over the
coming days and weeks; in particular,
http://www.redhat.com/”>RedHat packages are expected tomorrow and
http://www.debian.org/”>Debian packages are expected late
this or early next week.

Downloading and Compiling KOffice

Source Packages.
The source packages for KOffice 1.1 are available for free download at
http://master.kde.org/stable/koffice-1.1/src/”>http://master.kde.org/stable/koffice-1.1/src/ or in the
equivalent directory at one of the many KDE ftp server
http://www.kde.org/mirrors.html”>mirrors.

Library
Requirements
.
KOffice requires recent versions of Qt and kdelibs, and even more recent
versions are recommended.

KOffice 1.1 will not work with versions of Qt older than 2.2.4 or
versions of kdelibs older than 2.1.1.

Compiler Requirements.
Please note that some components of
KOffice 1.1 (such as the Quattro Pro® import filter
and the new http://www.koffice.org/kchart/”>KChart) will not
compile with older versions of http://gcc.gnu.org/”>gcc/egcs,
such as egcs-1.1.2 or gcc-2.7.2. At a minimum gcc-2.95-* is required.

Further Instructions.
For further instructions on compiling and installing KOffice, please consult
the http://www.koffice.org/install-source.phtml”>installation
instructions
.

Application Descriptions

In addition to the features described below for each application, each
KOffice applications provides embedding of other KOffice documents/components
(e.g., a spreadsheet can be embedded in a word processing document and
accessed/edited from inside KWord), a modern print dialog (including
numerous predefined page sizes, configurable margins, etc.) and print preview,
import of images and clip-art (.wmf format), scanning support and
scripting via KDE’s
http://developer.kde.org/documentation/library/dcop.html”>DCOP
mechanism.

KWord

KWord is a FrameMaker-like word-processing and desktop publishing application. KWord’s features include:

  • paragraph style sheets (borders, alignment, spacing, indentation,
    bullet points, tab stops, page breaks, and font type, style, color and
    size), together with a stylist to edit, add, remove and update
    styles (a number of predefined styles are provided);
  • a frame orientation, suitable for simple desktop publishing (DTP);
  • numerous preset as well as custom page sizes;
  • multiple columns per page;
  • headers and footers (including different first page headers/footers);
  • variables, such as page number, company name, user name, document summary,
    date and time or a custom variable;
  • tables;
  • embedding of text frames, images and clip-art (.wmf files);
  • chapter numbering;
  • auto-generation of table of contents;
  • auto-correction and spell checking; and
  • templates.

More information about KWord
http://www.koffice.org/kword/features.phtml”>features, as well as
many http://www.koffice.org/kword/screenshots.phtml”>screenshots,
are available at the http://www.koffice.org/kword/”>KWord website.

KPresenter

KPresenter is a presentation application. Its features include:

  • inserting and editing rich text (with bullet points, indentation, spacing,
    colors, fonts, etc.);
  • embedding images and clip-art (.wmf files);
  • inserting auto-forms;
  • setting many object properties (background, many types of gradients,
    pen, shadow, rotation, object specific settings, etc.);
  • working with objects (resizing, moving, lowering, raising, etc.);
  • grouping/ungrouping objects;
  • headers/footers;
  • advanced undo/redo;
  • setting background (color, gradients, pictures, clip-arts, etc.);
  • assigning effects for animating objects and defining effects for
    changing slides;
  • playing screen presentations with effects;
  • print as PostScript;
  • creating HTML slideshows with a few mouse clicks;
  • templates (pre- and user-defined);
  • using XML as the document format; and
  • a Presentations Structure Viewer.

More information about KPresenter, including some
http://www.koffice.org/kpresenter/screenshots.phtml”>screenshots,
is available at the http://www.koffice.org/kpresenter/”>KPresenter
website
.

KSpread

KSpread is a scriptable spreadsheet program which provides both
table-oriented sheets and support for complex mathematical formulas
and statistics. KSpread features include:

  • multiple tables/sheets per document;
  • templates;
  • multiple chart formats for displaying data graphically;
  • headers and footers;
  • over 100 formulas, including standard deviation, variance, present value
    of annuities and much more;
  • sorting;
  • scripting;
  • lists;
  • cell data validity checking with configurable warnings/actions;
  • comments;
  • series (days of week, months of year, numbers, etc.);
  • conditional coloring of cells;
  • hyperlinks;
  • row and column customization (size, show/hide, font type, style and size,
    etc.); and
  • cell customization (data/number format, precision, border, alignment,
    rotation, background color and pattern, font type, style and size, etc.).

More information about KSpread, including some
http://www.koffice.org/kspread/screenshots.phtml”>screenshots,
is available at the http://www.koffice.org/kspread/”>KSpread
website
.

Kontour

Kontour is a vector drawing program which aims to provide similar
functionality to
http://www3.corel.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=Corel/Product/Details&id=CC1IOY1YKCC”>Corel DrawTM
or http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/main.html”>Adobe
Illustrator
TM. Kontour’s features currently include:

  • many tools (points, line, freehand, bezier, rectangle, polygon,
    ellipse/circle);
  • layers and grids;
  • to front/back;
  • visible grids/align to grid;
  • group/ungroup;
  • export as image or EPS;
  • split views and multiple views of the same document;
  • object properties (such as fill, color, line patter, line width
    and rounded corners for a rectangle);
  • mirror and rotate;
  • text along object; and
  • align/distribute.

More information about Kontour, including some
http://www.koffice.org/kontour/screenshots.phtml”>screenshots,
is available at the http://www.koffice.org/kontour/”>Kontour
website
.

Kivio

Kivio is a flowcharting program which offers advanced flowcharting
abilities. Objects are scriptable, and a backend plugin system will
provide objects with unlimited abilities. For example, an object
could convert a directory of C++ header files and into a graphical
class map, or an object could explore and map out a specified network.
The selected scripting language chosen is
http://www.python.org/”>Python, though knowledge of Python
or programming is not required to use Kivio. Kivio’s features include:

  • dynamically loadable stencils with support for various attributes,
    such as border width, foreground color and fill style (gradient, solid
    pattern, pixmap, arrow heads and text);
  • a built-in stencil builder, which permits you to create your own
    stencils without doing any programming;
  • layers for stencil layout (for example, if you are laying out a
    floor plan, one layer can contain furniture, while walls and structural
    shapes go on another, and wiring on yet another);
  • multiple pages per document;
  • grouping/ungrouping;
  • clipboard history for pasting previously copied stencils;
  • customizable helper lines for easy alignment;
  • sub-selections (for stencils which are made up of numerous small
    shapes); and
  • a dynamically resizing grid (the grid scale becomes finer as you
    zoom in).

More information about Kivio, including a
http://www.thekompany.com/projects/kivio/kivio_tut/”>tutorial,
screenshots, and
information on obtaining additional
https://www.thekompany.com/products/order/stencils.php3″>stencils,
is available at the http://www.thekompany.com/projects/kivio/”>Kivio
website
.

KChart

KChart is a chart drawing application which can be used to embed charts
into your KOffice documents, such as a report written with KWord. Besides
providing the usual charting capabilities, KChart is both easy to use
and highly configurable. It provides:

  • default values for all parameter settings, all of which may be changed
    at any time after initializing/drawing the chart;
  • automatic computation or easy configuration of axis values; and
  • specification of size values (axis/grid line width, font sizes,
    bar width, dataset gap, pie chart radius, etc.) in either absolute pixels or
    relative to the window size (this makes your chart independent of the
    window size).

More information about KChart, including some
http://www.koffice.org/kchart/screenshots.phtml”>screenshots,
is available at the http://www.koffice.org/kchart/”>KChart
website
.

KFormula

KFormula is an easy-to-use formula editor which provides basic input
facilities and support functionality. Features include:

  • numerous predefined symbols, including delimiters, matrices, indices,
    roots, fractions, integrals and brackets;
  • easy Greek symbol insertion;
  • intelligent cursor movement;
  • advanced syntax highlighting; and
  • multi-level undo support.

More information about KFormula, including some
http://www.koffice.org/kformula/screenshots.phtml”>screenshots,
is available at the http://www.koffice.org/kformula/”>KFormula
website
.

KOffice filters

KOffice includes a number of filters for importing MS Office and Corel
Office documents as well as documents in other formats. The current
status of these filters is
http://www.koffice.org/filters/status.phtml”>available at
the http://www.koffice.org/filters/”>KOffice filters website.

About KOffice/KDE

KOffice is part of the KDE project.
KDE is an independent, collaborative project by hundreds of developers
worldwide to create a sophisticated, customizable and stable desktop environment
employing a component-based, network-transparent architecture.
KDE is working proof of the power of the Open Source “Bazaar-style” software
development model to create first-rate technologies on par with
and superior to even the most complex commercial software.

For more information about KDE, please visit KDE’s
http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/”>web site.
For more information about KOffice, please visit KOffice’s
http://www.koffice.org/info/”>web site where you can find,
among other things, information on
http://www.koffice.org/getinvolved/”>contributing to KOffice.

Corporate KOffice Sponsors

Besides the valuable and excellent efforts by the
http://www.koffice.org/developers.phtml”>KOffice developers
themselves, significant support for KOffice development has been provided by
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/”>MandrakeSoft (which sponsors
KOffice developers http://perso.mandrakesoft.com/~david/”>David
Faure
and Laurent Montel),
http://www.thekompany.com/”>theKompany.com (which
contributed Kivio to KOffice),
and
http://www.klaralvdalens-datakonsult.se/”>Klarälvdalens
Datakonsult AB
(which contributed the new KChart to KOffice). Thanks!


Trademarks Notices.
KDE, K Desktop Environment, KChart, KFormula, Kontour, KOffice,
KPresenter, Krayon, KSpread and KWord are trademarks of KDE e.V.
Kivio is a trademark of theKompany.com.
PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems
Incorporated.
Quattro Pro is a registered trademark of Corel Corporation or Corel Corporation Limited.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
Unix is a registered trademark of The Open Group.
Trolltech and Qt are trademarks of Trolltech AS.
All other trademarks and copyrights referred to in this announcement are
the property of their respective owners.


Press Contacts:
United States: Eunice Kim
The Terpin Group
ekim@terpin.com
(1) 650 344 4944 ext. 105
 
Kurt Granroth
granroth@kde.org
(1) 480 732 1752
 
Andreas Pour
pour@kde.org
(1) 917 312 3122
Europe (French and English): David Faure
faure@kde.org
(44) 1225 837409
Europe (English and German): Ralf Nolden
nolden@kde.org
(49) 2421 502758