OpenOffice 3 Debuts to Server-Crashing Demand

So many people rushed to download the third version of OpenOffice that it overwhelmed the download servers. The new suite adds Mac OS X compatibility and offers extensions that add functions some people might want without weighing down the core suite with extra baggage.

The third full OpenOffice suite is out in the wild and attracting plenty of attention. OpenOffice.org 3.0 was released Monday -- and already, demand has been high enough to overwhelm the download servers and cause them to crash.

The software suite, designed as an open source Rackspace is the expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions. Click here to learn more. Latest News about open source alternative to Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft Office, offers everything from word processing and spreadsheet creation to presentation and databasing tools. Added in the 3.0 release is a host of extensions to allow a more customized user experience.

Apple Appeal

The new OpenOffice will have extra appeal for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Latest News about Apple users: In addition to supporting Windows and Linux, the 3.0 release is the first version with native support World Class Managed Hosting from PEER 1, Just $299. Click here. for the Mac OS X platform. Past releases worked only with X11 and required additional tools for OS X use.

"That opens up a whole new market for us," John McCreesh, marketing Learn how you can enhance your email marketing program today. Free Trial - Click Here. project lead for OpenOffice.org, told LinuxInsider.

The program's look gets a major makeover with its third incarnation as well. The start center, splash screen, and icons are all refreshed with an updated appearance. But it's the features beneath the surface that are the developers' true focus.

What's New

The suite's word processing tool adds a new multi-page display mode that features a slider control. The result? You can zoom in and out while editing. There's also a built-in utility for Web-based wiki document editing and expanded notes options. When it comes to the spreadsheet, OpenOffice.org 3.0 boosts its capacity to 1,024 columns, adds multi-user collaboration options, and tacks on improved equation solving capabilities. Perhaps most noteworthy of all, though, are all the new features that you can choose -- or choose not -- to get.

"People complain about office suites getting bigger and bloated," McCreesh commented. "With extensions, we allow people to add on bits of functionality that are important to them."

Some of those bits include things like a PDF importing and editing tool, a slide previewing tool for presentations, and multiple language support. The key, the OpenOffice team believes, lies in the choice.

"For people who need [those features], they're absolutely wonderful -- but for people who don't need them, then they're not cluttering up their hard disk," McCreesh pointed out.
The Server Situation

As for availability, OpenOffice.org is working hard to make sure its servers stay up and running. They're experimenting with a few options to keep the site from buckling under the heavy demand and are hoping users can remain patient.

"It's amazing -- on the one hand, we're delighted that we've gotten such a huge response. On the other hand, we'd much rather all these people were successfully downloading rather than crashing the site," McCreesh said.

In the end, though, the team couldn't be more pleasantly surprised with the interest its open source solution is finally seeing.

"It's an unprecedented response," McCreesh admitted. "We've never seen anything like it."

Mono 2.0 Spreads .Net to Linux and Mac

The Mono Project has unveiled version 2.0 of its development framework, which helps devs migrate .Net-based apps to Linux and Mac OS X. Many developers want to -- or must -- develop in .Net or C#, but they want to deploy on Linux. Mono 2.0 is designed to bridge the gap.

For developers who have fallen in love with .Net/C#, but aren't married to running their applications on Windows Rackspace is the expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions. Click here to learn more., the Mono Project aims to let Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft .Net-based apps run on Linux and Mac OS X, among several other platforms. Sponsored by Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) Latest News about Novell, the Mono Project has released Mono 2.0 of its cross-platform, open source Latest News about open source .Net development framework.

Basically, Mono 2.0 lets users run both client and server applications on Linux, and helps developers figure out which changes they may need to make to their applications for .Net-to-Linux migrations.

"While Mono doesn't have the same wide usage as Java Latest News about Java or Windows-bound .Net, I do come across people who use it often however, like MindTouch, who builds products with Mono because they wanted to develop in .Net/C# but wanted to deploy on Linux," Michael Coté, an industry analyst for RedMonk, told LinuxInsider.

"That scenario is what really appeals to people: Even though Mono is not a complete one-to-one match to .Net, the idea that you can deploy on Linux, Windows, and even Macs appeals to developers," he added. It's a good model for independent software vendors that want to sell on both platforms, he noted.

In addition, Mono 2.0 is great for developers who were trained in .Net programming but who want to extend those skills into organizations that want to leverage other operating systems.

Inside 2.0

While Mono 2.0 increases its compatibility with the .Net framework, bringing it closer to Microsoft's .Net 3.5 than ever before, what's missing is Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Windows Communication Foundation.

On the plus side, Mono 2.0 brings significant performance improvements and an improved C# compiler, among dozens of other tweaks.

Novell's Angle in All This

"Mono was originally started by Miguel de Icaza, currently vice president of development platforms at Novell and maintainer of the Mono project, while he was at Ximian," Joseph Hill, product manager at Novell, told LinuxInsider. "At the time, the primary purpose of Mono was to enable Linux developers to be more productive by bringing C# to the platform. When Novell acquired Ximian, it continued to support World Class Managed Hosting from PEER 1, Just $299. Click here. the project for this reason, and Novell ships many applications on its Linux desktop today that were developed with Mono.

"Beyond promoting development on the Linux desktop, though, Novell's support of Mono enables many customers and ISVs (independent software vendors) with both server and desktop applications that would previously only run on Windows, to choose Suse Linux Enterprise," he added.

Rising Interest

While Mono may appeal to smaller development organizations, it's seeing rising interest in a variety of enterprises and organizations.

"Aside from the great Gtk# applications that are now available on the Linux platform, such as Banshee and GNOME Do, Mono is also seeing wide deployment on the server through ISVs such as MindTouch, which is built on Mono, and sees more than 90 percent of deployments of its Deki collaboration platform on Linux," Hill said.

"Mono is also turning up in many other exciting and unexpected places, too. Recent successful deployments of Mono include Linden Lab's server migration of their own in-house scripting language for their Second Life project (LSL) to Mono, as well as Unity3D's use of Mono in their game engine and tools, which has Mono being deployed in their games on Nintendo Latest News about Nintendo Wii Latest News about Wii and the iPhone, as well as Windows, OS X and soon Linux," he explained.

On the enterprise application development front, Jeffrey Hammond, a senior analyst of application development for Forrester Research, told LinuxInsider that he's seeing interest in Mono, even from large app dev shops that plan to make continued investments in .Net and who would like to maximize that investment.

"I'm also seeing specific interest in Moonlight as a Linux target for Silverlight," he added. "The biggest issue is that .Net is moving pretty fast, and potential adopters are a bit wary, wondering if Mono can keep up with the latest versions of .Net," he said.