The Document Foundation has launched the latest and updated version 5.1 of the open-source Libre Office suite. The software, which is being actively maintained and developed by 100s of programmers has new functions, and it comes with better support for Windows, MAC, and Android OS. It includes new modules to support interoperability with the Microsoft Office suite and other similar software.
The menu’s in the Writer, Calc and Impress application of Libre Office 5.1 has been reorganized. In Writer, the user will find a new Styles menu that includes options to format the text content. In Impress, you’ll find the slide menu which helps you in customizing the presentation slides.
As menus have been rearranged, the user will not have to spend time in searching for useful shortcuts and tools which in turn will improve productivity.
Calc users will find new types of charts in Libre Office 5.1. They’ll also find a powerful search tool that lets users search for formatted words or sentences. The engine that handles complex calculations and formulas in this software has been improved as well, claims Italo Vignoli.
The software includes a new spelling checker button. When the user is working on a document, he can quickly identify spelling mistakes by clicking on the button. Errors will be highlighted in the application. Hence, rectifying them will be easy for the user.
The File menu of this open source software has options to fetch documents, presentations, and spreadsheets from remote computers powered by SharePoint or similar services. It also allows you to download and edit a file from the Google’s cloud storage platform. As connectivity with servers is allowed, the updated Libre Office can now save your docs to remote machines.
The above-mentioned features are very useful for those who have to edit docs saved on Google Drive, IBM Lotus Domino, SharePoint server or any other remote machine.
OpenGL 2.1 technology now powers the Impress application. If your computer has a latest graphics card, you shouldn’t encounter any problems while creating presentations with the Libre Office suite.
In Microsoft’s OS, you can now insert Unicode characters into documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. XML-based open document format files can now be opened with the Android version of Libre Office 5.1.
If you use the latest version of this software, you’ll notice that it is fast and responsive. Its performance is much better than the earlier versions of the Libre Office 5.1.
How to update to the latest release of the free office suite?
Most Linux distros ships with an inbuilt tool to update OS core files and third party software. Open it; the updater will download and install the LibreOffice word processor, Calc, and other applications automatically. On Windows or Mac, you can run the inbuilt update tool of the software for the same. You can also download the Windows installer or .deb or .rpm package from the official website.
I’ve tested this software on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on a laptop with dedicated GPU. Initially, it was crashing Xorg process due to which the OS opened the login window instead of the application. I fixed this error by activating the fglrx-updates driver. The new features are impressive in the LO 5.1.
