[dot] KOffice 2 Alpha 5 Released

[Dot Stories]

URL: http://dot.kde.org/1195765538/

From: Inge Wallin <inge at lysator.liu.se>
Dept: I-think-therefore-I-release
Date: Thursday 22/Nov/2007, @13:05

KOffice 2 Alpha 5 Released
==========================

   Immediately after the release of KDE 4.0 RC1, the KDE office suite
KOffice today announced the release of version 2.0 Alpha 5
[http://www.koffice.org/announcements/announce-2.0alpha5.php]. As with
the previous alpha versions of 2.0, this is a technology preview more
than a version for users to test out.  Nonetheless there are some
exciting new features and developments here.  Read on for more
information.
    KOffice for Bairns
     In addition to enhancements in all the applications themselves
which are too many to mention here, there are a few particularly
important improvements.


  I. MORE SHARED INFRASTRUCTURE

     The general libraries saw several enhancements.  First, there is
improved sharing by making resources like gradients and strokes shared. 
All applications are now using the same implementation of these
features, something that will reduce bugs and heighten the users feeling
of a unified application suite.  Another change is that the basic
routines for handling the OpenDocument Format have been broken out into
its own library.  This is not a user-visible change, but important
nonetheless because it is this library that was suggested will be made
available for other KDE developers in kdelibs 4.1
[http://dot.kde.org/1179144063/].


 II. SIMPLIFIED WORD PROCESSOR: KIDS OFFICE

     Over a year ago, Inge Wallin proposed a simplified word processor
[http://ingwa2.blogspot.com/2005/09/koffice-kids-office.html] to be used
in school for kids.  Thomas Zander, the KWord lead developer,  made a
proof of concept of this using the infrastructure of KOffice 2
[http://labs.trolltech.com/blogs/2007/11/10/koffice-in-educational-settings/].
 This proved simpler than even Thomas would have believed, and KOffice
2.0 Alpha 5 now contains a first version of the KOffice for kids.  Note
that only the GUI is simplified, and that it still contains the full
power of KOffice. This means that it can save and load the OpenDocment
Format, which will make it easy to interact with other users of
OpenOffice.org or the full KOffice suite.
   Krita's Chinese Brush

III. NEW DRAWING TOOLS IN KRITA

     The Krita team is working hard to make Krita the best free pixel
based image editor in the world.  This version introduces so called 
Chinese Brushes
[http://www.valdyas.org/fading/index.cgi/hacking/krita/wacoms.comments]
and a new Path Tool.  It also now has all the filters that Krita 1.6 had
again, as well as a  first-cut implentation of on-canvas filter previews
[http://www.valdyas.org/fading/index.cgi/hacking/krita/livepreview.comments].


     More information about this release can be found in the full
announcement
[http://www.koffice.org/announcements/announce-2.0alpha5.php] or the
release notes.
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