Version 3.0 of the free open-source software -- which integrates word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, formula and database capabilities -- is now available for download for Windows, Mac and Linux computers.

"With 3.0, the application is more interoperable with MS Office, more capable, more extensible," said Louis Suárez-Potts, community manager of OpenOffice.org. "It frees the desktop from vendor lock-in."

Reducing Feature Bloat

OpenOffice 3.0 features a number of improvements that should appeal to users of past suites, as well as anyone thinking about making the change from Microsoft Office. For example, the suite can now open files created with Microsoft Office 2007 or Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac OS X.

The new software suite also smooths the way for making better use of Visual Basic for Applications macros, and even supports Microsoft Access 2007 .accdb files. And it is fully compatible with the latest ISO document standard known as Open Document Format 1.2, which is being being mandated for use in a growing number of countries.

OpenOffice 3.0 even makes it easier for anyone to participate in the new Web 2.0 world without having to learn and master esoteric web languages such as XHTML and MediaWiki, said John McCreesh, OpenOffice.org marketing project lead. "Users can create Web and Wiki documents straight from Writer," he explained.

To reduce the feature bloat commonly encountered in Microsoft Office and other productivity suites, OpenOffice.org has elected to relegate a number of supplemental functions to its online-extensions repository. Even more capabilities are available from third-party developers, including an Impress presenter console, support for business analytics, PDF import, and the creation of Hybrid PDF documents.

Sliding Zoom Control

OpenOffice.org struggled Tuesday to keep up with the dizzying pace of worldwide download requests. However, I was able to download and install the suite with a minimum of fuss.

OpenOffice 3.0 sports a flashier user interface featuring a more graphic-intensive start center, a splash screen, and a colorful icon refresh. The Writer application in OpenOffice 3.0 now features a slider control in the bottom right corner of the display window for zooming, which will even enable multipage displays while editing.

Writer's latest language-selector tool gives users the ability to assign a different language to individual paragraphs other than the language assigned to the overall document. This makes editing and spell-checking of documents in multiple languages a much less onerous task.

What's more, Writer aficionados finally have more control over the way that selected Web content is displayed within the text-editing program. By using the Ctrl-Shift-V command, the user gains the option of pasting content into the program in a standard HTML format, as HTML without comments, or just plain old unformatted text.

On the Spreadsheet side, the application has been expanded from 256 columns to 1024 columns per sheet. Also on tap: A new Solver tool that will allow users to calculate the optimum value of a particular spreadsheet cell based on constraints provided in other cells.

OpenOffice 3.0 also now allows multiple users to collaborate on spreadsheets. Even better, the suite's PDF export feature now features a far wider set of formatting and security options.