and organize text documents. If you are accustomed to using Microsoft
Word, the functionality of LibreOffice Writer will be familiar to you.
Calc—This spreadsheet program enables you to manipulate numbers in a
spreadsheet format. Support for all but the most esoteric Microsoft Excel
functions means that trading spreadsheets with Excel users should be
successful. Calc offers some limited compatibility with Excel macros,
but those macros generally have to be rewritten.
Impress—This presentation program, which is similar to Microsoft
PowerPoint, enables you to create slideshow presentations that include
graphs, diagrams, and other graphics. Impress also works well with most
PowerPoint files.NOTE
The following five applications are not included by default with Ubuntu but
are quite useful. All but Dia are a part of the LibreOffice project and add
features to the suite that are not used as often as those Ubuntu installs by
default. You must install them from the Ubuntu repositories if you want or
require their functionality.
Math—This math formula editor enables you to write mathematical
formulas with a number of math fonts and symbols for inclusion in a
word processing document. Such symbols are highly specialized and not
easily included in the basic functionality of a word processor. This is of
interest primarily to math and science writers, but Math can be useful to
anyone who needs to include a complex formula in text.
Base—This is a fully functional database application.
Draw—This graphics application allows you to create images for
inclusion in the documents produced with LibreOffice. It saves files only
in LibreOffice format, but it can import most common image formats.
Dia—This technical drawing editor enables you to create measured
drawings, such as those used by architects and engineers. Its
functionality is similar to that of Microsoft Visio.
Planner—You can use this project management application for project
planning, scheduling, and tracking; this application is similar to, but not
compatible with, Microsoft Project. After you install it, you will find it
under the name Project Management.A BRIEF HISTORY OF LIBREOFFICE
LibreOffice started as a fork of the OpenOffice.org office suite. The
OpenOffice.org office suite is based on a commercial suite called