OpenOffice.org 2.2 released

An updated version of the OpenOffice.org productivity suite has been released, adding better compatibility with Windows Vista, improvements in text display quality, and enhancements to PDF creation from applications.

OpenOffice.org 2.2, released at the end of March, includes a number of minor improvements to the open-source suite. It also addresses recently uncovered security flaws whereby users could have been attacked by getting them to open a specially created document or web site.

The new version makes use of some of the new features of Windows Vista, such as the platform's new file dialogs, while the PDF output capability in applications now supports the creation of bookmarks and support for user-definable export of form fields.

Users will see an improvement in text display in applications due to kerning in proportional fonts now being used by default, according to the OpenOffice.org Community.

In the individual applications, the Calc spreadsheet now has enhanced support for Microsoft Office file formats, such as improved support for Pivot Tables and specialised trigonometric functions. The Base database gets enhanced SQL editing capabilities, compatibility options for database drivers such as Oracle ODBC, plus a new Queries within Queries feature.

OpenOffice.org 2.2 is available immediately as a free download or on CD-ROM via some distributors.