OnlyOffice – which is supposed to be styled ONLYOFFICE, but I find that a bit too shouty – is a free, open-source office suite for Windows, macOS and (of course) Linux.
Weirdly, for a suite with a fair bit of momentum gusto behind it, it’s not an app I’d heard of until now.
OnlyOffice 5.3 Released
OnlyOffice Desktop Editors are fully compatible with Office Open XML formats
The ‘OnlyOffice Desktop Editors’ is a set of three productivity apps moulded in the guise of their Microsoft Office analogs: Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
This mimicking is not inherently a bad thing; looking like the most popular office apps in the world means those who are used to them (i.e. many) can switch to a free alternative with less friction, and less re-learning.
The apps “[allow you] to create, view and edit documents stored on your Windows/Linux PC or Mac without an internet connection”, says the official website, adding that the suite is “fully compatible with Office Open XML formats: .docx, .xlsx, .pptx”.
If the line about editing documents ‘without an internet connection’ sticks out it’s because is is; OnlyOffice is also available as a deployable set of online office apps for enterprise, cloud and business users.
Offering both an online version (‘OnlyOffice Editors’) and a desktop version (‘OnlyOffice Desktop Editors’) means the distinction between the two is often blurred.
To be clear, this post is about an update to the version of OnlyOffice for the desktop.
New features in OnlyOffice 5.3
OnlyOffice Desktop Editors 5.3 brings a raft of recent improvements in the online editors to the desktop equivalents.
Features including:
Edit pictures (flip, rotate, etc) without plugins
Connect the desktop apps to cloud (OwnCloud, NextCloud, etc)
Save documents as
MS Office Open XML templates (DOTX, XLTX, and POTX),
OpenDocument templates (OTT, OTS, and OTP)
ISO-standardized PDF
Support for audio and video files in presentations
“Send” plugin to send documents via default mail client
Support for Chinese language
Toolbar button placement tweaks
