RSSChinese OpenOffice 4.0 beta takes design cues from Office 2007
By Tim Conneally | Published June 2, 2008, 12:48 PM
RedOffice, the suite of Office products based upon OpenOffice.org and optimized for Chinese users has received a new UI in its 4.0 beta.
Harkening to the famed Office 2007 ribbon interface, RedOffice's new UI has been designed to, as the group says, "provide a work area with a simple graphic interface, so that use is more concise and efficient."
While most versions of the Chinese office suite have provided a similar user experience to OpenOffice.org, the OpenOffice 3.0 beta which opened in May, and the RedOffice 4.0 beta have begun to take slightly divergent paths.
This screenshot shows how RedOffice takes cues from both Mac's OS X and Office 2007 by offering the "Red, Yellow, Green" Close, Minimize, and Fit to Screen buttons in the upper right hand corner, and by offering a template preview window in the left hand window similar to Office 2007's "Live Preview."
Some feel that this change could predict the future of OpenOffice's domestic product, with an improved UI being the next logical step. Meanwhile, others are noting the gradual speed decrease taking place in subsequent releases of OpenOffice products.
I think Lotus Symphony splits the difference and is better than both. Except for their fantastic cinema, the Chinese haven't had an original, creative thought in at least a thousand years. They are the world's biggest thieves.
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They just do the same things cheaper.
It's kinda like Apple doing the same things but better. Everyone complains Apple doesn't do anything original - but they still do it better. Likewise, the Chinese just figure out how to save money doing the same thing someone else did first.
Nothing wrong with progress, IMO. :p
Score: 1
You mean thieves like the British stealing from the Indians, and Chinese during the colonial days? Or the Americans and British enslaving Africans? Or the Spanish plundering the Mayans? Or perhaps you are just a bigot, plain and simple?
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WTF??? We didn't steal our slaves. We bought them from other Africans. Get your facts straight dipstick.
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Yup, the slave tradition in Africa has a grand tradition beginning far before the arrival of Europeans! And where would that market be without the acumen of the Muslim traders!
Just another product of the modern edumakashun sistim.
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I don't know what's funnier. The fact that this is called "RedOffice" or that they're stealing Microsoft's Office 2007 ribbon talking points.
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"RedOffice" is funnier!
The "stealing" is just being smart. The way I see it, if it works and makes the program better steal away. Besides, M$ and Apple has been stealing ideas from others forever.
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Is it smart though? A lot of people don't like the ribbon. I thought _not_ having it would be a good way to distinguish themselves from the latest MS Office variants.
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Many people might not like the ribbon right now. But 5 years from now these same people will say they can't live without it. With everything new it takes some time to get used to it. Just like the XP start menu, eventually everyone forgot the classic version.
So yeah, I do think it's smart.
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With everything new it takes some time to get used to it.
Exactly. I cannot stand working in 2000/2003 now. It's not so much the ribbon as the highlight pop-up, though. I need that. Being able to make commonly used format changes without having to go back up to the bar/ribbon has been huge.
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I still use the older interface, there are many things the newer one won't do, or won't let you do.
Sometimes older is better, if it works more efficiently.
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The one and only thing I miss (and miss terribly) is the tear-away menus for background, font color, and borders.
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