LibreOffice 6.0 arrives!

With a bunch of tweaks, open source productivity suite LibreOffice has reached version 6.0. The release is nicely timed with the seventh anniversary celebrations of LibreOffice, a popular alternative to Microsoft Office. Updates for LibreOffice 6.0 are available across Windows, Linux and macOS, with cloud augmentation to allow users to work on the Web too.

The security features include experimental support of OpenPGP encryption (subject to compatible companion software) and document classification that allows multiple policies and signing/marking at a paragraph level. Version 6.0 of LibreOffice offers general spell-checking improvements, which can speed up the work of writers. Instead of the manual handling of hundreds of correct word forms of a new word in a language with rich morphology or compounding, the Hunspell spell-checker will recognise the new user dictionary word with affixes or in compounds, too, based on a ‘Grammar By’ model word.

The cloud version has been tweaked to further match the desktop edition with cell support in CALC raised to half a million, a ‘Save As’ feature for embedded images and a ‘Find and Replace’ dialogue box. For those who want to go under the hood, the source code for LibreOffice online is available as a Docker image. You can also import files from QuarkExpress.

For enterprises though, The Document Foundation suggests that, “LibreOffice 6.0 represents the bleeding edge in term of features for open source office suites, and as such, is targeted at technology enthusiasts, early adopters and power users.”

An improved Form menu has been added to LibreOffice 6.0 for designing forms, and there’s easier access to special characters – great for those of us that type ‘μ’ a lot. A version for Android is also in the works, scheduled for a spring release, which will, amongst other things, allow users to add photos from their phones directly into projects.