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Alpha alert: OpenOffice.org for Mac

Programmers release an early but incomplete and crash-prone version of the open-source office suite for Mac OS X's native Aqua interface.

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Stephen Shankland principal writer
Stephen Shankland has been a reporter at CNET since 1998 and writes about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
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  • I've been covering the technology industry for 24 years and was a science writer for five years before that. I've got deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and other dee
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Stephen Shankland

OpenOffice.org programmers have released a very rough version of the open-source office suite that runs natively on Mac OS X.

An alpha version of OpenOffice.org for Mac OS X's native Aqua interface is available OpenOffice.org

The Microsoft Office competitor works on Linux and Unix systems using the X11 graphical interface, but the new version uses Apple's native Aqua interface.

It's alpha software, though. "This software may crash and may destroy your data. Do not use this software for real work in a production environment," the download site warns. And there are serious issues yet to be addressed: it can't print, copy and paste aren't fully functioning, and the software crashes after quitting.