The Document Foundation has officially launched LibreOffice 24.8, which is now available for download for Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms. It introduces a plethora of enhancements and interoperability improvements. Here they are.
LibreOffice 24.8 Highlights
Central to LibreOffice 24.8 is the LibreOffice Technology engine, which supports the suite’s desktop, mobile, and cloud versions. This unified platform enables the production of consistent and interoperable documents according to ISO standards like ODT and the proprietary Microsoft OOXML formats.
Now, let’s look at the improvements made to the individual apps in the new version of this great office suite.
Writer: Streamlined UI and Advanced Hyphenation
LibreOffice Writer has received several updates that enhance its usability and functionality.
The user interface now offers improved handling of formatting characters, a more adjustable comments panel, and easier bullet selection. Additionally, a new dialog for managing hyperlinks and a “Find” deck in the sidebar simplify document navigation and editing.
Users can now add cross-references in the Navigator by dragging and dropping items. New capabilities for deleting footnotes and endnotes and indicating images with broken links make document management more intuitive.
Furthermore, hyphenation has been refined with a new contextual menu that allows users to exclude specific words from hyphenation.
The feature now also supports hyphenation across columns, pages, or spreads and even within compound words, offering greater control over text layout.
Calc: Enhanced Functions and Performance
Calc, LibreOfficeโs spreadsheet application, has seen significant upgrades, including the addition of powerful new functions such as FILTER, LET, RANDARRAY, SEQUENCE, SORT, SORTBY, UNIQUE, XLOOKUP, and XMATCH. These functions expand Calc’s analytical capabilities, enabling more complex data manipulation.
Performance has also been improved, particularly with threaded calculations and optimized redraws after cell changes, which now refresh only the necessary area.
The cell focus rectangle has been repositioned to provide better visual clarity, and comments can now be edited or deleted directly from the Navigatorโs right-click menu, streamlining the review process.
Impress & Draw: Smoother Navigation and Real-Time Updates
In Impress and Draw, users can now enjoy a more fluid experience when navigating slides. In Normal view, scrolling between slides is more seamless, and the Notes pane is collapsible, allowing for better organization during presentations.
A notable improvement in this release is the real-time updating of running slideshows. Any changes made in EditView or PresenterConsole are immediately reflected in the slideshow, even when displayed on different screens. This ensures that presenters can make last-minute adjustments without interrupting the flow of their presentations.
Chart: New Chart Types and Text Formatting Options
The Chart module has introduced two new chart types, โPie-of-Pieโ and โBar-of-Pie,โ which allow users to break down a slice of a pie chart into a secondary pie or bar chart.
This addition also enhances compatibility with Microsoft Office, as charts created in OOXML files can now be imported with these features intact.
Moreover, text within chart titles, text boxes, and shapes can now be individually formatted using the Character dialog, giving users greater control over the appearance of their charts.
Other LibreOffice 24.8 Improvements
Accessibility has been improved with better management of formatting options that screen readers can now accurately announce, making LibreOffice more inclusive for users with disabilities.
For new users, the “Getting Started Guide” is immediately available for download, providing valuable resources for mastering this suite. Additionally, first-level support is readily accessible via volunteer-led mailing lists and the Ask LibreOffice website.
Visit the release notes for more details on the new features and improvements. LibreOffice 24.8 can be downloaded from the projectโs website’s download section.
