Differences between LibreOffice 3.3 and 3.4

users
#1

Recently, we've started the second phase of our company-wide migration from OpenOffice.org 3.2 to 3.3 and have encountered massive problems on our Linux terminal servers. They were so big that we've decided to put the project on hold for now and start looking for alternatives. Obviously, LibreOffice is our #1 choice here. However, even though I've been browsing the LO website for two days now I am unable to decide whether 3.3 or 3.4 would be better for us. As far as I can see they are both recommended for enterprise use in production environments but what I'm missing is a clear marketing-bubble free technical comparison. Does that exist? Or maybe an overview over what (enterprise-related) features 3.4 might have that 3.3 doesn't?

Thanks in advance,
  Martin

#2

Go for 3.4 period

#3

Assuming you already read this

http://www.libreoffice.org/download/3-4-new-features-and-fixes/
and this
http://www.libreoffice.org/download/new-features-and-fixes/

the general recommendation is that you get the latest version i.e. 3.4.x

The reason both versions are available is that because of the massive code
changes, some regressions occurred. The majority of the significant
regressions have already been fixed but some may have remained.

If you find that features that used to work for you in OpenOffice 3.2 no
longer work in 3.4.x it is likely that you are better off with LO 3.3.x
(which is closer to the OOo code).

If none of them works as expected, then you should insist on the 3.4.x and
by reporting your problems, help the project move into a better future :slight_smile:

#4

Pedro, thank you. The problem is that as an enterprise that sees IT as tertiary means of production (as opposed to technology-driven enterprises such as Google or Microsoft) we're extremely conservative when it comes to software. The latest and greatest is never our first choice, and features are a distant fourth to stability, reliability, and dependability. Right now I'm leaning towards the well-established and therefore more stable 3.3 release tomsave myself the hassle of new features and thus also new bugs.

Is there a simple comparison between 3.3 and 3.4 that shows what 3.4 is capable of that 3.3 isn't? Maybe there's something we really need but don't know yet. Something that'd be worth the extra work and effort necessary to deploy 3.4 instead of 3.3? Right now it's more like a clusterf*ck of two separate feature sets with no easy way of comparison.

Thanks,
  Martin

#5

The 3.3.x line will be ending with 3.3.5, and 3.4.x will end with 3.4.5. Before that happens, the 3.5.x line will start.

What happens is the newest "line" is used as the "most cutting edge" for its first few versions. Once it gets past 3.x.3, it starts being stable for businesses and "enterprise" use. The initial "cutting edge" options have most of their bugs fixed and it becomes the "default" version people will start using.

You could use 3.3.4, but for the best ability and options, you need to go to 3.4.3 or 3.4.4 [with 3.4.4 just coming out] I use both. These versions read and write the Microsoft Office .docx and the other "x" file formats better than the 3.3.x line, or at least in my opinion.

Soon 3.5.x will come out for those who want to have the "most cutting edge" version of LibreOffice. For businesses, I would stick with 3.4.4, or 3.3.4 but would prefer to have the 3.4.x line being used.

If you want to use 3.4.3, since 3.4.4 just came out http://download.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/old/ holds the past versions. As I said, I use both 3.4.3 and 3.4.4. Actually the 3.4.3 version is still on my Ubuntu desktop since I have not updated it yet. My Windows laptop, and a few other Windows machines, have all been updated to 3.4.4.

#6

Martin Jungowski wrote:

The latest and greatest is never our first
choice, and features are a distant fourth to stability, reliability, and
dependability. Right now I'm leaning towards the well-established and
therefore more stable 3.3 release tomsave myself the hassle of new
features and thus also new bugs.

I see your point. And since TDF did not release any 3.3.5 changes (i.e. no
fixes were backported) it must mean that any bugs that affected line 3.3.x
must be solved (or they weren't detected meanwhile...)

If version 3.2 had all the features you needed, then I agree you are better
off with 3.3.x

Martin Jungowski wrote:

Is there a simple comparison between 3.3 and 3.4 that shows what 3.4 is
capable of that 3.3 isn't? Maybe there's something we really need but
don't know yet. Something that'd be worth the extra work and effort
necessary to deploy 3.4 instead of 3.3? Right now it's more like a
clusterf*ck of two separate feature sets with no easy way of comparison.

The simple answer is no. There isn't such a clear cut table . I guess that's
what separates a big company with a Marketing department and a group of well
intentioned people with no commercial vision :slight_smile:

What Office modules/functions does your company use? All? Mainly Write? Do
you use Microsoft formats to exchange documents with other companies? Do you
use Office 2007/2010 Open XML i.e. OOXML formats? Do you produce leaflets in
Draw? Do you use SVG vector art? This kind of information would help in
advising you...

#7

Hi Martin,

Martin Jungowski wrote (18-11-11 15:13)

Pedro, thank you. The problem is that as an enterprise that sees IT as
tertiary means of production (as opposed to technology-driven
enterprises such as Google or Microsoft) we're extremely conservative
when it comes to software.

Very understandable.

The latest and greatest is never our first choice, and features
are a distant fourth to stability, reliability, and dependability.

There also are quite some improvements in 3.4.x regarding stability, reliability, speed, interoperability. It's not at all only about features!

Right now I'm leaning towards the well-established and
therefore more stable 3.3 release tomsave myself the hassle of new
features and thus also new bugs.

There will be some new, but as explained most important have been solved.
And older ones have been solved.
This container issue tells about 3.4 fixes:
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35673

Is there a simple comparison between 3.3 and 3.4 that shows what 3.4 is
capable of that 3.3 isn't? Maybe there's something we really need but
don't know yet.

Well, the pages that Pedro pointed to.

Something that'd be worth the extra work and effort
necessary to deploy 3.4 instead of 3.3?

The whole point in a relatively long support for 3.3.x, is that we do not want to force companies to change to a new minor version fast. Therefore the bug fix releases were made.

But when you start now, it will be just as easy to start with 3.4.x.
And in a month or two, there will be the 3.4.5
See wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleasePlan

Right now it's more like a
clusterf*ck of two separate feature sets with no easy way of comparison.

What might be very advisable, if you work for a company, is to consider a support contract. That will provide you with the certainty of attention for your needs, and thus when relevant needed fixes. On the other side for a amount of money that is very modest compared to the other choice, you will add value to the future, this sustainability and improvement of the software of your choice :slight_smile:

Kind regards,

#8

3.4.X is better at handling MSO msox formats than 3.3.X. Because external users may send say a docx or xslx file to your users I recommend using 3.4.3/4. Both are lines are considered ready for enterprise users - 3.4.X since 3.4.3.

#9

Since we have somewhere between 1.500 and 2.000 users I'd say pretty much most of it :wink:
Compatibility with MSOOXML is a big thing though, and it was the main reason why we started looking at OOo 3.3.0 in the first place. I've learned that MS OOXML compatibility was significantly improved with 3.4 and am going to take a closer look at it now.

Best,
  Martin

#10

That I would consider a show stopper for 3.3, thank you Jay. The only reason, why we started deploying OpenOffice.org 3.3 in the first place, was improved compatibility with MSOOXML. I'll ask some users for documents that they were unable to open in OOo 3.2 and see how LibO 3.3 and 3.4 handle them.

Thanks,
  Martin

#11

Martin Jungowski wrote:

The latest and greatest is never our first
choice, and features are a distant fourth to stability, reliability, and
dependability. Right now I'm leaning towards the well-established and
therefore more stable 3.3 release tomsave myself the hassle of new
features and thus also new bugs.

I see your point. And since TDF did not release any 3.3.5 changes (i.e. no
fixes were backported) it must mean that any bugs that affected line 3.3.x
must be solved (or they weren't detected meanwhile...)

If version 3.2 had all the features you needed, then I agree you are better
off with 3.3.x

There is no LibreOffice 3.2.x versions. OOo had one but LO started with 3.3.0 as their first version in January.

Version 3.3.5 has not come out yet, and it looks like it is now being "skipped".
      see http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleasePlan

3.4.5 is scheduled for Jan 11th 2012. [last of the 3.4.x line]

3.5.0 is scheduled for Feb 8th 2012. [3.5.6 - out Oct 17th 2012 as the last of that line]

3.6.0 is scheduled for Aug 1st 2012.

3.7.0 is scheduled for Feb 6th 2013.

Martin Jungowski wrote:

Is there a simple comparison between 3.3 and 3.4 that shows what 3.4 is
capable of that 3.3 isn't? Maybe there's something we really need but
don't know yet. Something that'd be worth the extra work and effort
necessary to deploy 3.4 instead of 3.3? Right now it's more like a
clusterf*ck of two separate feature sets with no easy way of comparison.

The simple answer is no. There isn't such a clear cut table . I guess that's
what separates a big company with a Marketing department and a group of well
intentioned people with no commercial vision :slight_smile:

What Office modules/functions does your company use? All? Mainly Write? Do
you use Microsoft formats to exchange documents with other companies? Do you
use Office 2007/2010 Open XML i.e. OOXML formats? Do you produce leaflets in
Draw? Do you use SVG vector art? This kind of information would help in
advising you...

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As far as I have seen, 3.4.3 seemed to open my .docx files a little better than 3.3.3 or 3.3.4. But that may be subjective on my part. As far as I am concerned, 3.4.3 or 3.4.4 would work well for any business and I would give the businesses I deal with a copy of my 3.4.4 DVD, when I make it. I have given out my 3.4.3 DVD to many businesses so far as either a new version to replace the one I have already given them, or as their first version of LibreOffice.

As the above text asks, it would be helpful to know what your users would be doing with LibreOffice. Since you did state something about already having them use OOo 3.2.x, their move to LibreOffice would easy as the current menu interface [non-Unity desktop users] is mostly the same as OOo 3.2.x. I went from OOo to LibreOffice in February when I first heard of LibreOffice. I did not find anything different than what I was using with OOo, for menu structures and such, but did find that LibreOffice had more options and functions included than my last used version of OOo. Now that LO is so much beyond what OOo was, LO is my only choice for a MS Office alternative. It is my only choice now since I use a Linux desktop as my primary system. I had MSO 2003 installed with OOo when I was using Windows on my primary system till I bought this system in Feb 2010. Then I switched over to all open-source software whether I was using my Ubuntu 10.04 LTS system or my XP or Vista systems. I find that if I have MSO and LO installed on my loan-out systems, most people seem to choose LO instead of MSO when I tell them I prefer LO. I have an old Compaq system I am getting ready for loaning to a lady who is in her early 70's and she tell me that Writer is just what she needs, and she makes a face when I ask her about Word.

So in your business, I would go with 3.4.3 or 3.4.4 over 3.3.4, but you can download them and try each of them on your system to decide which one works the best for your needs and your users' needs. I gave you 3.4.3, since some people do not like to install a version that "just came out a few weeks ago". Just like I would not recommend a software version that ends with ".0" if there is scheduled release of ".1" coming out in a month or two.

slightly off topic:
What languages do your users need to use?
Localized English - American, British, Oxford, Canadian, or other version?
Localized Spanish - Cuba, Spain, Argentina, Mexican, etc.?

There are over 180 different spell-checking dictionaries, thesaurus [included or separate ones] available. Here is a link to the largest list for LO [till LO gets them all in their Extension Center] http://libreoffice-na.us/English-3.4-installs/dictionary.html
For English [American, British, or Canadian] you can find different version of these localized dictionaries with special version for Chemistry, Medical, "popular" names, etc., or ones with spelling word lists up to 638,000+ words and thesauruses that have over 140,000 words and phrases indexed for look-ups.

Although some of the dictionaries are no longer maintained, hopefully those that are will be added to the LO Extension Center soon. http://extensions.libreoffice.org/extension-center and the same for the Template Center http://templates.libreoffice.org/template-center . There are so many extensions that are useful to anyone who works with documents, from text to spreadsheets. For myself, I always install

Language Tool
http://extensions.libreoffice.org/extension-center/languagetool

Linguist
http://extensions.libreoffice.org/extension-center/linguist

Pagination
http://libreoffice-na.us/English-3.4-installs/add-ons-extensions/Pagination-1.3.10.oxt

Writer Extras
http://libreoffice-na.us/English-3.4-installs/add-ons-extensions/writerextras-0.3.0/WriterExtras.oxt

Writer Tools
http://libreoffice-na.us/English-3.4-installs/add-ons-extensions/writertools-1.9.1/WriterTools.oxt

plus the galleries of images and templates that are out there in the Extension Center, and Template Center, plus other places like:
http://libreoffice-na.us/English-3.4-installs/artwork.html

http://libreoffice-na.us/English-3.4-installs/templates.html

PLUS, the complete set of documentation that LO has to offer, either in .odt/.pdf form or printed form from Lulu.com.
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation
http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/

#12

Go for 3.4 period

Unless of course these samples of bugs affect you:

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=42684
[FILEOPEN very slow, network/dns related, it takes about 15 minutes]
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=42639
[EDITING: Writer crashes on copy and pasting]
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=38310
[Text (.txt) files by default open in Calc]
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=32948
[Address Book Data Source Wizard Doesn't Work]

#13

NoOp wrote (18-11-11 22:39)

Unless of course these samples of bugs affect you:

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=42684
[FILEOPEN very slow, network/dns related, it takes about 15 minutes]

Added to #fdo35673 - most annoying 3.4.x bugs

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=42639
[EDITING: Writer crashes on copy and pasting]

Very exceptional document apparently..
See my comments in the bug.

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=38310
[Text (.txt) files by default open in Calc]

No problem for me.

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=32948
[Address Book Data Source Wizard Doesn't Work]

Cannot reproduce that either.

Best,

#14

Thank Cor, I'll retest this weekend.

Gary

#15

Hi Gary,

NoOp wrote (19-11-11 01:53)

Thank Cor, I'll retest this weekend.

Thanks!
It was not meant as nitpicking that I jumped in the issues after your post. Sorry.
But as you know, time to look at all the issues that deserve attention, does not work often. So an extra trigger - like your mail - is helpful :wink:
Plus that I had fdo#42684 in sight already some time, and I hope that now some devs can have a look at it.

Cheers,

#16

Hi Gary,

NoOp wrote (19-11-11 01:53)

Thank Cor, I'll retest this weekend.

Thanks!
It was not meant as nitpicking that I jumped in the issues after your
post. Sorry.

Quite the opposite, I very much appreciate that you took the time to
look & test. The more folks that do, and do test the better. :slight_smile:

#17

I run 3.3.4 on all our business machines and latest production 3.4 line
on my laptop for testing. To date I am not confident to roll out the 3.4
line. Although MSX compatibility is improved the regressions are too
much of a detriment. This might all change in a month or so, and it
might not. So I keep monitoring what is important in our business.
Steve

#18

It will be interesting to know what constitutes a regression in this case. I use 3.4.x on my business machines.

#19

Onyeibo Oku-2 wrote:

It will be interesting to know what constitutes a regression in this case.
I use 3.4.x on my business machines.

A regression is something that worked correctly in a previous version and
stopped working or is no longer working as expected in a later version due
to code changes.

Here is an example of a regression
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=36982

It might not make any difference to your business if you don't use
equations...

If you do, this is a major blocker because it causes data loss :wink:

#20

Hi Gary,

NoOp wrote (19-11-11 01:53)

Thank Cor, I'll retest this weekend.

Didn't get to it this weekend; too much on the TV: America's Cup World
Series San Diego, Stanford vs Cal Big Game, etc, etc. I'll try to get to
them in the next few days. :wink: