Have you ever wanted to run Libre Office in a web browser? With this new software you can! Introducing Open365. It is, in short, the entire Libre Office suite in the browser. The project is attempting to be an open alternative to Microsoft’s online office suite (Microsoft Office in the browser) Office365.
The reason for Open365 is an understandable one: there currently isn’t any totally open office suite for the Web. Sure, you have Office365, and even Google Docs, but this isn’t good enough when looking through the lens of free and open source software.
Usage
Using Open365 is very simple. To start, just head to this page, and register an account. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be prompted to download a program. It’ll change depending on your platform.
This program isn’t necessary for using the service, but you should install it anyway. Without it, uploading documents might be significantly less convenient.
With your sync client installed and your account registered, it’s time to use Open365! If you want to create a document, just click the cloud button at the top of the page. From there you’ll be able to choose from Writer, Calc and Impress.
Along with the office options in the cloud menu, it’s possible to go to the Hub section to manage your uploaded files, send mail, check mail, and file sync if you’re looking to download the sync client again.
What makes Open365 special?
If you’ve ever used Libre Office Writer or any of its other office tools, you know what to expect. Signing up for Open365 gets you about 20 GiB of storage space. This storage space encompasses any documents you create on the service.
The service isn’t just a fancy web app though. You’ll actually be required to install some software on your system. This software comes in the form of a document syncing client. If you’re looking to upload some document files to the Open365 system, you can easily do this right from your desktop.
Open365 is very impressive in more than a few ways. It supports a multitude of document formats including ones that comply to open standards. Along with that, it is running as a regular Linux desktop application inside a web browser. It’s not a butchered version of Libre Office. Not at all. Instead, it’s had some stuff laid over the top and been optimized.
Along with document formats and the incredible technology behind it all, there are other very compelling features as well such as encryption, document sharing, collaboration, folder organization.
Conclusion
Though we have a few choices for online office suites, none of them are truly open source. That’s why I’m very excited about Open365. It ushers in a totally new way to think about applications on the web, and I can’t wait to see what the developers do with it next.
What do you think about running Libre Office in a web browser? Is it feasible? Tell us why below!
Derrik Diener is a freelance technology blogger.
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