OnlyOffice Desktop Editors might not be on your radar. You might assume there are only three major players in the office suite space: Office 365, Google Docs, and LibreOffice. However, there is another tool that I find to be as good (and even better in some ways) as the competition. That tool is OnlyOffice.
Also: This city is dumping Microsoft Office and Windows for OnlyOffice and Linux – here’s why
OnlyOffice has been around for a while but has mostly flown under the radar, which is a shame, because it’s an outstanding office suite option. One of my favorite aspects of the app is that it can be used locally, with a cloud instance of OnlyOffice, or both. I have, on several occasions, had one document open in the cloud and one opened locally — both at the same time in the same app.
That alone makes OnlyOffice worth the price of entry (which, by the way, is free).
What’s new in OnlyOffice version 9?
Recently, the team behind OnlyOffice released version 9, and along with that comes an important new addition: AI. Before you get confused, OnlyOffice already had an AI plugin, which allowed you to connect to both local and remote LLMs. With the release of version 9, the OnlyOffice AI can now help you with:
- Extract text from scanned PDF files.
- Apply smart formulas in spreadsheets.
- Run complex data analysis in spreadsheets.
- Create OnlyOffice macros based on prompts.
- Convert VBA macros to OnlyOffice macros.
For many, the most impressive feature will be the ability to create macros from a prompt. Macros are scripts that you would normally have to write by hand to do various things. For example, you could create a spreadsheet macro that generates a report with bar graphs for all columns that have numbers or one that surrounds formulas in selected cells by =IFERROR(,””):. Once you’ve created the macro, open your document, open the macro, and run it. Your report will then be generated and (hopefully) ready to use.
Also: How to add an email account to your OnlyOffice deployment
Typically, writing macros requires an understanding of JavaScript, but with OnlyOffice 9, you can now create that macro using human-readable language via the new AI feature. This is a remarkable feature that should save spreadsheet fans tons of time.
Creating macros for OnlyOffice isn’t nearly as difficult as it once was.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Yes, this feature is tricky to use because you have to be familiar enough with spreadsheets to know exactly what the macro should do.
AI makes OnlyOffice a powerful tool
When you combine the new AI features with the original, it really makes OnlyOffice a powerful tool. If you’re unfamiliar with the original AI features, they are:
- Use different LLM models for different tasks.
- Generate text, images, and code.
- Get answers to questions.
- Check spelling and grammar.
I’ve used the original OnlyOffice AI features (which you can read about here) and found them to be a stellar addition to the app.
Also: How to make LibreOffice look more like Microsoft Office
Along with the new AI additions, OnlyOffice 9 introduces a few more important features, such as:
- Markdown file format (.md) support.
- A new diagram viewer.
- A redesigned Start screen.
- Two new themes (Modern Light & Modern Dark).
- Drag-and-drop reordering of PDF pages.
- Asynchronous calculations for spreadsheets.
- Paragraph borders toolbar button in the document editor.
- Define font size type (for Simplified Chinese).
- Display numbers using Hindi numerals.
- TextArt text settings within chart labels.
- Improved data and chart customisations.
- Print files without using the system dialog.
If this has piqued your interest, download the OnlyOffice Desktop Editors app for your operating system of choice from the official download page.
Source: Robotics - zdnet.com
