KOffice, KDE’s desktop application suite, is an open source project aimed at producing a complete desktop suite. Some of the most prominent KOffice components are:
KWord, a word processor
KSpread, a spreadsheet application
KPresenter, a presentation graphics application
KChart, an application for producing charts and graphs
If you selected the KDE desktop during system installation, the installation program should have installed KOffice. However, you can install KOffice manually. To do so, use the RPM Package Manager, as explained in Chapter 10.
The standard KDE panel includes icons that launch popular KOffice applications. KOffice applications also appear on the KDE menu; select Main Menu → Office to view them.
Perhaps the most convenient way to use KOffice is via the KOffice Workspace, which you can launch from the KDE menu.
Figure 6-10 shows the KOffice Workspace, which provides icons for KOffice along its left side. It also supports drag-and-drop operations among KOffice applications.
To launch a KOffice application, click the corresponding icon. Figure 6-11 shows KWord’s main screen, which appears if you click the KWord icon. Notwithstanding its relatively weak support for import and export, KWord is a sophisticated and easy-to-use word processor.
Unlike most word processors, KWord is frame-oriented rather than page-oriented. Adobe PageMaker and some other desktop publishing applications share this characteristic. In a frame-oriented application, text fills frames and can be directed to flow from one frame to another. Frames make it easy to construct multicolumn layouts that contain pictures or graphics that interrupt the flow of text.
KWord also supports familiar word processing features such as numbered paragraphs, indents, page headers and footers, tables, footnotes, and endnotes. Some functions, such as tab settings, are not yet fully operational.
Figure 6-12 shows KSpread, the KOffice spreadsheet application. Like Gnumeric, KSpread’s functionality and user interface resemble those of Microsoft Excel. KSpread is in a quite preliminary state of development. Its web page (http://www.koffice.org/kspread) does not yet include a description or list of features.
Figure 6-13 shows KPresenter, KOffice’s presentation graphics application. The functions provided by KPresenter resemble those of Microsoft PowerPoint. However, KPresenter is still in beta release; therefore, many functions remain to be implemented. For example, it cannot yet import or export PowerPoint files or those of other popular presentation graphics applications. The program does support text as well as graphics objects in popular formats including BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, PNM, WMF, XBM, and XPM. And it can produce an HTML slide show version of a presentation. Based on the capabilities and quality of the beta release, the full release may prove to be a useful application.
