Now understand - this is the most beta-ey of beta software, so don't get a hankering to go grab it & install it yourself unless you're in the mood for some pain. With that warning, this article at The Inquirer reviews the upcoming release, which I cannot wait for! Oh, and there's screenshots too!

This version touts better MS-Office loading and parsing, strict XML compliant output, a new database program that mimics Microsoft's Access, and much more. It's available for 32-bit Windows, Linux (x86), Sun Solaris x86, and the traditional Solaris for Sparc.

Excellent - all good new features.

Load speed is one area worth noting because of the improvements over previous releases. Launching the Office Suite installed on winXP Home SP2, with the program's "Quick Starter" feature disabled, produced the following results: OpenOffice Writer loaded in 10 seconds. The Spreadsheet (OO Calc) in 11 seconds. The Powerpoint-like presentations module (Impress): 9 seconds. OO Base (a new database program): 5 seconds. With Quick Starter enabled: OO Write: 3 seconds. OO Calc: 7.5 seconds. OO Impress: 6 seconds. OO Base: 2 seconds.

OMG - thank you! Faster load times is key. Thank you thank you thank you. And note that this is WITHOUT QuickStart turned on.

Also included is a user friendly database application dubbed "OpenOffice Base" which allows you to effortlessly create both databases, queries and reports using helpful "wizards".

One less thing for MSFT Office users to complain about. Now we're getting closer to Access (which I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole, but I know a lot of folks have to use it.).

(Don't forget - if you want to learn more about what's coming up in OOo 2.0, read the OpenOffice.org 2.0 Office Suite Guide to New Features.)