LibreOffice 25.8 will be released as final on August, 20, 2025 (check the Release Plan). LibreOffice 25.8 Release Candidate 2 (RC2) brings us closer to the final version, which will be preceded by Release Candidate 3 (RC3). Check the release notes to find the new features included in this version of LibreOffice. LibreOffice 25.8 RC1 can be downloaded for Linux, macOS and Windows, and it will replace the standard installation. In case you find any problem in this pre-release, please report it in Bugzilla (you just need a legit email account in order to create a new account). For help, you can contact the QA Team directly in the QA IRC channel or via Matrix. LibreOffice is a volunteer-driven community project, so please help us to test, we appreciate your contribution! Happy testing!!!
Author: Italo Vignoli
Understanding ODF File Types: .odt, .ods, .odp, and Beyond
If you’ve ever wondered what those .odt, .ods, or .odp files are all about – or if you’ve stumbled across them and weren’t sure what to do – this post is for you. .odt: The Open Document Text File Think of .odt as the open counterpart to .docx. It’s the default file format for LibreOffice Writer. You can use it for everything from a quick grocery list to a dissertation. What’s great about .odt is that it’s built on open standards. That means anyone can build software to read or write it without jumping through legal hoops. It also means you’re not tied to one company’s ecosystem, which is increasingly important when you think about long-term access to your own data. Yes, you can open .odt files in Word – and yes, the formatting usually holds up pretty well. Not perfect, but usable. .ods: Spreadsheets Without Strings Attached Spreadsheets aren’t just for accountants anymore. Whether you’re managing a budget, tracking tasks, or planning a trip, you’re probably using rows and columns for something. .ods is the ODF version of .xlsx, and it’s handled by tools like LibreOffice Calc. If you’re used to Excel, Calc will feel familiar enough. Basic formulas,
An artificially complex XML schema as a lock-in tool
A document format is a tool for sharing knowledge and, as such, should be as simple and accessible as possible in relation to the complexity of the document content itself. This remains true even when the format is based on an XML schema that is hidden from users when the document is displayed on screen. Unfortunately, while an XML schema can be simple, it can also be unnecessarily complex, bloated, convoluted and difficult to implement without specific knowledge of its features. This is true even if the on-screen documents are identical. In this case, complexity is an intentional tactic used to lock users into a vendor, as is the case with the Microsoft 365 document format. An XML schema comprises the structure, data types and rules of an XML document and is described in an XML Schema Definition (XSD) file. This tells the PC what to expect and checks that the data follows the rules. In theory, XML and XSD together form the basis of the concept of interoperability. However, in practice, an XML schema can be made so complex that it becomes a barrier rather than a bridge. An “artificially complex” XML schema goes beyond the level of complexity
The Document Foundation announces LibreOffice 25.2.5
LibreOffice 24.8 has now reached the end of life, so all users have to update their free office suite to the latest release Berlin, 17 July 2025 – The Document Foundation announces the release of LibreOffice 25.2.5, the fifth maintenance release of the LibreOffice 25.2 family for Windows (Intel, AMD and ARM), macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux OSs, available for download at www.libreoffice.org/download [1]. LibreOffice 24.8 has reached the end of life, which means that this release – which includes dozen of fixes and enhancements that further improve reliability, performance and interoperability – is suggested for production environments, and all users should update their installation as soon as possible. LibreOffice 25.2.5 is based on the LibreOffice Technology, which enables the development of desktop, mobile and cloud versions – either from TDF or from the ecosystem – that fully support the two ISO standards for document formats: the open ODF or Open Document Format (ODT, ODS and ODP) and the closed and proprietary Microsoft OOXML (DOCX, XLSX and PPTX). Products based on the LibreOffice Technology are available for all major desktop operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS), mobile platforms (Android and iOS) and the cloud. For enterprise-class deployments,
The Role of XML in Interoperability
When different systems, applications or organisations need to communicate with each other and actually understand what is being said, interoperability is key. It enables a hospital’s software to communicate with an insurance company, for example, or one vendor’s inventory system to synchronise with another’s logistics platform. At the heart of many of these data exchanges is XML. XML (Extensible Markup Language) may not be new or flashy, but it remains one of the most powerful tools for achieving reliable, structured interoperability across diverse platforms. Why is interoperability so hard? Systems are built using different programming languages, data models and communication protocols. Without a shared format or structure, exchanging data can result in a complex web of custom APIs, ad hoc conversions, and manual adjustments. To get systems working together seamlessly, you need: A standardised structure for data. A way to validate that structure. A format that is language-agnostic and platform-neutral. XML ticks all these boxes. How XML enables interoperability 1. Self-describing structure XML uses tags to clearly label data: <customer> <name>Maria Ortega</name> <id>87234</id> </customer> This means that a receiving system doesn’t have to guess what each field means, as it is explicitly defined. This reduces the risk of
Danish Ministry switching from Microsoft Office/365 to LibreOffice
Following the example of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which is moving 30,000 PCs from Microsoft Office/365 to LibreOffice, the Danish Ministry of Digitalisation is doing the same. Caroline Stage Olsen, the country’s Digitalisation Minister, plans to move half of the employees to LibreOffice over the summer, and if all goes as expected, the entire Ministry will be free from Microsoft Office/365 later in the year. In a LinkedIn post, Olsen summarised the reasons for switching to LibreOffice: We must never make ourselves so dependent on so few that we can no longer act freely. Because far too much public digital infrastructure is today tied up with very few foreign suppliers. This makes us vulnerable. Also financially. That is why we are now testing in parallel at the Ministry of Digitization how it works in practice when we work with open source solutions. Several municipalities are doing the same. Not because we think it’s easy – but because we know it’s necessary to lead the way if we want to create more competition and innovation – and reduce our dependence on the few. We in the LibreOffice project welcome this move, and look forward to seeing more governments and organisations
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