LibreOffice slips out another 7.0 beta: Spreadsheets close gap with Excel while macOS users treated to new icons
The Document Foundation has released a second beta of LibreOffice 7.0, with general availability expected at the beginning of August.
The LibreOffice release cycle brings a significant new build every six months, so this one is the follow-up to 6.4 in January. The major version number gets bumped every two or three years. The team follows a fixed schedule, arguing that: "Time-based release trains have been shown to produce the best quality Free software."
The initial major releases are intended for early adopters, with mainstream users invited to wait for a minor point release. The suite consists of five main applications: Writer, Calc, Draw, Impress (presentations) and Base (database). There is also LibreOffice Math, for working with mathematical formulas.
In this release Mac users get a new icon set, called Sukapura, which follows Apple's recommended colour palette as defined in its Human Interface Guidelines. This is now the default on the Mac and a big cosmetic improvement.
