LibreOffice 6.4 is now available as a free office suite from The Document Foundation. This major new version offers improved performance, particularly when opening and saving spreadsheets and presentations, along with excellent compatibility with DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX files.
LibreOffice provides the highest level of compatibility in the field of office suites, starting from native support for the Open Document Format (ODF) - with security features and interoperability superior to proprietary formats - to nearly perfect support for DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX files. Additionally, LibreOffice includes filters for numerous legacy document formats and, as such, is the best interoperability tool on the market.
For a free download of LibreOffice, visit this link.
LibreOffice 6.4 new features
Moreover, the new version offers some exciting features [1]:
The following overview summarizes the main improvements mentioned for LibreOffice 6.4. These changes concern the suite in general and several modules, including Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, and LibreOffice Online.
GENERAL
Application icons have been added to document thumbnails in the Start Center, making it easier to recognize different types of documents.
A QR code generator has been added to the suite, making it easier to add QR codes - which can be scanned by mobile devices - to documents.
The context menus for hyperlinks have been unified across the suite and now offer the following menu entries: Open Hyperlink, Edit Hyperlink, Copy Hyperlink Location, and Remove Hyperlink.
The new auto-redaction feature allows sensitive or classified data in a document to be concealed based on text or regular expression matches.
The help system provides faster and more accurate search results, while many help pages include localized screenshots for a better user experience.
These general changes are designed to make everyday document work clearer. For example, document thumbnails are easier to identify in the Start Center, QR codes can be inserted directly into files, and hyperlink actions are grouped in a consistent context menu across the suite.
WRITER
A Table panel has been added to the sidebar.
Comments can now be marked as resolved. Additionally, it is now possible to add comments to images and charts within text documents.
The cut, copy, and paste functions for tables have been improved, with a new "Paste as Nested Table" option in the Special Paste menu.
In Writer, these additions help users manage structured text documents. The Table panel gives faster access to table options, while resolved comments make document review easier to follow. The ability to comment on images and charts also supports clearer feedback when reviewing illustrated documents.
CALC
Spreadsheets can be exported to a single PDF page, allowing for an overview of all content without being spread across multiple pages.
In Calc, exporting a spreadsheet to a single PDF page can be useful when users need a compact overview of a sheet. This helps when sharing a spreadsheet layout or checking all content in one exported file.
IMPRESS & DRAW
In the Shape menu, a new option called 'Consolidate Text' combines multiple selected text boxes into one. This is useful when importing a PDF with text content split across multiple boxes.
In Impress and Draw, the 'Consolidate Text' option helps simplify text editing after importing PDF content. Instead of editing several separate text boxes, users can combine selected boxes into one.
LIBREOFFICE ONLINE
In Writer, table properties can be easily modified from the sidebar, and the Table of Contents document can be fully managed by users.
In Calc, the Function Wizard now offers complete functionality and a wide range of options for selected charts has been added to the spreadsheet sidebar.
LibreOffice Online also receives improvements for working with text documents and spreadsheets. Writer users can modify table properties from the sidebar and manage the Table of Contents. Calc users can access the complete Function Wizard and more chart options from the spreadsheet sidebar.
LibreOffice 6.4 in 2020
LibreOffice 6.4 is the first new version available in 2020. Throughout the year, the community will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the best free office suite of all time during various free and open-source software (FOSS) events across Europe, Africa, Asia, and America. Several volunteers will present project milestones and discuss the future of the office suite, both on the desktop and in the cloud.
The new features in LibreOffice 6.4 have been developed by a large community of code contributors: 75% of the commits come from developers employed by companies sitting on the advisory board like Collabora, Red Hat, and CIB, among others, while 25% come from individual volunteers.
Furthermore, there is a global community of individual volunteers who take care of other core activities such as quality assurance, software localization, user interface and user experience design, editing the help system and documentation, and promoting free software and open document standards.
A video summarizing the key new features of LibreOffice 6.4 is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4boEj8S2JQ
LibreOffice for Individual Users
LibreOffice for Individual Users
LibreOffice 6.4 represents the cutting edge in terms of features for open-source office suites, and as such, it appeals to technology enthusiasts, early adopters, and experienced users. The Document Foundation does not provide technical support to users, although they can seek help from other users on the mailing lists and the Ask LibreOffice website: https://ask.libreoffice.org
For users whose main goal is personal productivity and who therefore prefer a version that has undergone more testing and bug fixing than new features, The Document Foundation maintains the LibreOffice 6.3 family, which includes several months' worth of backported fixes. The current version is LibreOffice 6.3.4.
For individual users, LibreOffice 6.4 includes tools for writing documents, creating spreadsheets, preparing presentations, editing drawings, managing databases, and working with formulas. The features listed above focus especially on document editing, spreadsheet export, presentation and drawing text handling, and online collaboration features available in LibreOffice Online.
LibreOffice for Business
LibreOffice for Business
For enterprise-class deployments, TDF strongly recommends acquiring LibreOffice from one of the ecosystem partners to obtain long-term supported versions, dedicated support, customized new features, and other benefits, including service level agreements (SLA). Additionally, the work done by ecosystem partners feeds back into the LibreOffice project, benefiting everyone.
For migrations and training from proprietary office suites, professional support should come from certified professionals who provide value-added services that extend the community's reach into the business world, offering CIOs and IT managers a solution in line with proprietary offerings.
In fact, LibreOffice - thanks to its mature codebase, rich feature set, strong support for open standards, excellent compatibility, and long-term support options from certified partners - represents the ideal solution for businesses seeking to regain control of their data and free themselves from vendor lock-in.
Availability of LibreOffice 6.4
Availability of LibreOffice 6.4
LibreOffice 6.4 is immediately available from the following link: https://www.libreoffice.org/download/. The minimum requirements for proprietary operating systems are Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 and Apple macOS 10.9. Versions of the latest LibreOffice Online source code are available as Docker images: https://hub.docker.com/r/libreoffice/online/
LibreOffice users, free software advocates, and community members can support The Document Foundation with a donation at https://www.libreoffice.org/donate
LibreOffice 6.4 is built with document conversion libraries from the Document Liberation Project: https://www.documentliberation.org
[1] A more comprehensive list of new features in LibreOffice 6.4 is available on the release notes wiki page: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/6.4
Press Kit
The press kit, including the white paper on document formats and high-resolution screenshots, is available here: https://nextcloud.documentfoundation.org/s/ZA4Y67yz6jBJSqz
LibreOffice 6.4 FAQ
What is LibreOffice 6.4?
LibreOffice 6.4 is a major version of the free office suite announced by The Document Foundation. It includes improved performance, better handling of spreadsheets and presentations, and compatibility with DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX files.
Where can LibreOffice 6.4 be downloaded?
LibreOffice 6.4 is immediately available from the following link: https://www.libreoffice.org/download/. A free download link is also provided in the introduction of this article.
What are the minimum requirements mentioned for LibreOffice 6.4?
The minimum requirements for proprietary operating systems mentioned in the article are Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 and Apple macOS 10.9.
Which file formats are highlighted for compatibility?
The article highlights native support for the Open Document Format (ODF) and excellent compatibility with DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX files. It also mentions filters for numerous legacy document formats.
What modules receive specific improvements in LibreOffice 6.4?
The article mentions improvements for Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, and LibreOffice Online, including table tools, comments, PDF export, text consolidation, the Function Wizard, and sidebar options.
Conclusion
LibreOffice 6.4 brings together performance improvements, strong document compatibility, new tools such as the QR code generator and auto-redaction, and module-specific updates for Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, and LibreOffice Online. The version is available for download from the official LibreOffice website, with additional information provided through the release notes, press kit, and project links listed above.
