HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

AbiWord () is a free and open-source software word processor. It is written in C++ and since version 3 it is based on GTK+ 3. The name "AbiWord" is derived from the root of the Spanish word "'' abierto''", meaning "open".Project Masco
Abi the Ant
Page explains "Abi" is pronounced just like "Abby".
AbiWord was originally started by SourceGear Corporation as the first part of a proposed AbiSuite but was adopted by open source developers after SourceGear changed its business focus and ceased development. It now runs on
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, whi ...
, ReactOS, Solaris, AmigaOS 4.0 (through its Cygwin X11 engine), MeeGo (on the Nokia N9 smartphone), Maemo (on the Nokia N810), QNX and other operating systems. Development of a version for Microsoft Windows has ended due to lack of maintainers (the latest released versions are 2.8.6 and 2.9.4 beta ). The macOS port has remained on version 2.4 since 2005, although the current version does run non-natively on macOS through
XQuartz XQuartz is an open-source version of the X.Org X server, a component of the X Window System (X11, or shortened to simply X, and sometimes informally X-Windows) that runs on macOS. It formally replaced Apple's internal X11 app. The name "XQuart ...
. AbiWord is part of the AbiSource project which develops a number of office-related technologies. Abiword is one of the rare text processing software which allows local users to edit simultaneously a same shared document in a local network, without the requirement of an Internet connection, since 2009.


Features

AbiWord supports both basic word processing features such as lists, indents and character formats, and more sophisticated features including tables, styles, page headers and footers, footnotes, templates, multiple views, page columns, spell checking, and grammar checking. Starting with version 2.8.0, AbiWord includes a collaboration plugin that allows integration with AbiCollab.net, a Web-based service that permits multiple users to work on the same document in real time, in full synchronization. The Presentation view of AbiWord, which permits easy display of presentations created in AbiWord on "screen-sized" pages, is another feature not often found in word processors.


Interface

AbiWord generally works similarly to classic versions (pre-Office 2007) of Microsoft Word, as direct ease of migration was a high priority early goal. While many interface similarities remain, cloning the Word interface is no longer a top priority. The interface is intended to follow user interface guidelines for each respective platform.


File formats

AbiWord comes with several import and export filters providing a partial support for such formats as HTML, Microsoft Word (.doc), Office Open XML (.docx), OpenDocument Text (.odt), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and
text document A text file (sometimes spelled textfile; an old alternative name is flatfile) is a kind of computer file that is structured as a sequence of lines of electronic text. A text file exists stored as data within a computer file system. In operatin ...
s (.txt). LaTeX is supported for export only. Plug-in filters are available to deal with many other formats, notably WordPerfect documents. The native file format, .abw, uses
XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. T ...
, so as to mitigate vendor lock-in concerns with respect to interoperability and
digital archiving A document management system (DMS) is usually a computerized system used to store, share, track and manage files or documents. Some systems include history tracking where a log of the various versions created and modified by different users is r ...
.


Grammar checking

The AbiWord project includes a US English-only grammar checking plugin using Link Grammar. AbiWord had grammar checking before any other open source word processor, although a grammar checker was later added to OpenOffice.org. Link Grammar is both a theory of syntax and an open source parser which is now developed by the AbiWord project.


See also

* List of free and open-source software packages *
List of word processors The following is a list of notable word processors. Free and open-source software * AbiWord * Apache OpenOffice Writer *Calligra Words * Collabora Online Writer – enterprise-ready edition of LibreOffice, included with Online, Mobile and Desktop ...
*
Comparison of word processors This is a comparison of word processing software. General information This table provides general information about selected word processors. Characteristics This table gives characteristics of each word processor. Operating system compati ...
* Office Open XML software * OpenDocument software


References


External links

* *
Andrew Leonard: Abiword Up.
''Salon.com'', November 15, 2002. History of the project and comparison with closed source development.
Interview with Development team after 2.6 release

AbiWord: A Small, Swift Word Processor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abiword Office software that uses GTK Free software programmed in C++ Free word processors Linux word processors MacOS word processors Windows word processors Cross-platform free software Portable software 1998 software Software using the GPL license