The Document Foundation has released the latest version of its office productivity suite. LibreOffice (Version 4.2) offers better performance and better interoperability with MS Windows, and further lays claim to its title of the best free office suite for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

The hardest work has gone into Calc with GPU-enabled power enhancements that should help it to handle big datasets and importing complex XLSX spreadsheets. Document interoperability with Microsoft OOXML, particularly for DOCX, as well as legacy RTF, has been improved. Abiword documents and Apple Keynote presentations get their own import filters too.

LibreOffice 4.2

Open LibreOffice with the new Start screen. The interface is swished up with cleaner layout and a preview of the last opened documents with grouped thumbnail previews. Smaller mobile screens have been kept in mind for the design. Almost 70% of the dialogs have been re-designed. The suite now has a beautiful new “flat” icon theme – Sifr – and a fresh set of default document styles.

iOS users should like the new Impress Remote Control feature that gives users control over presentations playing on their Windows, Mac, or Linux machines from the app on their smartphones. Earlier available on Android, it now caters to Apple users as well.

The changes are attuned for power users. Business and Enterprise users can benefit from the new Expert Configuration window which is simialar to an "advanced settings" funtion. A simplified custom install dialog to avoid potential mistakes, and the ability to centrally manage and lock-down the configuration with Group Policy Objects via Active Directory are two more key features of note.

You can go through the full list of changes in more detail, or head directly to the LibreOffice 4.2 download page.

Source: The Document Foundation Blog