A Mac-specific fork of OpenOffice.org that was the first to provide a native Mac OS X experience. Developed by just two engineers over two decades, it later became based on LibreOffice before being discontinued in 2023.
Initially used Java integration (NeoOffice/J) for native Mac rendering after a Cocoa-based approach (NeoOffice/C) proved unstable. Later versions replaced Java with Cocoa. Added Mac-specific features: native text highlighting, Retina display support, QuickTime video, Address Book integration, Mac OS X spellchecker/grammar checker access, and native floating tool windows.
Before OpenOffice.org 3.0, Mac users had to install X11 to run the suite — there was no native Aqua interface. In 2003, developers Patrick Luby (a former Sun Microsystems engineer who had worked on StarOffice Mac ports) and Edward H. Peterlin began working on a native Mac port. An initial effort called NeoOffice/C used Apple's Cocoa APIs but proved too unstable. The more promising NeoOffice/J approach used Java integration for native rendering, and the '/J' suffix was eventually dropped.
NeoOffice was the first OpenOffice.org derivative to offer native Mac OS X features: proper pull-down menus, familiar keyboard shortcuts, native fonts and printing, clipboard integration, and drag-and-drop. Both LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice later followed NeoOffice's lead in implementing native Mac interfaces. Throughout its history, no more than two developers worked on NeoOffice — a remarkable feat for a full office suite.
The project's codebase evolution is notable: versions 3.1.1 through 2015 were based on OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 with cherry-picked fixes from LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice. Starting with NeoOffice 2017, the project fully rebased onto LibreOffice. In 2013, NeoOffice moved to a commercial model via the Mac App Store, which drew some criticism from the open source community.
In 2022, the code was fully released on GitHub as free software. In December 2023, Planamesa Software declared the project inactive, with the website now recommending LibreOffice as a replacement. NeoOffice's final version was 2022.7.
Patrick Luby and Edward Peterlin begin NeoOffice/J development
NeoOffice 1.1 released, first stable native Mac OOo experience
NeoOffice moves to commercial distribution via Mac App Store
NeoOffice rebases entirely on LibreOffice
Source code fully released on GitHub
Project declared inactive, recommends LibreOffice
Pioneered the native Mac interface for OpenOffice-derived suites. Both LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice followed NeoOffice's lead in implementing native Mac OS X interfaces. Demonstrated that even a two-person team could maintain a meaningful fork of a massive codebase.