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  This is at the top level to avoid any chapter TOC.
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<para>
  <application>Gnumeric</application> is a spreadsheet program which
  intends to be the best spreadsheet available
  anywhere. <application>Gnumeric</application> was created and is
  maintained by the <ulink type="http"
  url="http://www.gnome.org/">GNOME</ulink> project.  This manual
  describes version 1.2 of Gnumeric.
</para>

<para>
  <application>Gnumeric</application> has been developed over many
  years to become a fully mature
  program. <application>Gnumeric</application> aims for:
  <itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
      <para>
	<guilabel>Stability :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        <application>Gnumeric</application> has undergone significant
	amounts of testing with a diverse group of users. There is
	also a large set of test workbooks to validate the quality of
	the importers. This release can be considered safe for use in
	a production environment.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
	<guilabel>File compatibility :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        Transparent access and manipulation of files from other
        applications is vital in a modern office. The gnumeric file
        format is simply compressed XML which can be decompressed into
        text.  <application>Gnumeric</application> can open files from
        several well known proprietary and free spreadsheets including
        MS Excel (tm), Lotus 1-2-3 (tm), Applix (tm), OpenOffice.org,
        Psion, Sylk, XBase Oleo, and
        HTML. <application>Gnumeric</application> can save files to
        several versions of the MS Excel (tm) file format and can save
        tables into LaTeX \longtable, HTML, and roff
        files. <application>Gnumeric</application> also benefits from
        a highly configurable text importer and exporter which ensures
        that data can be transfered smoothly. New formats can easily
        be added in a modular fashion via a plug-in.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Minimal cost of transition :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        Learning new and unfamiliar interfaces is an expensive and
        frustrating process. <application>Gnumeric</application>
        attempts to offer optional extensions and enough compatibility
        that a user's familiarity with other applications will still
        apply.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
	<guilabel>Sufficient feature set :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        While people quote the statistic that most users only need 20%
        of the features of the software they use, this statistic does
        not mean that only 20% of the features are needed. Most users
        share a common 10% but require distinct features for the rest
        of their work. Implementing enough of the features to support
        day to day use by the average spreadsheet user has taken
        time. <application>Gnumeric</application> attempts to provide
        full implementations of the features it offers, leaving
        features unimplemented until a robust and complete
        implementation exists.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Internationalization :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
	<application>Gnumeric</application> has been translated into
	29 languages, and is being used by people around the globe
	with the symbols appropriate for their local setting.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
	<guilabel>Openness and Scalability :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        Gnumeric is <ulink type="http"
        url="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">free
        software</ulink> released under the <ulink type="http"
        url="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU GPL</ulink>.
        The core architecture is designed to ensure that it can
        comfortably scale to moderately large loads (1M cells) while
        remaining usable on older hardware. The availability of clean,
        reasonably documented, source code makes it simple to modify
        the spreadsheet, write custom routines or extend
        <application>Gnumeric</application> for special needs.
      </para>
    </listitem>

  </itemizedlist> 
</para>

<para>
  These features of <application>Gnumeric</application> make it
  versitile and powerful. The screenshot of
  <application>Gnumeric</application> show in <xref
  linkend="fig-gnumeric-power-example" /> demonstrates some of the
  features currently available.

  <figure id="fig-gnumeric-power-example">
    <title>An example of what Gnumeric can do.</title>
    <screenshot>
      <mediaobject>
        <imageobject>
          <imagedata fileref="figures/gnumeric-power-example.png" 
              format="PNG" scale="100" />
        </imageobject>
        <textobject>
          <phrase>An image of <application>Gnumeric</application>
          showing the use of complex formatting, a grahical plot and
          another GNOME application embedded within a workbook.</phrase>
        </textobject>
      </mediaobject>
    </screenshot>
  </figure>

  <application>Gnumeric</application> currently supports a full
  complement of calculation functions, formattting options, graph
  types and drawing options.  <application>Gnumeric</application>
  allows the direct integration of other GNOME programs.
  </para>

<para>
</para>

<para>
  <guilabel>The new features of Gnumeric 1.2 :</guilabel>
</para>
        
<para>
  The newest version of <application>Gnumeric</application> includes
  numerous improvements over the versions in the 1.0 series.

  <itemizedlist>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>GTK 2.0 :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        This version of <application>Gnumeric</application> is based
        on the second version of the Gimp Tool Kit, the basic
        libraries of computer code used to build GNOME
        applications. This second version improves on the first and
        provides a sound basis for future programming. Users will
        benefit greatly from this second version of the GTK
        libraries. <application>Gnumeric</application> is now able to
        produce characters from a much larger range of languages, has
        improved icons, is better integrated with GNOME and has other
        visual improvments like anti-aliased fonts.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Improved functions :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        This version of <application>Gnumeric</application> includes
        numerous new functions and statistical routines imported from
        the <application>R</application> statistical language, from
        the GNU Scientific Library, and from other sources. The random
        number generation has been updated.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>File Import and Export :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        The ability to import and export files of different formats
        has been greatly improved. 
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Graphing :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        The earlier versions of <application>Gnumeric</application>
        relied on the <application>Guppi</application> for
        graphing. This has been changed in the current version which
        uses a newer framework for the production of graphs. This
        newer framework should provide quicker graphs and will be a
        better platform for future development.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Improved Solver :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        The routines used to obtain soltions to series of linear
        equations have been reworked and improved.
      </para>
    </listitem>

  </itemizedlist>

  For more details on the changes in
  <application>Gnumeric</application>, refer to the file named NEWS in
  the source code distribution.

</para>
