Our labor of love is out today and I know you will share my excitement when you spend a little time with Version 3 of ownCloud.

What’s so exciting?

Well, let me start with the extensive polishing the community has done to
the look and feel – and the performance – of the calendar and contact
applications. Besides a completely new and more user-friendly web interface,
new features include repeating events and automatic time zone detection. The
interface of the contacts application is also improved with thumbnails of
contact photos, and the option to export address books or single contacts as
.vcf files. It is now possible to create, edit or delete multiple address
books in ownCloud.

What’s new?

ownCloud Version 3 gives users the unique ability to access and edit
documents in multiple ways. Users can access files directly if ownCloud is
mounted via WebDAV, access them offline if the file is synced locally with
the upcoming syncing client, or access and edit files directly from within a
browser with the new text editor.

The browser based text editor supports 35 programming languages for syntax
highlighting, keyboard shortcuts, drag and drop text, automatic indent and
outdent, unstructured / user code folding and Live syntax checker (for
JavaScript, Coffee and CSS). The editor is based on the ACE JavaScript
Editor. The editor supports basic text files. Editing more advanced formats
like doc and ODT is planned for future releases.

ownCloud Version 3 supports installation of new third party applications and
add-ons directly from a central repository of ownCloud applications.
Developers who want to offer new features can upload new ownCloud
applications at apps.owncloud.com. ownCloud users can browse and install the
new applications directly from within the ownCloud Admin interface. Both
users and developers can develop and use this new application store. The
system is based on the open collaboration services standard.

ownCloud Version 3 ships with an integrated PDF viewer for convenient
viewing and printing of PDFs, even with browsers that don´t have a PDF
plugin installed. The viewer is based on the pdf.js library.

ownCloud Version 3 adds a photo gallery application to help view and
organize photos of different file types. Photo albums are automatically
created for uploaded photos.

Most importantly though, his release is really a remarkable testament to the
hard work and dedication of our community. Since the release of Version 2 in
October, the ownCloud community has enabled ownCloud for Juju Charms
(Ubuntu) and built pre-configured software and virtual appliances ready for
direct deployment in SUSE Studio. Additionally, the community has created a
new owncloud.org website, improved installation documentation, created a new
bug tracker, and a new ownCloud forum!

Thank you!