[FREE] Alternatives to Microsoft Office - Comments Page 1

I've used OpenOffice for a long time and been very happy with it. I may check out Libre Office one of these, though being able to embed fonts isn't an issue that is important to me. I won't use Google docs because my understanding is that the documents are accessible to Google and its marketing staff. I'll do a pass on all things Google as long as I can.

I recently discovered Softmaker's FreeOffice, I thought from one of your previous articles. It is entirely free for home and business -- no 30-day trial.

http://www.freeoffice.com/en/

There are versions for Windows, Linux and Android.

I'd been using LibreOffice but wasn't entirely satisfied with the way some things worked (or not). FreeOffice is a little more intuitive to me.

I guess with MS OFFICE 365 being $100 bucks per year for 5 computers and some additional devices. Knowing you have the latest MS OFFICE suite. I just "go with it" We are rapidly getting to a"Rentaware" market I believe. Like most, I have a desk full of dated Software. So whats the point? And I get tired of the "will fit" market after awhile.

Geesh, dont know how it posted 5 times

I used to use OpenOffice extensively. I had MS Office on one personal computer and OpenOffice on everything else. BUt, formatting mistakes began to be numerous. So, I switched to LibreOffice. Fewer formatting and formula issues. Still have them sometimes-- but usually that's between older versions of MS Office.

Impress (the alternative to PowerPoint) sometimes is still a problem if something was developed in PP first. It goes from Impress to PP better.

I hear that Draw will open many MS Publisher documents. The biggest problem is with some colors. I'll have to try that because I haven't personally tried it yet. Otherwise, I may resort to learning Scribus for desktop publishing (it has mixed reviews about how easy/hard it is to learn).

I installed Ashampoo's Office 2012 on my wife's computer (which was running Win 8.1 at the time). which while not free, was on sale from the publisher for about $10

Alas, we ran into a number of problems with its Presentation module (the Power Point replacement). A file that contained several dozen images on about 50 slides would begin to slow down so badly after the 30th or so slide that it was impossible to use.

Ashampoo supplied a patch, but that did not help. We also had some problems in inserting and formatting images into presentations. Though Ashampoo offered to further review our files, my wife (who had an upcoming deadline)finally gave up and insisted on replacing the Ashampoo product with Microsoft Office, where the once troublesome files worked perfectly.

Ashampoo has a 2016 version of the product, but we did not try it so I can't say if it solved these problems.

I've used OpenOffice/LibreOffice for so many years, I can't even remember the last time I used MSOffice at home. I switched from Open- to LibreOffice years ago - I can't even remember why, now, but there was something about it I liked better! :)

I wouldn't consider myself a "power user" of office software, but I would say that I use more features than most people do. I've never found anything that I could do in MSOffice that I couldn't do just as well in Open/LibreOffice. And I've never had any formatting issues switching between them (for example, bringing home work docs done in MS and modifying them with an open-source office software at home).

As a software developer, the ability to export the contents of a report or an inquiry form to a common format is necessary in a business environment. XML output is also desirable.

I have multiple installations of Libre and WPS. S far, neither can be automated like Excel. Nor can these products be used to spell check documents using the dictionary of either a Word or Excel replacement.

I have a tool to export data to XML, but neither of these options can load every XML output file. Home users might find them acceptable, but exchanging documents from them with users of other 'free' tools is not always successful.

Also, as an instructor at a community college, I ask my students to turn in digital assignments in Microsoft format. It is too much of a potential issue trying to grade their work if submitted in one of the alternatives.

I have used Open Office for a long time and I am happy with it. I use the word processor and the spread sheet. The only issue that I have is that I can't easily sort entire rows in the spreadsheet, altho I believe that it is possible. (Perhaps intuitiveness diminishes with age.) If I were mike t's student, I would, if free software was not available demand that he pay for all required software needed to turn in homework, or else pay all expenses related to dropping his class and enrolling in another. MS, like Google, does not have any of my interests at heart; I do not consider them friends, altho after switching to DDG as a search engine, I am beginning to have withdrawals from Google. (I hope this one doesn't post 5 times!)

The free Microsoft Office suite should also have been listed - Outlook.com. A Microsoft account gives one access to cut-down versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, OneDrive, Outlook, Sway (whatever that is) and more.
All one has to do is get over Microsoft having the potential to 'look over your shoulder' at everything you do. But that is no different than any other cloud service, whether it be Microsoft, Apple or Google.

Hi Bob,
great info! I bought a similar suite from Sam's Club that was similar to the MS product. It's made by Encore and it was Office Suite for $20.

I just looked them up and they have an updated version for $20.

Link info:

Sam's Club:
Note: this link sends you to a search. Once there find Encore/Sams and clic on it. It should bring you to the product.
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/office-suite-bundle-pc-business-software/prod12820051.ip

Encore website:
(This link works & goes directly to the product)

http://www.encore.com/p-798-office-suite-20.aspx

R/
Matt

Following your suggestion, I just bought a new computer via the business side of Dell. (Loved going that route!Thanks.) My prior MS Office was 2003. I decided to upgrade to 2016, but not go the 365 route. I had tried Open Office for a period of time, but finally my work said only MS. I can't say I'm that thrilled about the new 2016 version. Seem like the challenge was to take all known commands and hide them in places one would never consider. I now spend my time in HELP asking where this or that is. Wish I had seen this article prior to my purchase. Now I know there are many more choices than just Open Office. Great article. I'm keeping this in mind for the next time.

WPS is what I have been using for years. I miss the macro function that is not available in the free version. It has some mousewheel functions that don't exit in MS Office: scrolling worksheets and scrolling columns when the cursor is over the scroll bar at the bottom. Great functions.

About two years ago the free version began placing a watermark on printouts. This is wholly unacceptable. I did some searching and found the latest version that was without watermarks and I have refused all updates to that version.

I have been using Libre Office ever since they forked off from Open Office. It works great for me but the limitations I think others may have is the lack of compatibility with MS Office. As hard as they try to keep the two compatible, I think MS tries equally hard to keep them apart. Also, as much as I hate to say it, I think Powerpoint is better than Calc.

I used to use star-office,open-office,libre-office.
I got sore at them for not support engineering notation, a fix that took them YEARS to implement, so I switched to MS Office. (LibreOffice supports engineering notation now). However, I got used to the ribbon interface and would find it difficult to go back. Despite that I will use LO on my Linux system for simple tasks.

Open/LibreOffice can save in MS format - I've never had a problem opening/correctly displaying a document in MS that had been saved in such a way. Perhaps there are indeed applications where this is a problem, but I find it difficult to believe that this is the case for the casual user.

Has anyone tried this one, if so what do you think?

SSuite Office Software

http://ssuitesoft.com/

In assisting others with their computer problems/setups, I have encouraged LibreOffice and set it up to save docs in Microsoft formats; however, I have kept my old MS Office suite myself, for two reasons...The others will not automatically move a decimal over two places (spreadsheets), and I have downloaded OfficeTabs so I can have multiple docs open in tabs instead of separate windows. If one of the freebies will perform these two functions, please let me know!

Excellent suggestions. Doesn't work for those of us who edit freelance. Customers demand Word for several good reasons - such as the publisher using only Word. Until all systems can work together alternatives aren't viable. Too bad competing companies can't develop agreed upon standards.

Will LibreOffice convert Corel Office and Microsoft Office word and spread sheets?