Stop Using Microsoft Office - Here's Why... - Comments Page 2

I tried Libre Office as a sort of back-up for my writing. Apparently, Word is the only format that most publishers will accept, plus I can't cut/paste my Word documents Libre Office. So I ended up just using Word. Not happy, but thee's really no alternative.

I had Microsoft Office on my first computer but when I needed to purchase a ne3 computer and found out the cost involved for Microsoft Office I decided on LibreOffice and have never looked back. Does all I need and when friends send me Microsoft Office documents I can still open them using LibreOffice and can send my documents to others with no problems also.

@ Louise. For a long time I hung on to Quicken even though I couldn't find an alternative to do the same job. I was getting more and more upset with the $100 plus yearly subscription so the search went on year after year. Then eureka, I found the perfect replacement (for me anyway) Jio Money Manager. A slightly different user interface, but does everything Quicken does. If you are familiar with Quicken you will find the program is intuitive to use, and virtually no learning curve.

I have been a heavy user of both Microsoft Office Word and WordPerfect for years. I like WordPerfect much better. If bidding a job and needing to estimate time to do a writing task, generally it takes me 25% to 30% more time to do the same job in Microsoft Word. WordPerfect is just that much more efficient. And, the number of features, bells and whistles, places WordPerfect much closer to a desktop publisher than Word -- another software purchase savings and time savings. But that is just me.

I have been using Softmaker Office for at least 10 years, for two main reasons - they have a free version (Freemaker) and they are fully Linux compatible. In the years that I still had to work with Windows and MS Office at work, I discovered that when I occasionally took home files from Word and Excel, they were fully supported in the Softmaker Office, and I could edit and save without causing any ripples or corrupted files. Lately, I have been paying for an annual subscription for the Softmaker NX version for Linux, and use it at home and in the office (all on Linux platform).
Softmaker offers their free version for download every December, when they promise to donate to a hunger charity for each copy that is downloaded - I think that is a great idea! I also use Softmaker on my Android phone and tablet devices.

Back when I took a few courses at the local community college, I got a copy of Office 2010 (then the current version) along with my book bundle (it was required for one of my classes). I used it through my school days, but when I was no longer a student, I felt that I should stop using it. When I saw what it cost to get Office Home and Small Business, I immediately switched to LibreOffice and (as stated by others above) I have never looked back.

If someone released a standalone word processor, I'd probably try it out, but since LibreOffice is free, any alternative would have to be very good to sway me away (regardless its cost).

My2Cents,

Ernie

I have used Apache Open Office for many years and I have never had any trouble saving output to DOCx format. You just do "Save As" and specify the type of file you want to save. Easy and straightforward.

Other than Gmail, what are you using as an alternative to Outlook?

Arguing on the basis of cost is a distraction from priorities with a very short term focus - if currency is your religion buy gold and value whats important

I've used a few of the alternatives and have set them up for customers but I use Microsoft 365 for my family. Not so much for the Office suite, but because of OneDrive, OneNote, and being able to have a custom domain for an email address. I have a Terabyte of online storage for my personal files and my wife, daughter, and son each have their OneDrive for the same price. I could add on two more Microsoft accounts because they allow up to six users who can install the Office suite on up to five devices each. I think it's a bargain.
And no, I'm not a millie, zoomer, or gen x. I'm a Boomer! :D

I inherited a legal copy of MS Office 2007 when my then wife passed away. I didn't see the point of paying for upgrades for a suite I rarely used, so since Win10 I have used Libre Office exclusively - although Office 2007 is still installed on my old Win7 laptop. Libre Office has more bundled modules than MS Office, is more capable than Office in many respects - albeit lacking in some others - but suits me for everything I need.
I love the philosophy of Open Source, and the teams maintaining Libre Office do it to build a better mousetrap - not make bigger profits. Quite honestly, unless there's some specific built-in aspect of MS-Office that no other suite has, I simply cannot see the point of paying MS's price for what to me is an inferior product.

I love my Libre Office. I'm not in business, just use it in a home setting. It does everything I need and more. Easy to use and understand. I do, however donate a modest amount to them every year because they work hard on a great product and deserve compensation.

Libre Office for about 16 years. Does it all and is free!

Here's the problem- I have a few highly technical engineering spread sheet progs that were written in Excel...they will not work with any alternatives due to macros conflict. I'd rather not divulge my Office sourcing,but it sure isn't paying M$'s ridiculous fees.

Bob - remember that a 365 family subscription allows 6 family members to use office on up to 5 machines each and that all 6 people get a terabyte of cloud storage that can make the average user's backup continuous and effortless and suddenly £80 a year seems like pretty good value.

I subscribe to MS Office 360, not so much for the Word and Excel which I use a lot, but for the OneDrive cloud storage. I placed all ov my documents and pictures on OneDrive and am able to view, upload, download, and edit them from my other devices. If a change is made it automatically synchronizes it agan on the cloud. Is there a lower cost alternative to OneDrive, that works this well in the background?

Bob - For someone like myself, who would not need Powerpoint or Excel in a zillion years, but needs to write an occasional document, is there any sort of "Word Lite" software available?

I bought OfficePro2010 when it became available, and I'm still using it. I mainly use Word, Publisher, Excel, Outlook, and Access. Seldom use Powerpoint or the other tools. When the time comes that I cannot use 2010 I will switch to LibreOffice for sure.

I have used (and preferred) WordPerfect for at least 30 years. Currently, WP standard (no database) is available for $99. The great advantage of WP is the reveal codes feature which allows corrections or modifications of texts which I find impossible with Word or Libre Office.
If anyone knows how to correct/modify text with Word or Libre Office like WordPerfect's reveal codes, I'd welcome the information.

I'd be happy to dump Office but when it's integrated in the practice management software you use and the practice management software doesn't integrate with any other Office type software there's not much you can do.