![]() ppt files, but unless you’re willing to work with those backward-compatible office files (pre-2007), you’ll have to upgrade to the commercial version to save native Office files (.docx. The free version can open, edit and save older Office. PAUL HELTZEL / IDG SoftMaker Office’s tabbed ribbon interface will be familiar to those who’ve used Microsoft Office. The paid version lets you choose between ribbon menus that display toolbars on multiple tabs - or a classic Windows UI. The program’s polished interface is nearly identical to that of Microsoft Office. ![]() The suites include word processing, spreadsheet and presentation apps that are available for Windows, Linux, Mac and Android. Together they’re used by more than 6 million users around the world, according to the company. The more fully featured SoftMaker Office suite targets commercial users. This free suite is aimed at small business, educational and home users. If you’re looking for a simple Office alternative, FreeOffice from SoftMaker may do the trick. An HTML5-based cloud suite is in development but not yet available - so if you want to collaborate with co-workers in the cloud, Zoho Office (see below) is a better option. ![]() There’s currently an Android viewer available, but no mobile apps for making edits, so it’s not a good option if you have users who need to work on smartphones and tablets. LibreOffice is used around the world with millions of installs and is available for Mac, Windows and Linux. The file needs to be in a shared location each user can access. Multiple users can, however, use its spreadsheet program, called Calc, at once. (Click image to enlarge it.)Īs with Apache OpenOffice - and unlike with G Suite or Office 365 - you can’t simultaneously work with colleagues in LibreOffice’s word processing, presentation and graphics files. PAUL HELTZEL / IDG LibreOffice can work with Microsoft Office, ODF and other standard file formats. You can save files with a password, but only in the native OpenOffice format. But overall the suite works and plays nicely with Office files. Like OpenOffice, the suite uses the OpenDocument Format standard by default, which means an extra step when saving to Office file formats or else a trip into the preferences to change the programs to save to the current Office formats (.docx. LibreOffice has a low-fi look, but like most of the tools here, it’s easily navigated by anyone who’s used Office or G Suite. Like its cousin Apache OpenOffice, the open-source suite includes six programs, for word processing, spreadsheets, multimedia presentations, illustrations, databases, and creating math equations. LibreOffice is a fully featured, completely free suite, without catches. Both suites are available for Windows, Mac and Linux, and they’re used by millions around the world. But it’s not part of the official offering.Īpache OpenOffice and LibreOffice are both descendants of, which came from the same codebase, StarOffice. Since it’s open source, some developers have ported it to, for example, Android. pptx types aren’t available.) Tip: You can go into the OpenOffice preferences and tell it to save to the (older) Microsoft Office formats as a matter of course.Ī dealbreaker for some businesses may be the lack of mobile apps this is a desktop-only suite. But if you’re sharing with Office users, you can choose a Microsoft Office file type such as. Go to save a word processing document, for example, and the file will save with an. Like LibreOffice (see below), the suite uses the OpenDocument Format standard. ![]() You won’t have trouble opening or editing Office documents, spreadsheets or presentation files. That said, the tools are full featured and robust. The look and feel won’t win over Office users, as the suite looks a bit less polished than the others here. The software is open-source and developed by volunteers, so there are no paid upgrades or add-ons. Available for Windows, Mac and Linux, the suite includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, illustration, database and math equation applications. Available in one form or another for more than two decades, OpenOffice features free, unlimited licenses for home and business.
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