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| Best Office Alternative of Multiple Versions |
Top five Microsoft Office alternatives from Tech Daily
1. Google Drive
Google Drive is a free suite of web-based office programs that includes document, spreadsheet and presentation tools. The key to Drive’s appeal is its convenience – mobile and tablet apps mean you can use the service whenever you want. You’ll need to set up offline access to use the service without wi-fi though.
2. OpenOffice
OpenOffice has been around for 10 years now and, as such, is a thoroughly serviceable alternative to Microsoft Office. It matches Office for Excel, Word and Powerpoint equivalents, and even carries a similar design aesthetic to Office 2010. This means you won’t have any trouble abandoning Microsoft for this free equivalent.
3. iWork
Apple fans will already be familiar with the joys of iWork, but now, providing you’ve bought an iPhone 5c, 5s, iPad Air or Mac since November you can be too, and for free. Pages, Numbers and Keynote are all adept at your day-to-day work-related needs. To get the full benefits of this suite of office programs you’ll need to own a Macbook or iMac. Nevertheless, the apps are ideal if you need to draft up a quick mobile missive.
4. LibreOffice
LibreOffice is an OpenOffice spin-off that’s quickly picked up pace to become one of the best free Microsoft Office alternatives. In truth, both suites are markedly similar bar a few tweaks here and there. The ability to check your documents’ word counts in LibreOffice’s status bar is particularly useful.
5. Documents To Go
For just £6.99, Documents To Go allows you to view, edit and create Word and Excel files using your iPhone and iPad. This means you can use it as a mobile alternative to Office, or as a supplement to your existing Microsoft-related activities. Either way, it’s a handy Windows-friendly alternative to Apple’s iWork.
Best free Microsoft Office alternatives: 5 suites to save you money from TechRadar.computing
1. Apache OpenOffice
Apache OpenOffice is a powerful open source suite which includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, vector graphics editor, database manager and mathematical equation editor.
The package is generally easy to use. An OpenOffice.org tool acts as a central launcher, and includes wizards to help you create a new letter, presentation and so on.
The applications themselves look and feel much like the pre-ribbon Microsoft Office (they will open most Office documents, too, although the original formatting isn't always preserved).
One problem is that disagreements over the direction of OpenOffice have resulted in many developers leaving the project, and starting the rival LibreOffice. It's not clear how OpenOffice will progress in future, then, but right now it's still a capable suite.
2. LibreOffice
A recent spinoff from OpenOffice, LibreOffice still looks much the same. There's a similar launch screen, and the same core features (word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool and so on), which look and feel like their OpenOffice equivalents.
There are lots of smaller tweaks, though: improved file format compatibility (including support for all Visio files from 1.0 through to 2013); support for Firefox themes to customise the interface; better template management; colour scales in spreadsheets, a status bar word count in Writer, and so on.
Nothing revolutionary, but LibreOffice is at least making progress, and at the moment it's outperforming OpenOffice.
3. SSuite Office
If power is your top priority, then SSuite Office probably isn't the program for you. It's more like Office 2003 than 2013, the core applications are relatively limited, and they can't handle OpenXML files (Microsoft's DOCX, XLSX and so on).
For a less demanding audience, though, it could be a different story. The program is easy to use, its word processor and spreadsheet are quite capable of doing useful work, and it also comes with an array of bonus extras: an email client, graphics editor, web browser, security software, media player, formula editor, image viewer, various network tools, even a few games (they're mostly very limited, but still fun to explore). If you're just looking for something relatively simple then SSuite Office could prove interesting.
4. Kingsoft Office 2012
Kingsoft Office 2012 is a fraction of the size of other suites, yet still has the three core tools most people need: a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation creator.
Each of these has a browser-like tabbed interface, making it easy to open multiple documents.
There are lots of attractive templates, Paragraph handling is convenient, an encryption feature helps to keep sensitive documents safe from snoopers, and perhaps most importantly, the program is better at importing Office documents than most of the competition.
It's also only free for personal use, though, and there's no doubt that LibreOffice has more features (vector editing, database management and so on). But if you're a home user just looking for the basics then Kingsoft Office 2012 could be ideal.
5. SoftMaker FreeOffice
SoftMaker FreeOffice is another essentials-only suite, offering a word processor ('TextMaker'), spreadsheet ('PlanMaker') and presentation builder ('Presentations'). These are well-designed and easy to use, though, with a comfortable and familiar interface.
Microsoft Office documents are generally imported very well, each application can export documents to PDF, and although you don't get a dedicated graphics tool, TextMaker has plenty of drawing and image tweaking features.
Overall, SoftMaker FreeOffice is a quality tool, and worth a look if you don't need all the LibreOffice extras.
Best Free Office Suites: Microsoft Office Alternatives from business news daily
Free office suites
You can download these free office suites to a wide range of devices. Some offer full suite alternatives to Microsoft Office, while others offer core programs with their own versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Apache OpenOffice
The popular open-source software Apache OpenOffice provides everything a small business owner needs in an office suite: Writer, a word processor; Calc, a full-featured spreadsheet editor; Impress, for creating slides and presentations; Draw, for graphics and illustrations; Math, for creating equations; and Base, for modifying databases, tables, forms and more. OpenOffice is compatible with devices running on Windows, OS X and Linux operating systems.[How to Share Ridiculously Large Files]
LibreOffice
LibreOffice is another free, open-source office suite. It runs with the same underlying source code as OpenOffice and also offers a full-featured office suite comprised of Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math and Base. LibreOffice differs in having a more-active community of dedicated volunteers all over the world who continue to develop the software. You can download LibreOffice for Windows, OS X and GNU/Linux computers. LibreOffice also comes in a portable version, so you can work on LibreOffice files from a USB, cloud or local drive.
NeoOffice
NeoOffice is essentially the OpenOffice of the Mac world. It caters to Mac users' needs and sensibilities, and offers features not available on the Mac version of OpenOffice. This includes the inherent look and feel of Mac software, Versions (a Mac OS Xfeature that automatically saves copies of documents before any changes are made), the ability to choose which or if any program opens at launch, native Mac OS X highlighting, full-screen mode, extended support and more. You can download NeoOffice from the Mac App Store.
Kingsoft Office
Kingsoft Office is the closest you'll get to Microsoft Office. Although it offers limited services — it includes only the three core products, in Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheets — these products offer the same familiar look and robust features as their Microsoft Office counterparts. And given the replicated layout and design, those users already accustomed to Word, PowerPoint and Excel will find Kingsoft Office easy to use. You can download Kingsoft Office for Windows, Linux and Android devices. An iOS app is coming soon.
SoftMaker FreeOffice
The office suite SoftMaker FreeOffice also resembles Microsoft Office — in style, speed and capabilities. The package includes TextMaker, PlanMaker and Presentations — all of which are compatible with Word, Excel and PowerPoint, respectively. You can download FreeOffice for Windows and Linux computers. It is the free version of the popular Microsoft Office alternative SoftMaker Office, which starts at $79.95 for Windows and Linux, and $29.99 for Android.
SSuite Office
The more-comprehensive SSuite Office includes everything from office programs to financial and communications software. Its wide range of products consists of the WordGraph word processor, Accel Spreadsheet, MonoBase database creator, FaceCom videoconferencing and more. You can download Ssuite Office as an entire software package (there are many options based on user needs and machines), as individual programs or as portable apps. Although it is only available for Windows, instructions are available on how to run the suite or its programs on Mac and Linux computers.
Free cloud-based office suites
Cloud-based office suites are accessible from any device connected to the Internet. They can be run using any web browser, eliminating the need to download and install them on your computer. Files are stored in the cloud and can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Users can also share files or invite others to collaborate. Here are the most popular cloud-based office suites available:
Google Drive
Google Drive'sproductivity and cloud storage platform lets users create, edit and collaborate on all types of files. It includes the Google Docs word processor, Sheets spreadsheet editor, Slides presentation maker, Forms form maker and other products. Users can also connect additional apps, such as the PicMonkey photo editor, WeVideo video editor, Convert to PDF, RingCentral CloudFax, DocuSign and more. Google Drive requires a Google account and comes with 15GB of free storage. You can also get a paid version, Google Apps for Business, which has more features and costs $5 a month per user.
Office Online
Office Online (formerly Office Web Apps), offers Web-based versions of Microsoft Office's most widely used programs. Users can save, edit and store files, as well as collaborate in real-time using a Web browser. The service also features sharing capabilities, with which users can either create unique links to files or directly insert documents, spreadsheets and presentations into their websites or blogs. The free version of Office Online comes with 7 GB of free online storage and online versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Paid plans start at $9.99 a month and come with 20 GB of extra storage, mobile access and a full online version of Microsoft Office that includes Outlook, Publisher and Access.
iWork for iCloud
Apple's iWork for iCloud offers a suite of productivity apps that includes the Pages word processor, Numbers spreadsheet editor and Keynote presentation creator. It is accessible to anyone with an iCloud ID, and can run on both Mac and PC browsers and mobile devices. Users can also share documents with non-iCloud members via unique links for real-time collaboration and presentations, regardless of the devices everyone is using. With iWork for iCloud, you get 5GB of free storage, and you can purchase additional storage starting at 10 GB (for a total of 15 GB) for $20 a year.
Zoho Docs
The Zoho Docs all-in-one productivity solution offers both an online productivity suite and a file storage, sharing and management platform. First, users can create, manage, share and publish files using Zoho's Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Presentation programs. Then, they can invite other users to collaborate, as well as assign tasks to keep track of progress. Although Zoho is limited to those three office programs, users can store documents and files in any format and share them with anyone using dedicated links. Zoho Docs is available on the Web and on iOS and Android devices. Free plans come with 5 GB of free storage, while paid plans start at $5 a month and come with 250 GB of storage and advanced features.
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