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vkhosid

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...alternatives.

So guys, here's the question...I recently bought a new laptop, and am looking for word/excel/powerpoint type programs. In the past, I've always used Microsoft Office Suite, but am feeling adventurous, and wanting to try something new (preferably free). I've done a bit of searching, and have, so far, come up with some options like OpenOffice, LibreOffice, and the like. Does anyone have any experience with any of those, and/or suggestions of other software I should look at?

For the sake of (hopefully) narrowing down the field of options, I'd ideally like software that's similar to MS Office in that it has ribbons instead of the more classic drop-down menus and such. But, that's not by any means a firm requirement.

Thanks guys!
 
Open Office isn't bad. So far, I've been underwhelmed by apple's offerings (Pages, Numbers, Keynote). Other free options to try are Quick Office, WPS Office and something called Documents, all in iOS. For Droid, try Quick Office or Olive Office.

Before I changed jobs back during Winders 3.1 and lost the choice, I was a huge fan of Word Perfect and Quattro Pro. I forget which package they're in now, but I think it's with Corel. Should be priced comparable to MS Junk, and it used to be much more user friendly.

I have no experience with the google stuff, they are intrusive enough without having unfettered access to all of my files. Chrome is their OS.
 
I've been using OpenOffice since it was still StarWriter. I have no complaints.

Rich
 
I second OpenOffice.
Also, at the same time, it might be smart not to litter your computer with Adobe junk. You can install FoxitReader to view PDF, it works much better than Adobe and is much more lightweight.
 
BigBadLou said:
I second OpenOffice.
Also, at the same time, it might be smart not to litter your computer with Adobe junk. You can install FoxitReader to view PDF, it works much better than Adobe and is much more lightweight.
Click to expand...

For this, I'm actually partial to BlueBeam.
 
Boy are you guys cheap or what? Don't want to shell out the Money for MS office.
Neither would I so it's a good thing I get my apps for free from work.
 
pbramlett said:
OpenOffice or LibreOffice.
Click to expand...
iagree.gif

I personally stick with Office for a few specific reasons but I'm periodically asked by neighbors for recommendations when they get new computers and have to consider an alternative to OfficeXP. Assuming typical needs, I always suggest they try LibreOffice for a while.
 
evapilotaz said:
Boy are you guys cheap or what? Don't want to shell out the Money for MS office.
Neither would I so it's a good thing I get my apps for free from work.
Click to expand...

Amen to that, brotha. I have a copy of MS Office 2007 or so, that I've been using for quite some time. I just figured I'd ask around for comparable/updated alternatives.

midlifeflyer said:
iagree.gif

I personally stick with Office for a few specific reasons but I'm periodically asked by neighbors for recommendations when they get new computers and have to consider an alternative to OfficeXP. Assuming typical needs, I always suggest they try LibreOffice for a while.
Click to expand...

I've been hearing the most about LibreOffice. Apparently they're a split-off from OpenOffice, so their interface is pretty close. However, I've been reading that LibreOffice is getting substantially more support/feedback than OpenOffice, and seems to be the better option of the two...
 
There are a lot of schools/ companies that get office home&student for $10 as a special rate for buying all the licenses they have.

Actually you can get office 2016 for 120 days for free by downloading the preview. Its the full version but has a small banner saying expires in 120 days on top.
 
It really depends on your use of the Suite. If it's just casual word processing, any of the above will work. LibreOffice seems to be the most robust at this point, as a free alternative. But, if you really use the Suite and do serious word processing (lawyer?), and exchange lots of docs with others, then you should break down and buy MS Office. Consider it the "cost of doing business". You can get 2010 on Ebay for, what, $95? (3-pc). There's always the "student" discount option.

And, if you have several computers, the $99 /yr (for 5 PCs) isn't THAT bad a deal.

80% of our customers who try alternatives, end up going back to the real thing...
 
I've done both Open and Libre and have defaulted on LibreOffice.
(for some reason, I seem to remember that some files from Open office weren't sufficiently compatible with MS products or WordPress or Polaris or something like that --- but Open Office and LibreOffice are essentially the same thing --- and 90%+ compatible with MS Office products)
 
CT4ME said:
It really depends on your use of the Suite. If it's just casual word processing, any of the above will work. LibreOffice seems to be the most robust at this point, as a free alternative. But, if you really use the Suite and do serious word processing (lawyer?), and exchange lots of docs with others, then you should break down and buy MS Office. Consider it the "cost of doing business". You can get 2010 on Ebay for, what, $95? (3-pc). There's always the "student" discount option.

And, if you have several computers, the $99 /yr (for 5 PCs) isn't THAT bad a deal.

80% of our customers who try alternatives, end up going back to the real thing...
Click to expand...

I'm neither a lawyer, nor a student...I have no plans of doing anything extensive with word/excel/powerpoint, or their equivalents. I would just like a version on my home computer that I can use if I'm too tired to sit at work and would like to manipulate some basic files at home....

Plus, occasionally messing around with power point for slideshows for birthday parties and the like...
 
just about all clients that i recommended openoffice or libreoffice for home gets frustrated and end up getting real office.

Office home & Student does everything you need. I'd suggest installing libreoffice and if you get frustrated just get the real version.
 
I like VisiCalc.

(Just kidding. That was the only program on the first computer in the CPA firm that I started with in 1982.).
 
vkhosid said:
Amen to that, brotha. I have a copy of MS Office 2007 or so, that I've been using for quite some time. I just figured I'd ask around for comparable/updated alternatives.



I've been hearing the most about LibreOffice. Apparently they're a split-off from OpenOffice, so their interface is pretty close. However, I've been reading that LibreOffice is getting substantially more support/feedback than OpenOffice, and seems to be the better option of the two...
Click to expand...
If I recall correctly, Sun Microsystems (the original developer) sold it to Oracle which didn't support it that well. The result was a spin-off by some of the volunteer development people resulted in LibreOffice. Oracle eventually sold OO to Apache, which revived the project.

Their similarity is because they both have the same roots. Libre probably took a lead because it was being actively grown and supported while OO was not.
 
justinm001 said:
just about all clients that i recommended openoffice or libreoffice for home gets frustrated and end up getting real office.

Office home & Student does everything you need. I'd suggest installing libreoffice and if you get frustrated just get the real version.
Click to expand...
I agree. The "frustration" depends a lot on the type of user and her needs.

Business needs that go beyond basics will likely be happier with the real thing and its capabilities. While compatibility is close, it's not perfect. The more complex the document or spreadsheet, the less compatibility. And for those who have gotten used to the Ribbon over the past 5-6 years, going back to the simpler menu structure can be a PITA.

But take someone with small needs upgrading from an old PC still running Office 2003 or earlier, and many will find the newer Ribbon Office more unfamiliar and intimidating that Libre or OO which looks much more familiar.
 
Both Open Office and Libre Office (which are the same thing as far as I can tell) work fine, but they aren't completely compatible with the newest version of MS Office. They are file compatible, but some advanced formatting features and table of contents doesn't translate over.

For personal use either one of the free ones are fine. For business use, MS Office really is more functional and easier to use.
 
You could also get a subscription to MS office 365 personal, it runs 69.00 a year.
 
pbramlett said:
You could also get a subscription to MS office 365 personal, it runs 69.00 a year.
Click to expand...
You can sometimes get it for less, but even at that price, if you are into putting stuff in the cloud in a big way, it's pretty much free since it includes 1 Tb.
 
I am having a problem with open office locking up whenever I do a word search in the spreadsheet.
 
CT4ME said:
It really depends on your use of the Suite. If it's just casual word processing, any of the above will work. LibreOffice seems to be the most robust at this point, as a free alternative. But, if you really use the Suite and do serious word processing (lawyer?), and exchange lots of docs with others, then you should break down and buy MS Office. Consider it the "cost of doing business". You can get 2010 on Ebay for, what, $95? (3-pc). There's always the "student" discount option.

And, if you have several computers, the $99 /yr (for 5 PCs) isn't THAT bad a deal.

80% of our customers who try alternatives, end up going back to the real thing...
Click to expand...

That's assuming that you actually like MS-Office. I had it for free for many years (probably the only benefit of being a Microsoft "Partner") and rarely used it. I used StarOffice / OpenOffice preferentially.

The only thing actually frustrating about OpenOffice or LibreOffice is imperfect compatibility with MS formats, which only matters if you have to work with those files. Otherwise, it's simply a very shallow learning curve, and is only frustrating to people for whom learning is frustrating. For those folks, pretty much anything is frustrating.

All MS-Office has in its favor is inertia. It's very strong inertia, but just inertia nonetheless. People don't want to have to convert their files and lose their macros, which is understandable. But if you standardize around the open format to start with, none of that matters.

Rich
 
pbramlett said:
You could also get a subscription to MS office 365 personal, it runs 69.00 a year.
Click to expand...



midlifeflyer said:
You can sometimes get it for less, but even at that price, if you are into putting stuff in the cloud in a big way, it's pretty much free since it includes 1 Tb.
Click to expand...


This.

I've done the "not real Office" thing more than once and always end up receiving some unholy complex document either in technical writing in Word or more often, some crazy cool and totally proprietary Excel thing that drives me back into keeping a copy on a machine somewhere.

But O365 personal is a really decent deal if you need/want the TB of free remote storage. Plus you get both PC and Mac versions of everything and before they went free with them, the mobile versions.

(I haven't found the mobile versions all that useful or necessary and they do take up considerably more space than Apple or other third party readers and editors. Be forewarned. They're not small.)

Even at $99 a year it was a decent deal. It's better now. I only wish I could add on a couple more licenses since between Karen and I there are seven "machines" that I could put Office on. (Some virtual machines...) So two of them have to lose. Or use old copies of the boxed stuff I still have lying around. But I'd prefer to keep them all on the same version if I could. Don't really want two subscriptions though. That's beyond the reasonable line for me. Haha. ;)
 
evapilotaz said:
Boy are you guys cheap or what? Don't want to shell out the Money for MS office.
Neither would I so it's a good thing I get my apps for free from work.
Click to expand...

I used to, but when I retired I had to delete all those programs and give back the CDs. Terrible having to pay full price for MS Office now. And the home version doesn't include Outlook, the most useful part to me.
 
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