# Microsoft Office Replacement



## Randy B. Singer (Jul 23, 2005)

For anyone who is considering a new (supported) word processor, and who doesn't like Microsoft's product(s), I highly recommend checking out:

FreeOffice (free)
https://www.freeoffice.com/en/

It has a nicer interface than MS Word, in my testing it has shockingly good compatibility with Word format files (both rendering and saving), and it's absolutely free. There is a commercial version with more features, but the free version is all that most folks will ever need. Since it's free, it's worth checking out. 

A few days after downloading and registering the free version, the company will e-mail you an offer for the commercial version for only $20. Which is entirely worth it if you like the free version, if for no other reason than to support the company.


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## Randy B. Singer (Jul 23, 2005)

Comparison chart of the features and costs of each version of FreeOffice/SoftmakerOffice:
https://www.softmaker.com/en/comparison-freeoffice-softmaker-office


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Unfortunately, the free version is 32-bit only *(EDIT: My bad, I was looking at the Windows line on the chart-MR)*, has no spellcheck, and lacks some formatting options (especially around tables).

The 64-bit paid version ($89.99) may be worth it if you work in only one language (spellcheck); the $124 version gives you multiple spellcheck dictionaries.

It boils down to how much you want to get away from Microsoft...

I've been using and advocating LibreOffice as a very capable alternative, but there's something consistently wrong with the display fonts... I just haven't taken the time to investigate to see if it's my problem or something generally wrong with fonts in that app.


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## Randy B. Singer (Jul 23, 2005)

CubaMark said:


> Unfortunately, the free version is 32-bit only,


That's incorrect. The Free Macintosh version is entirely 64-bit. It says so on their Web site and I just checked it with ArchiChect.



CubaMark said:


> has no spellcheck,


That's incorrect. The Free Macintosh version comes with a quite capable open source spellchecker. The commercial version(s) comes with an additional commercial spellchecking dictionary.

Comparison chart of the features and costs of each version of this product from Softmaker (note that the product comes in either a one-time payment version, or optionally as a subscription, your choice):
https://www.softmaker.com/en/comparison-freeoffice-softmaker-office



CubaMark said:


> and lacks some formatting options (especially around tables).


That is likely so. But most folks seem to be happy with the feature set of the free version. For those who try the Free version and like it, you can move up to the commercial versio, with even more features, for next to nothing (see below).



CubaMark said:


> The 64-bit paid version ($89.99) may be worth it


There are three versions: Free, Standard/Universal, and Professional. The Standard/Universal version is US $70, but if you download the Free version and register it folks have found that they have received via e-mail an offer in a couple of weeks for the Standard/Universal version for only US $20 (sorry, I don't know the conversion rate into Canadian).

Just about no one needs the professional version. All that it adds over Standard/Universal is foreign language dictionaries and remote administration scripts for use on an office network.

I highly recommend that folks check out the free FreeOffice for themselves. I suspect that you will be surprised and delighted by it. And it sure would be nice to get away from Microsoft's hegemony.


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Randy B. Singer said:


> That's incorrect. The Free Macintosh version is entirely 64-bit. It says so on their Web site and I just checked it with ArchiChect.


*My bad,* I was looking at the Windows line on the chart.



Randy B. Singer said:


> That's incorrect. The Free Macintosh version comes with a quite capable open source spellchecker. The commercial version(s) comes with an additional commercial spellchecking dictionary.


*My bad #2,* I shouldn't compute when it's late and I'm tired 



Randy B. Singer said:


> I highly recommend that folks check out the free FreeOffice for themselves. I suspect that you will be surprised and delighted by it. And it sure would be nice to get away from Microsoft's hegemony.


Thanks, Randy. I will have a look. While I'd like to find a way to make LibreOffice work as I need it to, I may very well have to go another way. I'll check it out. 

Cheers!


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## Randy B. Singer (Jul 23, 2005)

CubaMark said:


> Thanks, Randy. I will have a look. While I'd like to find a way to make LibreOffice work as I need it to, I may very well have to go another way. I'll check it out.


I am the head of a very large Macintosh User Group (MUG) for attorneys. (MacAttorney.) We've been hoping for a viable alternative to Microsoft Word for ages. Every year I give all the OpenOffice-based products a whirl to see if they are there yet. Unfortunately, even after all these years, LibreOffice isn't there yet. It's biggest failing is rendering Word documents with complex formatting.

I opened up a complex document that none of the OpenOffice-based products have ever been able to render perfectly in FreeOffice (my legal pleading template)...and I gasped as I realized that it rendered perfectly!

FreeOffice is the real deal. And the US$20 deal that they will send you via e-mail for SoftMaker Office Standard once you have downloaded the Free version, is a bargain. I hope everyone finds it to be satisfactory for their needs. If so, we can all send Microsoft GIF's of our behinds instead of the subscription fee that they want us to pay in perpetuity.


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