Microsoft Office alternative?

[newflowers]

Actually, when I purchased computers the last time, 7 years ago, three of them, the MS Professional program/license I purchased allowed me to install three times - which I did one on each computer. That permission was on the case. I don't know when MS changed this, but it doesn't really matter because I'll not be purchasing MS Office again. If I need to buy Publisher, I will, but otherwise, MS and I will part ways.

[sicknero]

I tried Kingsoft but it doesn't seem able to read Open Office spreadsheets which is a shame. I just downloaded the Softmaker one to give that a try, I've used a couple of their free apps before and been quite pleased with them.

[sicknero]

^ I have to say I'm quite impressed with Softmaker so far. I can't speak for its advanced abilities but as an app to quickly open/edit/print a spreadsheet, it seems a lot faster and lighter than many others that I've tried.

[George.J]

Originally Posted by sicknero

^ I have to say I'm quite impressed with Softmaker so far. I can't speak for its advanced abilities but as an app to quickly open/edit/print a spreadsheet, it seems a lot faster and lighter than many others that I've tried.

On a WinXP system, Softmaker will be pretty useful because it's extremely lightweight.

[miskairal]

Originally Posted by newflowers

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions - I really appreciate your assistance. I have to wonder how many other people are unaware of these options and think, as I had before now, that MS Office was the only option.

In my experience I know no one who knows there is an alternative of any sort and when you suggest them they are mortified. I have used Softmaker and OpenOffice and rarely have an issue with them opening microsoft documents. Softmaker is quick and easy, Oo became very slow to load so I tend to never open it any more.I did have issues when microsoft first started using that new format thingy eg docs, but a google search soon resolved it within both OpenOffice and Softmaker.

I find that power point presentations don't autostart but I can cope with using the menu and asking it to play (normally I prefer to scroll through the slides anyway).

Most likely when saving a document for reading by someone else eg. when your daughter submits her work to college, you will have to change the format from the default for the programme you chose to a word doc or excel xls or whatever so they can be read by others. In my experience the leaders in education are the worst culprits for not understanding there are alternatives and more importantly, not accepting files in any other format. My tutor last year complained that whenever he opened files from me he'd get a warning. I told him to get over it, I was using a non microsoft programme and wasn't forking out big $$$ so that the supposedly "educated" could assist microsoft with their attempted monopoly.

Yes I am quite passionate about this topic after seeing so many age pensioners thinking they had to part with their precious $ to be able to type and print a text document because a trial only version of microsoft office was installed on their new computers and no one in the stores ever told them they didn't need it!

Rant over

[CASD]

I like Lotus Symphony, tabbed and seems to work better then KingSoft

[sicknero]

Originally Posted by CASD

I like Lotus Symphony, tabbed and seems to work better then KingSoft

I remember when experience with Lotus was a prerequisite for pretty much any office job :-)

An interesting discussion here about the recent history of Lotus, Open Office, and Apache - http://portableapps.com/node/9357

[EldonW]

I also recommend Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2013. It has the equivalents of MS Office Word, Excel & PowerPoint. The ribbon interface (MS Office 2010) is now available in the free version. The only criticism is although the PPTX format can be opened, edited & even exported to PDF, it cannot be saved. You have to save the file in the old PPT format. DOCX & XLSX can be saved. Also, macros are not available.
Alternative free programs to MS Office Publisher are Serif’s PagePlus Starter Edition & Scribus.
Edit: After replying I noticed the question is 1 year old! I'm not deleting my reply, as it might be usefull to other users.

[kim112200]

Hi Guys,
I've recently re-formatted my laptop and apparently, I've lost my MS Office installers, I don't want to purchase another one, can you recommend an alternative for MS Office? At least for Word docs? Thank you.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by kim112200

Hi Guys,
I've recently re-formatted my laptop and apparently, I've lost my MS Office installers, I don't want to purchase another one, can you recommend an alternative for MS Office? At least for Word docs? Thank you.

Did you see the review here?

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best...fice-suite.htm