Alternative Program to Microsoft Office

[MikeSA]

Which is the best program (Open Source or Commercial) that is truly an alternative to Microsoft Office and fully compatible?

[rjfvillarosa]

I know a few people using Open Office that are more than happy with it.

Apache OpenOffice - The Free and Open Productivity Suite

[jdeb]

Libra Office, similar to Apache Open Office. Libra Office 3.6 was buggy as all get out, so don't download that version. I still use 3.5 and it is fine.

[Force Flow]

LibreOffice would be my choice. I haven't really noticed any bugs, like jdeb mentions, but I didn't update from 3.5.x until 3.6.2 was released. The current version is 3.6.5, so they've had a few updates after the major 3.6.0 release to work out issues.

OpenOffice is a bit behind the curve in comparison.

[rjfvillarosa]

I will have to take a look at Libra Office.

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa I will have to take a look at Libra Office.

Just so as we don't confuse folks, it's "LibreOffice".

Home » LibreOffice

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by Force Flow Just so as we don't confuse folks, it's "LibreOffice".

oops...my bad...

[David M]

LibreOffice and Open Office can open MS Word files, right? Can the files that LibreOffice and Open Office create be opened by MS Word?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by David M LibreOffice and Open Office can open MS Word files, right? Can the files that LibreOffice and Open Office create be opened by MS Word?

Yes and Yes. Libre Office is more mature than the OO. The user has the option to save their file in many flavors of office and others.

[glc]

Originally Posted by David M Can the files that LibreOffice and Open Office create be opened by MS Word?

Yes, if you save them as a Word .doc. I believe that you can set this as the default save.

[edfair]

In the grand scheme of things I have found that open office and LibreOffice are more compatible with MS office than MS office is.

MS has done wonders obsoleting previous versions, making the older forward compatible but insuring that current stuff is difficult to transfer to older versions.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by edfair In the grand scheme of things I have found that open office and LibreOffice are more compatible with MS office than MS office is. MS has done wonders obsoleting previous versions, making the older forward compatible but insuring that current stuff is difficult to transfer to older versions.

At work, there is a lady in the office that has had that experience. She has been crying for Office 2003 back. We talked about different scenarios but according to her boss, she needs to learn the new software (Office 2010). However the boss bent a little and let me install Libre Office for her. She is one happy camper and I think she is in love with me now.

[strollin]

Originally Posted by edfair In the grand scheme of things I have found that open office and LibreOffice are more compatible with MS office than MS office is. MS has done wonders obsoleting previous versions, making the older forward compatible but insuring that current stuff is difficult to transfer to older versions.

I haven't found this to be the case. Newer versions of Office allow you to save in older version formats expressly so they can remain compatible. I just checked in Excel 2010 and a worksheet can be saved in 27 different types such as Office '97-2003 (.xls), Office '07-'10 (.xlsx), OpenDocument (.ods), CSV (,csv), etc... The default in 2010 is to save as an .xlsx but that default can be overridden on a per file basis when saving or the default can be permanently set in Options.

I work everyday with Office 2003, 2007, 2010 & 2013 (I work on a product that's an Excel add-in that needs to work on all the above) and I can save in a format that will be compatible with all of those versions. The only issue you should run into is that certain features (formatting features mostly) may be lost when saving to an older version but Office always warns you of that when saving.

There is no way an older version of a software program can be forward compatible unless the file format NEVER changes or the developer has some crystal ball to see into the future to know what a file format may look like at some later date.

[jdeb]

Formatting has been an issue. I think the lady just can't wrap her arms around the ribbon and she is a known complainer/resistant to change. However, she shows up every day. I have actually gave her boss some class dates at local CC. She has not committed to it yet. I am out of it from here on.