Best alternative to MS Office?

[Younggun]

Since MS office is a subscription service now, what is the best free alternative for windows.

I’m not comfortable just downloading free software off the internet to see what works vs what will kill my computer.


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[toddnjoyce]

How do you feel about Google’s offering?

I used OpenOffice for a long while and was happy with it. It’s now LibreOffice

Home | LibreOffice - Free Office Suite - Based on OpenOffice - Compatible with Microsoft

Free office suite – the evolution of OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx. Updated regularly, community powered.

www.libreoffice.org

 

[Byrd666]

Open Office

Used it for years on my Windows O/S computers without issue

https://www.openoffice.org/

 

[Bozz10mm]

The only one I've tried is Open Office. It's kind of clunky and outdated looking but it works.

 

[Rhino]

Open Office.

 

[Vaquero]

What they said

 

[benenglish]

Libre Office is on my primary computer.

 

[SQLGeek]

Libre Office is pretty good but not perfect. Google's offering is quite good too.

 

[Younggun]

This is mostly just to open and read word, excel, and pdf docs. Not really concerned with creating anything.


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[benenglish]

PDF readers can be problematic if you're on Windows. Make sure you don't just download something assuming it's the same as any other program. They have been compromised in the past and used to insert malicious code. In fact, there was a big case, many years ago, where the "official" Adobe reader (that people had gotten used to downloading from anywhere) was compromised and lots of people had problems.

It wasn't the official version, of course, but many versions in the wild had been turned into a virus-injection tool before folks noticed the problem. The only one you could really trust was the one on Adobe's web site.

Proviso: That was a long time ago and I'm not familiar with the current state of the art on these subject. Seek expertise from someone more up-to-date before you take my word on anything.

 

[IXLR8]

Libre Office is in all of my VM’s. Works good unless you are macro-centric.

Fox-it for a .pdf reader. Just pay attention when installing to not add any extras.

 

[Tactical Panda]

Just FYI, Microsoft Office can still be had for a 1 time purchase of $150. Price is stupid high, but cheaper than 365 in the long run.

Microsoft Home & Student

 

[Daley_G]

The only one you could really trust was the one on Adobe's web site.

Proviso: That was a long time ago and I'm not familiar with the current state of the art on these subject. Seek expertise from someone more up-to-date before you take my word on anything.

Ben's advice is still very relevant. Every site that hosts PDF's has a link to download the Adobe reader, and if memory serves the compromise he outlined is from at least one site where the download link pointed to a compromised installer - NOT the Adobe site itself. Best thing to do in both emails and websites is to hover over the link before clicking on it so you know where it's taking you, no matter what the scenario is.

As for what's available outside of Microsoft's subscription-based offerings (which they're all moving towards) is probably the G-Suite if you already have a Gmail account. It doesn't have some of the more advanced features that some of the others do but for simply opening and viewing files, it fits the bill. Only problem you might run into is formatting - things may not look the same if they were created in the Microsoft versions - but that compatibility issue will exist in anything that's not Microsoft.

 

[m5215]

Purchase a legal install key from here and install a permanent copy of MS Office on your PC. I have purchased MS software from them for years with no problems as they are a legitimate affiliate for selling MS software. The only downside is that the license is only active on the system you install it on so you can't transfer the software to a different PC but the cost is much lower than buying the standard retail version so the non-transfer limitation is not a big deal at all.

Windows ultimate Activation Product Key | Software license Product Key

Keys Direct is your one stop online platform to buy legitimate product keys for Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows office and others with money back guarantee.

keys.direct

 

[Army 1911]

Not all PDF software are equal. Adobe has the best if you download from the adobe site. Many computers allow you to save or print to a pdf in their system install. Fortunately for me I have presubscription MS office on two macs and my wife's windows thing. On my newest mac I use Libre Office. I prefer MS Office but I won't subscribe beyond the Adobe photography package.

 

[toddnjoyce]

Purchase a legal install key from here and install a permanent copy of MS Office on your PC. I have purchased MS software from them for years with no problems as they are a legitimate affiliate for selling MS software. The only downside is that the license is only active on the system you install it on so you can't transfer the software to a different PC but the cost is much lower than buying the standard retail version so the non-transfer limitation is not a big deal at all.

Windows ultimate Activation Product Key | Software license Product Key

Keys Direct is your one stop online platform to buy legitimate product keys for Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows office and others with money back guarantee.

keys.direct

Their product is not a key, it’s an account.

From the product description:

About This Product
This is an Account, no a KEY.
Randomly Generated USER / PASS
You will get a Username / Password (Will ask for new Password at login)
Install on up to 5 Main Device. MAC, PC, Android, iPhone, or Tablets.
You can Install LOCALLY on ANY PC or MAC
Must be logged in to account to USE.
LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION. No more payments.
Email is PREGENERATED. Cannot be CHANGED.
Will get 5TB OneDrive Access

 

[m5215]

Their product is not a key, it’s an account.

From the product description:

About This Product
This is an Account, no a KEY.
Randomly Generated USER / PASS
You will get a Username / Password (Will ask for new Password at login)
Install on up to 5 Main Device. MAC, PC, Android, iPhone, or Tablets.
You can Install LOCALLY on ANY PC or MAC
Must be logged in to account to USE.
LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION. No more payments.
Email is PREGENERATED. Cannot be CHANGED.
Will get 5TB OneDrive Access

Yes that is the option for Office 365. I went with Office 2021 Pro Plus as it is a standard client install with key activation.

 

[Haystack]

This is mostly just to open and read word, excel, and pdf docs. Not really concerned with creating anything.


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Microsoft offers free viewers that can be downloaded and installed. You can view files only with them, no editing or creating.

 

[kenboyles72]

I second Open Office/Libre Office. I ditched Windoze long time ago and this is what came pre-installed on Linux. Libre Office is just as good or better than MS Office. It supports the same functions, scripts, macros...everything that MS can do. The major issue with folk coming from MS to Libre, is that you have to relearn and find where everything is, some things aren't easy to find. There are a lot of good tutorials on the net for Libre Office. Once you know where everything is, Libre is just as easy as MS to use.

 

[no2gates]

I've been using Open Office for over 5 years now. Tried Libre Office as well. It seems to be very close to Open Office, but for me it opened a bit slower.