LibreOffice 7.1 review - The Uncertainty Principle

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by Mrkvonic, Feb 26, 2021.

  1. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Happy Friday. Or is it? Well, I've written a review of LibreOffice 7.1, a free, cross-platform office suite, covering installation, basic usage, UI layout changes and associated problems, HD scaling and icon issues, various visual artifacts, Microsoft Office compatibility, styles, performance, other observations, and more. Have fun, perhaps.

    https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/libreoffice-7-1-review.html


    Cheers,
    Mrk


    MODS: Merge if needed.
     
  2. blacknight

    blacknight Registered Member

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    Good work Mrkvonic. I especially liked " MS Office compatibility " and the Conclusion. :thumb:
     
  3. Joxx

    Joxx Registered Member

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    Thanks.
     
  4. Buddel

    Buddel Registered Member

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    +1
    MS Office compatibility (or a lack thereof) plays a major role here. The compatibility issues are the main reason why I abandoned Libre Office a couple of months ago and returned to MS Office. I'm a happy camper again.
     
  5. longshots

    longshots Registered Member

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    And they are the two reasons, in that order, why Linux struggles to be a competitive alternate to Windows.
     
  6. blacknight

    blacknight Registered Member

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    It's also true that Microsoft Office in every new version add a lot of features, sometimes confusing, that hardly need to an home or a common user.
     
  7. reasonablePrivacy

    reasonablePrivacy Registered Member

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    Free version of Google Docs is enough for most home use-cases.
    Funny thing is that web version of Microsoft Word has worse compatibility with OOXML than Google Docs or Libre Office. If you just open some OOXML document then it is ok, but if you try to edit it.... it is not pleasant experience.
     
  8. wat0114

    wat0114 Registered Member

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    Hi @Mrkvonic

    the official website does mention that the older 7.0.4 version without the latest features has at least been tested longer, which seems to be the version suggested for business use.
     
  9. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Well, I'd like a promise of some sort of LTS, plus excellent cross-format compatibility. Without that, I can't really use LO for serious stuff. The usage breaks any time I have to exchange data with ordinary folks - or publishers.
    Mrk
     
  10. wat0114

    wat0114 Registered Member

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    Understood. I was just wondering if the older LTS is a bit more stable/more Office-compatible than the latest.
     
  11. shmu26

    shmu26 Registered Member

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    I have serious compatibility problems with old and new versions alike. LibreOffice just can't properly display the Word docs that people send me, which makes it next to worthless for my purposes. On the other hand, Google and WPS Office fail at this task as well, so I can't blame LibreOffice for not accomplishing Mission Impossible. Apparently, only MS Office is compatible with MS Office, and that's that.
     
  12. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    There are a number of free suites that claim to be compatible with Office and if any of them had an Outlook equivalent I would try them, but none do. It's Outlook that makes MS Office (Business version) necessary for me. If any of the free, or more affordable, suites ever serve up an email/calendaring app like Outlook then they would be viable alternatives. On second thought, I would consider using a free, Word compatible word processor that fully supports dark mode. I use dark mode as much as possible and having to use Word 2013 without it is painful.
     
  13. reasonablePrivacy

    reasonablePrivacy Registered Member

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    What makes Outlook so special for you? Plugins/addons?
     
  14. n8chavez

    n8chavez Registered Member

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    It is not. Both versions seem to have the same issues. But according to the changelog, 7.1 has the most updated filters.
     
  15. n8chavez

    n8chavez Registered Member

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    The closest thing to outlook I think you can find is Mailbird. It is not part of a suite, but it does correctly use and configure exchange calenders and server-side email rules. I think that's the closest non-outlook client you're going to find. FYI, from my tests, the closest office suite with near perfect compatibility to MSO is Softmaker Office (excluding the now-banned WPS office).
     
  16. Firecat

    Firecat Registered Member

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    Hi Mrkvonic,

    Much into physics with these reviews, are we? :D
     
  17. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Well, one can't help it.
    Mrk
     
  18. wat0114

    wat0114 Registered Member

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    Too bad, and certainly not unexpected. I've seen the incompatibilities with Office myself on rare occasion I use LibreOffice. There's just no substitute for MS Office. I'm just glad I get a huge corporate discount on Office Pro.
     
  19. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    I just like the way Outlook integrates email and calendaring. I could do both in the browser, but I like the extra flexibility of the standalone app.
     
  20. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    Thanks I'll have a look at Mailbird.

    Thanks for the suggestion. I actually have Softmaker FreeOffice on an old laptop. The latest version supports dark mode so I need to have a look at TextMaker.
     
  21. Brummelchen

    Brummelchen Registered Member

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    I have lost trust for 13 years as it was called "Open Office", thus "Libre Office" was no competitor here. I have settled on Softmaker Office (Pro, Paid). But, LO has more advantages as Open Office/Apache Office. Best Choice for free and OS. MS Office has no competition, it is the successor in office within.
     
  22. Chuck57

    Chuck57 Registered Member

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    Still have LibreOffice here, but my go to is WPS Office. I've been using it for a long time, and have not yet had a problem with DOCX compatibility in 3 manuscripts, each over 70,000 words. I suppose if I got a complaint about it, I could open the problem script in Word online and fix things that way.
     
  23. chrisretusn

    chrisretusn Registered Member

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    I prefer LibreOfifce. I use it every day. I've had no real issues sharing documents. I don't share much anyway.

    I have some complex spreadsheets used for accounting. I tried them once in Excel , not to bad but external links and Excel don't seem to get along.

    In my view it's Microsoft Office that is not compatible with LibreOffice. ;)
     
  24. Chuck57

    Chuck57 Registered Member

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    I've tried v7 and had some formatting problems with DOCX, which everybody wants now. LO handles DOC fine, but the publishers I deal with all want DOCX, as if they don't realize Word will open a DOC file. Since my bank account depends on them, I try to cooperate, and WPS does the job.

    I have not tried FreeOffice, although I do have the download for the latest version saved on an external.
     
  25. reasonablePrivacy

    reasonablePrivacy Registered Member

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    It is the same for me. I've written my bachelor's thesis printed part as OpenDocument Text format using LibreOffice (the other part was source code written in IDE). My supervisor used Microsoft Word to review document and had some complains about feature-parity of review mode of ODT, but it was problem with Microsoft Word not supporting ODT format fully. Finally he managed to insert his comments, so I could edit my thesis in line with them.
     
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