LibreOffice vs. Microsoft Office, Part Deux

The Year of LibreOffice? Perhaps, perhaps not. This is why you will have to read my latest Netrunner Magazine article, pitting the open-source office suite darling against the Microsoft overload. Let's see what gives.

http://netrunner-mag.com/libreoffice-vs-microsoft-office-part-deux/


Cheers,
Mrk

 

Good review, as usual. What do you think about Openoffice? I find it better than Libre, even I did not test this latest release, yet.

 

In some cases a lot of headache can be avoided by simply exporting your document to PDF in LibreOffice. That way you guarantee formatting for say, your CV.

Not only does this approach allow you to use LibreOffice, it also eliminates the likelihood of display issues between different versions of Microsoft's office if you were forced into using Office 97/03/07 etc.

Obviously that isn't ideal for every scenario, but it should allow people to continue using LibreOffice in situations where you are the only person modifying the document.

 

Nice review.

 

Thanks for the review. I'm always keeping an eye out for improved compatibility - unfortunately it looks like they're not there yet. Do you know if the latest OpenOffice fares any better?

 

I will need to install and test.
I have given up on OO since Oracle, but I'll see what gives.
Mrk

 

Thank you. This is actually a great tip that I didn't think about.

 

Good article, I agree 100% with it.

 

Nothing really new here. I arrived at the same conclusions when I used OpenOffice exclusively for an extended period some years ago.

Now LibreOffice is much better and faster (as stated in the article), and the compatibility with Office is better. But the bottom line is still the same: LibreOffice is practical only if the whole work group uses it.

 

Try Kingsoft Office, then you won't need to bother wondering if LibreOffice can replace Microsoft Office.

I've not even worried about installing MS Office on the laptop I use for education, even though I have a licence for it. Kingsoft Office has done everything I have needed for over a year without any compatibility problems, and it's a fairly small installation too.

 

A little off topic, but does exporting to PDF guarantee the document will appear as you exported it? Will the PDF appear the same in all PDF viewers?

And +1 for Kingsoft Office.

 

Yes it will.

 

I transform & save everything to odt in LibreWriter. If someone can't open my docs... well, tough luck.

 

Agree with mattdoc, this is a nice idea

 

There is also another option. After you are done with LO, copy and paste whatever you got into office.com.

 

My experience is that OpenOffice is much more stable and consistent. You know what you're getting.

I've only tried Libreoffice on Linux because Ooo was removed from the repo. Libreoffice felt like a perpetual beta software.
Files that I can open in Ooo cannot be opened in Libre or it can only open read-only.
Saving a file in Libre (doc or odf) sometimes results in a file that can't be opened with either Libre or Ooo.

I have lost many precious working hours because of Libreoffice.

 

I've tried both Kingsoft Office free and Pro version. And it's more than enough.