MS Office alternatives?

[Horse]

Anyone have experience (successful or otherwise) using alternatives to Microsoft Office?

[KungFooBob]

Free:

Open Office
Libre Office

Paid:

G Suite/Workspace

A lot depends if you want to install software on your computer, or if you're happy to use browser apps.

[wheelnut]

There are alternatives, as mentioned above, but they are generally quite poor.

[KungFooBob]

Google Workspace is great as an Office alternative if you're happy with browser apps, but then the browser app version of Office is dirt cheap too.

Libre office is good as a 'free' option, but don't expect documents to convert between Office and open standards without any mis-formatting. It's good, but it's not prefect.

I'd say a lot of it comes down to if/how you use cloud storage.

[Horse]

I'm looking to set up a standalone laptop, running Windows, for a small business that's working to a tight budget. No personal use at all. Likely to have other business-specific software too.

Probably all installed rather than online so, presumably, excludes Google?

[Horse]

There are alternatives, as mentioned above, but they are generally quite poor.

Any first (or second) hand experiences?

[Slenver]

I wouldn't even consider using Office unless it's foisted on me by work. Hateful thing.

Google Drive is what I'd usually use, and pretty much the de facto standard in digital businesses that are still small enough to decide their own software before they get IT departments to force MS on them.

It is of course browser-based rather than standalone apps, so would be discounted if that's a requirement. Does it matter though? Works offline just as well, not really a limitation these days.

[Horse]

It is of course browser-based rather than standalone apps, so would be discounted if that's a requirement. Does it matter though? Works offline just as well, not really a limitation these days.

No, not a requirement at all. Perhaps my misunderstanding and assuming that it would only work when online.

[Felix]

Been using Libre Office for a good 5 years now with no issues and very compatible with Microsoft office and even looks like Microsoft office, or at least 2007 what was what i last had.

[Mussels]

I find alternatives to MS office are limited but usually enough for most people who only want basic features. I used Libre office a few years back and it was perfectly adequate.

[Slenver]

It is of course browser-based rather than standalone apps, so would be discounted if that's a requirement. Does it matter though? Works offline just as well, not really a limitation these days.

No, not a requirement at all. Perhaps my misunderstanding and assuming that it would only work when online.

No, it works well. There are still local files, it's just they only load in the browser and can only sync back to the online master copy when online.

[Horse]

It is of course browser-based rather than standalone apps, so would be discounted if that's a requirement. Does it matter though? Works offline just as well, not really a limitation these days.

No, not a requirement at all. Perhaps my misunderstanding and assuming that it would only work when online.

No, it works well. There are still local files, it's just they only load in the browser and can only sync back to the online master copy when online.

Being Google, does that mean that it reviews document content and then influences ads etc?

[Slenver]

No, not a requirement at all. Perhaps my misunderstanding and assuming that it would only work when online.

No, it works well. There are still local files, it's just they only load in the browser and can only sync back to the online master copy when online.

Being Google, does that mean that it reviews document content and then influences ads etc?

There aren't any ads. Within the product itself that it.

Just checked their policy on using the content for ads elsewhere are they say: "We don’t use information in apps where you primarily store personal content – including Google Docs, Sheets & Slides – for advertising purposes. End of story."

[Count Steer]

I started using Google Sheets (after a recommendation on here) for a couple of things as part of a plan for when my laptop gets retired. It doesn't feel that different from Excel. Big + about the cloud is version control as I can work on things from phone or tablet without worrying about creating multiple versions.

(We have two paid for MS Office licences and I could use mine on my laptop and it let me use Office on my Android devices. Got a new tablet and now it wants me to pay a subscription as well - to that).

[ChrisW]

(We have two paid for MS Office licences and I could use mine on my laptop and it let me use Office on my Android devices. Got a new tablet and now it wants me to pay a subscription as well - to that).

That's odd...we have an Office 365 sub (handy for various reasons - I'm used it, kids us MS apps at school, includes 1tb cloud storage) which lets me use it on PC, Mac, IOS and iPad. I'll be disappointed if that stops being true!

Re the budget work computer - if it's just basic word processing & spreadsheets that are needed how about a cheap second hand Mac using Page & Numbers?

[Horse]

Re the budget work computer - if it's just basic word processing & spreadsheets that are needed how about a cheap second hand Mac using Page & Numbers?

I'm anticipating that the laptop supplied will be free, with a fresh install of Windows

[Slenver]

Re the budget work computer - if it's just basic word processing & spreadsheets that are needed how about a cheap second hand Mac using Page & Numbers?

TBH, as a Mac user I'd still use Google Docs over the Apple stuff. Pages and Numbers are absolutely fine but very simple compared to the Google stuff and you lose out on cross-platform operability. Mind you, for presentations Keynote is way above anything else.

[Ditchfinder]

We use google docs here at work and we're not missing any functionality. If you need to do complex things with excel you might hit a few bumps but it's solid and collaboration is so much easier. It's cut down on email traffic and people working on different versions of the same document significantly.

[Count Steer]

(We have two paid for MS Office licences and I could use mine on my laptop and it let me use Office on my Android devices. Got a new tablet and now it wants me to pay a subscription as well - to that).

That's odd...we have an Office 365 sub (handy for various reasons - I'm used it, kids us MS apps at school, includes 1tb cloud storage) which lets me use it on PC, Mac, IOS and iPad. I'll be disappointed if that stops being true!

Re the budget work computer - if it's just basic word processing & spreadsheets that are needed how about a cheap second hand Mac using Page & Numbers?

I retired a Samsung tablet (well, it retired itself) and bought a (much) bigger one. I'd been using Office apps quite happily on the old one (and my phone) as it accepted I had a licence as per my MS account. I cannot get past the subscription stuff on the new one. That may be my failure but I've tried every which-way....MS says no.

In the end I decided it was probably time for me to move off MS completely anyway but will leave the other MS/Office installation on wife's business PC as she still swaps Office docs around with quite a few people.

[Slenver]

In the end I decided it was probably time for me to move off MS completely anyway but will leave the other MS/Office installation on wife's business PC as she still swaps Office docs around with quite a few people.

You can of course convert from most other systems to Office formats, so swapping around is usually ok. I say 'usually' because some fussy formatting stuff might get lunched, but if it's fairly basic text docs or spreadsheets then it's no problem.