Ten best office software packages. Which Microsoft Office is better to install: review of programs Which office to install on windows 7 64

Sales of office space started at the beginning of this year Microsoft package Office 2013. The interface has been updated and new useful features and added integration with online storage SkyDrive, so you can now access your documents almost anywhere. Alas, prices for this popular and quite expensive office suite have now become even higher. Licensing conditions have also become stricter - now one license is intended only for one device, while, for example, in the case Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010, according to the license, provided for the installation of two copies of the program - one on a desktop computer, the second on a portable device (laptop). Of course, you can go the other way - get a so-called household license by subscribing to Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium for RUB 2,149. per year, which at first glance is about four times cheaper. In this case, the application package can be installed on five computers simultaneously, including “some smartphones and tablets.” However, this is also not cheap for home users, because the subscription will have to be renewed annually, and not every user will like the idea of a “cloud” office.

Therefore, the task of choosing an alternative office solution for a home PC is quite relevant, especially since the potential majority of users in practice do not require such a powerful and multifunctional solution as Microsoft Office. Finding affordable or even free alternatives to Microsoft's expensive creation on the market today is not so difficult. Another question is whether they will suit you as a replacement for your usual office product. That is, will they be convenient to use, will they be functional enough from the point of view of the tasks being solved, and how well will they be compatible with Microsoft Office file formats, because MS Office, without a doubt, will continue to be actively used at the corporate level and in the overwhelming majority of cases it will be necessary deal with files created in its environment. Support for the Russian language is also desirable - both at the interface level and in terms of spell checking. Therefore, we will try to evaluate possible options similar alternative solutions taking into account the above aspects.

Free "office"

In addition to MS Office, the list of office products on the market includes many different solutions, which differ in the supported platform and the range of capabilities provided. Among them there are also free office products, the palm of which is quite for a long time belonged to the multi-platform office suite OpenOffice.org. Now the situation has changed - the OpenOffice.org solution has faded into the background, and it has been replaced by a set office applications LibreOffice, developed by the non-profit organization The Document Foundation as a fork of OpenOffice.org. Today this is perhaps the most complete free alternative to the Microsoft office solution. However, LibreOffice is quite heavy and slow. Therefore, users who are willing to sacrifice functionality (see table) in favor of compactness and higher performance should pay attention to the free editions of SoftMaker Office and Kingsoft Office Pro, known on the market under the names SoftMaker FreeOffice and Kingsoft Office Suite Free.

LibreOffice 4.0.2

Developer: The Document Foundation

Websiteprograms: http://www.libreoffice.org/

Distribution size: 184 MB

Work under control: Windows (all versions); There are versions for Mac and Linux

Distribution method: freeware (http://www.libreoffice.org/download)

Price: for free

LibreOffice is an office suite created in 2010 based on the well-known office solution OpenOffice.org. This set of office applications is an open source software product and can be considered as a serious competitor to Microsoft Office, as it offers the same wide functionality. At the same time, the package has Russian-language assemblies, which provide a Russian-language user interface and spell checking, and is characterized by good compatibility with MS Office. True, this solution cannot boast of operating speed - opening and saving documents in LibreOffice (especially in spreadsheets and the presentation editor) takes much more time than in MS Office. But thanks to its powerful tools, LibreOffice is certainly one of the best free alternatives to MS Office today.

When you launch LibreOffice, the main window opens (Fig. 1) with icons for launching the applications included in the package - in particular, the Writer word processor (Fig. 2), Calc spreadsheets (Fig. 3) and the Impress presentation preparation system. The capabilities of the Writer text editor are impressive: support for a table of contents and links, full formatting, automatic spell checking and autocorrection, the ability to include illustrations, etc. Thus, in the editor you can prepare documents with very complex designs - books, brochures, etc. Spreadsheets also include all the functionality necessary for work, including tools for entering complex formulas, creating various diagrams and drawing statistical analysis. Impress's capabilities allow you to prepare impressive multimedia presentations with various kinds of animation and special effects. In addition, LibreOffice includes a database management program, Base, an editor for creating diagrams and sketches, Draw, and a mathematical formula editor, Math. Finally, this office suite includes another useful tool - an in-application module for creating PDF files, with which you can export created documents to PDF format(including in accordance with the ISO PDF/A standard).

Rice. 1. LibreOffice main window

Rice. 2. LibreOffice Writer word processor

Rice. 3. LibreOffice Calc Spreadsheets

When you launch LibreOffice, a main menu opens with icons for launching specific applications: a word processor, spreadsheets, etc. The interface of each application is similar to the Microsoft Office interface, so you can start working in this solution literally immediately after installation. Documents open in different windows. Compatibility with Microsoft formats is implemented at a high level - it is possible to open MS files Office versions from 6.0 to 2010 and saving files in MS Office 97/2000/XP/2003 and MS Office 2007/2010 formats. However, the display of imported documents in some cases is not entirely correct. For example, we noted that Writer paginates DOC documents differently than Word and shifts text in callouts slightly vertically, while Calc can distort the type of chart (depending on the type) and sometimes shifts chart labels.

SoftMaker FreeOffice 675

Developer: SoftMaker Software GmbH

Distribution size: 58.7 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8; there is a version for Linux

Distribution method: freeware (http://www.freeoffice.com/en/download); To use the product you must register and receive a free serial key

Price: for free

SoftMaker FreeOffice is a lightweight version of the commercial product SoftMaker Office 2012, offered on the market in two editions: the basic Standard and the extended Professional (the latter additionally includes " mail client"). The solution is compact, high-performance, minimal requirements for hardware resources and good support for MS Office formats. In addition, the product can work from any flash drive, which allows you to always have it at hand. necessary programs. SoftMaker FreeOffice has Russian-language localization and can be configured for automatic check spelling in Russian (you will need to download and install the Hunspell Russian dictionary). Possibilities free version SoftMaker FreeOffice (compared to SoftMaker Office), of course, is limited, and documents with complex design cannot be created in this office product. It is also impossible to save DOCX, XLSX and PPTX files in it (only reading files in these formats is available); Documents in DOC, XLS and PPT formats can be opened and saved without problems. However, the functionality of this solution is quite sufficient to perform most office tasks faced by home users, so this product is very promising for equipping a home PC.

SoftMaker FreeOffice includes three modules: text editor TextMaker (Figure 4), PlanMaker spreadsheet (Figure 5) and presentation software Presentations. TextMaker will help you prepare a variety of documents with highlighted paragraphs, lists, tables, text-flowing pictures, links, columnar text, and a table of contents using fills and borders. With PlanMaker everything can be done basic operations in tables, including calculations involving functions, the use of named references, data analysis, illustrating calculations with graphs and diagrams, etc. The Presentations presentation software allows you to create easy-to-design presentations with a variety of transitions, animations, audio commentary and video. SoftMaker FreeOffice also includes the ability to export working documents to PDF format.

Rice. 4. Text editor TextMaker (SoftMaker FreeOffice)

Rice. 5. PlanMaker Spreadsheets (SoftMaker FreeOffice)

The application interfaces from the SoftMaker FreeOffice suite are very similar to the interfaces of the corresponding MS Office 2003 applications, so mastering the products requires a minimum of time. Thanks to broad support for all popular office formats, it is possible to open and save files in DOC, XLS and PPT formats for MS Office versions 6.0-2010 (including password protected ones), as well as OpenDocument, RTF, HTML and a number of others documents. For DOCX, XLSX and PPTX files, only opening is implemented. Display created in MS Office documents, as a rule, completely corresponds to the original ones, although exceptions are possible. For example, we noticed that TextMaker in some documents, when displayed, changes the borders of labels, flips text in callouts, and can resize OLE objects. In PlanMaker, we were faced with the inability to work with pivot tables created in MS Excel.

Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012 (8.1.0.3385)

Developer: Kingsoft Software

Distribution size: 39.1 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8

Distribution method: freeware (http://www.kingsoftstore.com/download-office)

Price: for free

Kingsoft Office Suite Free is a free, stripped-down version of the commercial office suite Kingsoft Office Pro from Chinese developers, which is widely known in China under the name WPS Office. This software product has modest dimensions, high speed operation and low demands on system resources (works without problems even on netbooks). The solution has a higher level of compatibility with MS Office (compared to the office suites discussed above), and looks like an office product from Microsoft, and has impressive (albeit limited when compared with Kingsoft Office Pro) functionality. True, this office suite does not have a Russian-language interface, and spell checking in Russian is not up to the task. Nevertheless, the “office” from Chinese developers still looks attractive as an alternative to expensive commercial products for the home PC.

Kingsoft Office Suite Free includes: the Kingsoft Writer word processor (Fig. 6), Kingsoft Spreadsheets (Fig. 7) and the Kingsoft Presentation presentation creation program. The text editor is used to create professional-quality documents with styles, columnar text, colorful tables, charts, and even watermarks. Kingsoft Spreadsheets include all the necessary tools for processing, analysis and graphical representation data, and the Kingsoft Presentation solution can be successfully used to create effective presentations based on thematic templates. Kingsoft Office Suite Free also has a built-in PDF converter that allows you to convert office files (including Word documents, Excel and PowerPoint) to PDF files; If necessary, the generated PDF documents can be password protected from changes.

Rice. 6. Kingsoft Writer word processor

Rice. 7. Kingsoft Spreadsheets

The Kingsoft Office Suite Free office solution resembles Microsoft Office 2003 in appearance: the layout of panels, buttons and commands is copied almost one to one; The functionality is almost completely duplicated. The fundamental difference is only in the support for tabs at the application level, and this is good, because with tabs working with multiple documents becomes more convenient. Compatibility with Microsoft Office is almost 100% - you can open and edit MS Office documents (97/2000/2003/2007/2010) in DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX formats, as well as files in DOT, RTF, XLT formats, CSV, HTML, PPS, etc. True, saving in the new DOCX, XLSX and PPTX formats is not supported, which means you will have to save documents as DOC, XLS and PPT files, but for most users this makes no difference. And in this solution, in terms of compatibility, some distortions are, of course, possible when displaying documents created in MS Office, but after viewing a lot of materials (including very complex structures), we were only able to notice a slightly different distribution of text within paragraphs. This sometimes causes text to move on pages and within captions and callouts.

Office in the clouds

Thanks to the widespread use of the Internet, cloud technologies are becoming closer to us, and an increasing number of different tasks, including working with office documents, are solved in the clouds. An example of this is the Google Docs and Zoho Docs services, which are real online offices with a traditional set of office software. With their help, you can create and edit documents in a word processor, work with spreadsheets and prepare presentations, however, provided you have access to the Internet (you will also need to create your account on the appropriate service).

Of course, the functionality of cloud office solutions turns out to be an order of magnitude lower than that of conventional desktop products (in particular, MS Office). But when working in an online office, you can easily exchange documents with other users and work with them on project materials in real time. In addition, you can edit office documents online from any computer connected to the Internet (including from a computer on which no office package is installed at all) - this is important for users working on different computers. It should also be noted that with a relatively small total volume of documents, you will not have to pay at all for using online services.

Google Docs

Developer: Google

Google Docs is a popular set of office web services, which is rightfully considered the best online solution of its kind. It's easy to use and relatively fast (allowing you to work even on slower connections if necessary), as well as impressive sharing capabilities and tight integration with other Google products. Russian-language support is provided at the interface level (you will need to select Russian in the settings), spell checking in Russian is possible, but not all errors are highlighted (apparently, the built-in dictionary does not include all terms). The level of compatibility with MS Office documents leaves much to be desired. The total amount provided for Google service Docs space is currently limited to 5 GB, additional space is paid for (25 GB - $2.49 per month, 100 GB - $4.99 per month).

Google Docs includes the text editor Google Document (Fig. 8), the spreadsheet processor Google Spreadsheets (Fig. 9) and the service for creating Google Presentations presentations. There is also a toolkit for preparing various diagrams, diagrams, drawings - Google Drawing and creating forms for surveys - Google Form. The formatting options for created documents are minimal, so the service is more suitable for preparing simple materials, spreadsheets and presentations. But the functionality designed for collaboration with documents will allow you to organize private access with certain rights (editing or reading) to specific documents for selected users, which will provide the ability to effectively coordinate materials during their preparation. All materials are placed in collections (Fig. 10) and can be created from scratch or downloaded ready-made in popular file formats.

Rice. 8. Google Document Text Editor

Rice. 9. Google Spreadsheets spreadsheet processor

Rice. 10. Organize documents on Google Docs

The interface of all applications included in Google Docs is very spartan and includes a minimum of tools and functions, but they are quite sufficient for preparing simple documents. Supports file export and import for most standard formats - including loading and editing MS Office documents in DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT and PPTX formats. Since last fall Google users Docs has lost the ability to export documents to old MS Office 1997-2003 formats (DOC, XLS, PPT), and now export is only possible to DOCX, XLSX and PPTX formats ( HTML formats, RTF, ODT, PDF, etc. are of course supported).

Compatibility with Microsoft Office for complex documents is not yet ideal - a variety of distortions are possible. For example, when opening imported DOC files, you can often see that the text on the pages is distributed differently, and the borders of the tables have disappeared, the contents of the inscriptions are missing or superimposed on other text, pictures torn between pages are also not uncommon, etc. In tables, the situation is the same - some of the formatting settings are discarded, charts often disappear, it is basically impossible to work with pivot tables created in Excel (and the very appearance of such tables may differ greatly from the original one), etc.

Zoho Docs

Developer: ZOHO Corp.

Zoho Docs is the largest office “in the clouds”, which offers two dozen office web services (it’s even possible to work online with databases and a calendar planner), however, many of the services are available only in commercial plans. The text editor and spreadsheets included in Zoho Docs are more functional than their counterparts in Google Docs, but the speed of working with documents in this online office is noticeably slower, and there are more often situations when the servers are unavailable. The interface of a number of office applications has been Russified, the ability to check spelling (including in Russian) has been implemented, but only in a text editor, and such a check is initiated manually. But compatibility with documents created in MS Office is better than in Google Docs. The amount of space provided on the Zoho Docs service and the number of workspaces depends on the selected plan. In the case of the Free tariff, 1 GB of space is allocated and you are allowed to create only one workspace. Commercial tariffs Standard ($3 per month) and Premium ($5 per month) provide free 2 and 5 GB, and the number of workspaces can reach 10 and 50, respectively; It is possible to increase the provided space for files for an additional fee.

Among the basic services of Zoho Docs are the text editor Zoho Writer (Fig. 11), the spreadsheet processor Zoho Sheet (Fig. 12), the solution for creating presentations Zoho Show, as well as the Zoho Notebook and the Zoho Calendar calendar. The document formatting capabilities in Zoho Writer and Zoho Sheet are quite impressive (the same cannot be said about the presentation editor). However, it is still more convenient to create impressively designed complex documents using desktop software products, rather than connecting to online office services. The latter are more interesting to use for quick exchange of materials and when working together on a project - for example, in Zoho Docs you can directly open access (reading or editing) to a series of documents to several users working together within a specific project. It’s even more convenient to create your own thematic workspace for each project and open access to this area to a group of colleagues - as a result, all users of the group will have access to newly added documents automatically (that is, without any effort on your part). Documents and other materials are placed in the Zoho Docs environment into folders and workspaces (Fig. 13); the organization plan also provides the ability to assign tags to files, which may be useful for quickly finding them in the future.

Rice. 11. Text editor Zoho Writer

Rice. 12. Zoho Sheet spreadsheet processor

Rice. 13. Document management in Zoho Docs environment

The interface of the Zoho Docs office applications is designed in the style of MS Office 2007. The range of supported file formats is very wide: you can even download ZIP archives and then unpack them using Zoho Docs and import documents stored on the Google Docs service (however, it can also be distorted in during the import process). For documents in MS Office, support for DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPS, PPTS, PPSX formats is implemented - both import and export.

When importing MS Office documents, some formatting is lost, but the results are often better than the same operation in Google Docs. True, the type of imported documents may be far from the original one. In complex documents created in Word, for example, they may disappear paragraph indentations, table of contents, figures, and all callouts and notes, although basic text formatting is often left unchanged. In turn, font types and sizes often change in spreadsheets, long text in cells it breaks off at the border (in Excel it is visible if the next cell is empty), diagrams and images disappear, etc.

Let's summarize the above. Today you can find a worthy alternative to Microsoft's office product. First of all, these are traditional desktop solutions in the MS Office style, which are well compatible with the formats of Microsoft office products and allow you to prepare materials that are very complex in design. In fact, you can prepare almost any document created in Word, Excel or PowerPoint in the considered alternative stationary applications (it is possible, however, that with less convenience). In addition, you can resort to the services of online offices - they have sufficient functionality for preparing simple documents, spreadsheets and presentations and are very convenient when you need to collaborate.

If you don't need all the power of MS Office products on home computer, then you can save money by limiting yourself to a free desktop office in the form of one of the software products we reviewed. As for online office services, in our opinion, it is more reasonable to use them for exchanging documents and quickly approving them in real time. If the materials used during collaboration do not have a complex design and there are no problems with the Internet, then this way of editing and commenting on documents while working on a project can be very convenient and effective. It’s a different matter when finalizing large, complexly structured and impressively designed documents previously created in the MS Office environment. You may be disappointed here, since in practice compatibility with Microsoft office formats in Office Services is far from perfect, and editing large documents is slow.

It is difficult to imagine a working computer without a set of programs such as Microsoft Office. It includes everything you need to work with documents, spreadsheets, presentations, mail and many other files and services. But Microsoft Office for Windows is not free program, which comes bundled with the operating system, it must be purchased separately for an additional fee, which is quite significant. Not all owners of a PC with an operating system decide to buy Office for a computer in order to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other applications. Windows system. And, if you still need an office suite, the right solution would be to look for analogues of the above-mentioned applications. In this article, we’ll look at which free office to download for Windows so that it has functionality as close as possible to a Microsoft product.

Table of contents:

Free office suite - LibreOffice

Perhaps the most famous suite of free office applications for Windows is LibreOffice. It can be downloaded from the developers website. It is compatible with any versions operating system from Microsoft, and has been translated into dozens of languages, including Russian. Free use of the program is completely legal, not only for private use, but also for corporate use, as a result of which many entrepreneurs install LibreOffice on their employees’ computers in the office.

Program LibreOffice is a set of applications that allow you to work with various data: text documents (all popular formats), spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, databases, formulas.

LibreOffice applications are considered one of the best office analogues from Microsoft. With the exception of very specific functions and macros, LibreOffice has everything you need (and more) to work with documents. The programs in the office suite are actively supported by developers, constantly being updated and receiving new functionality.

Free office – OpenOffice

Another set of free office applications that can be compared to LibreOffice. This software package is more suitable for users whose computers are not particularly powerful. This set of office applications is much less demanding on PC performance, but it cannot be said that it lacks any functionality found in LibreOffice.

Please note: ApplicationsOpenOffice is developed by the same developers in parallel. But it develops faster

OpenOffice, like LibreOffice, can work not only with documents and tables, but also with specific data, such as formulas and drawings. It has no problems with compatibility with files saved in the original Microsoft Office, that is, the application can be used to work with docx, xlsx, pptx and other formats.

WPS Office - a new analogue of Microsoft office

Another office suite that definitely needs to be considered when it comes to office analogues from Microsoft. Unlike the options discussed above, the WPS Office suite is relatively new on the market. It is also free, but it supports significantly more formats than OpenOffice or LibreOffice. Accordingly, if you often have to work with documents of “unusual” formats saved in different versions offices, this application will become the best analogue of Microsoft Office.

In the package of documentsWPSOffice includes analoguesMicrosoftWord,MicrosoftExcelMicrosoftPowerPoint and other applications. Even the interface of this program is extremely similar to the original Microsoft Office.

But the WPS Office application also has an obvious disadvantage that definitely needs to be mentioned. The program is distributed free of charge in a trial version. If you want to experience its full functionality, you will need to purchase full package, the cost of which is lower than that of Microsoft Office, but also quite significant.

In trial version Microsoft programs Office does not have the ability to save created documents in many formats (only basic ones are supported), you also cannot use macros, and when printing files in PDF format, they are indicated with an application watermark.

One of the interesting features of the “Documents” office application of the WPS Office suite is the presence of tabs for documents. That is, you do not need to open the program several times, and within one window you can switch between open documents.

Polaris Office

This office suite was created, rather, for foreign users, since the Russian language is not supported. However, the program itself is interesting and the developer is “renowned”, so it is possible that over time the application will receive localization, and then it will be much more comfortable to use.

The office programs included in the Polaris Office suite are very similar in appearance to the original Microsoft Office. At the same time, these applications provide full compatibility with all formats fromWord,Excel andPowerPoint. Another interesting feature of Polaris Office is the ability to use cloud developer services, which makes it possible to synchronize versions of documents on your computer and mobile devices(iOS and Android), where application versions are also present.

Polaris Office also has a paid version, and therefore some restrictions are imposed on the free version. The most significant ones are that there is no ability to search within a document, there is no functionality for exporting to PDF, and the pen is not supported.

Online analogue of the office – Google Docs

If your computer has the Internet and you don’t need a powerful document editor, and you only need the office suite for viewing and minor adjustments to documents, you can use the online solution from Google. In fact, Google Docs is a complete analogue of Microsoft Office in terms of viewing files. But it lacks the “powerful” tools of the Microsoft office suite, such as macros.

SoftMaker FreeOffice

Another set of programs that is positioned as a replacement for paid office from Microsoft. This kit cannot boast of a large set of functions, however, it contains all the options necessary for most users.

Please note: Editing program text documents fromSoftMaker is very much like an applicationWordPad, which is included in the default set of programs for the operating systemWindows.

To use SoftMaker FreeOffice, you need to register your account in it, after which you can use all the functionality for free. It is worth noting that the program has some advantages in comparison with other analogues. For example, it allows you to export documents to PDF format, as well as some other Microsoft formats, with the exception of docx, xlsx, pptx.

Onlyoffice as a replacement for Microsoft Office

The last of the analogues discussed in the article, but far from the least important, is Onlyoffice. The application is interesting because it is included in a single ecosystem with mobile versions programs, and also offers enterprise solutions for document collaboration.

Important: Set office programs Onlyoffice is documents, spreadsheets and presentations. With formulas and images this set applications does not work.

When you think of office software, Microsoft Office is likely the first thing that comes to mind. This is not surprising, since many computers come pre-installed with Windows and MS Office. But in most cases it is trial version and to continue using “office” you need to fork out for an Office 365 subscription. Illegal ways to get full version We will not consider MS Office in this article.

Few people can do without a text editor, applications for working with spreadsheets and presentations. Luckily, there is now an excellent selection of free software for the office. We found best free alternatives to Microsoft Office, the quality of which is no worse than the “original”.

1. WPS Office

Well designed, powerful and flexible WPS Office – best free office software. WPS Office is not a very well-known office suite, but having reviewed its capabilities and functionality, we can say that it is best alternative MS Office.

In terms of appearance, WPS Office is unbeatable. If you've used any recent version of Microsoft Office, you'll immediately feel at home.

WPS Office includes three main applications for working with text, presentations and spreadsheets. The package also offers several additional useful utilities, for example for working with . Not only can you create PDF documents, but also convert PDF to Word and vice versa.

The developers have placed great emphasis on compatibility with MS Office. Each application can also save files in its own formats. This free office suite supported on Windows, Linux and even Android.

2. LibreOffice

Complex free office suite with support for cloud data storage services. If you have used Apache OpenOffice, which is described below, you will immediately notice the identity of its retro design. In many ways, this is the same OpenOffice with some differences. LibreOffice uses the same source code, but benefits in speed of development and frequency of updates. Due to active development, you may come across new useful features, as well as encounter unpleasant bugs.

This office suite comes pre-installed on some distributions and contains many more programs than its competitors: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math and Base.

Those who actively use cloud storage services will appreciate the support Google Drive and the function “ Deleted files" There are also many extensions available to add new features to the package.

3. Apache OpenOffice

Like LibreOffice, this package does not stop at 3 applications, but offers as many as 6, including a program for drawing, presentations, creating formulas, working with databases, calculations and text editing. The impressive thing is that it covers almost all the needs of an office worker.

The open source office suite Apache OpenOffice receives frequent updates and is superior to MS Office. Free license allows you to use it for personal or business purposes. The interface looks a little dated and lags far behind other packages, reminiscent of programs from the 90s.

4. SoftMaker FreeOffice

Gorgeous Microsoft alternative Office with the ability to create e-books

Although SoftMaker FreeOffice is available completely free of charge, you need to go through an activation process to complete the installation and unlock all the software's features.

You'll immediately find that SoftMaker FreeOffice includes three familiar office programs - PlanMaker - a spreadsheet, TextMaker - a text editor, and Presentations - a tool for working with slideshows and presentations.

You can save documents not only in familiar formats, but also as PDF or ePub books. Free office suite available for Windows users, Linux and Android devices. There is also a portable version that works with USB flash drives. We recommend.

5. SSuite Office Premium HD+

Free cross-platform package with a well-chosen set of tools. Even though this package has been optimized for displays high resolution, its design looks a little unattractive. But if you can overlook the imperfect appearance, consider that you have a quality office suite.

If you have to work with different operating systems, this package works seamlessly and looks the same on , Linux and Windows.

The developer of this free alternative MS Office admitted that most people are interested in word processors and email tables, and eliminated the presentation tool you never use. To fill the gap, a variety of other useful tools were deployed, including an image editor, a video conferencing app, a calendar and personal manager, a web browser, and even an envelope printing utility. All the tools are quite simple and reliable.

6. Google Docs

Our review wouldn't be complete if we skipped Google Docs. Google Docs is the online version of office applications. This service allows you to edit text, create tables or slide shows directly in your browser.

The files that the user creates are saved in the Google cloud service. You can download them at any time and continue working on any device, wherever you are. Supports file collaboration, review of changes, and export in all popular formats. This is the best online service for office work.

Bottom line

In this review we looked at the main MS Office alternatives. As you can see, you have quite a large choice among free office packages. Pay attention to the application interface. It is important that it does not take you long to get used to the new design. Choose programs that are as compatible as possible with common formats. Good luck.

Annual income is about a billion dollars. Today, Microsoft Office in one form or another is taken for granted, but attempts to completely legalize it continue to fail at the price barrier. Meanwhile, many developers are ready to offer real alternatives to this most popular set of programs for working with electronic documentation on more favorable terms.

1. Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013

Along with previous version 2010 is the most commonly used set of office programs today (for both corporate and home users). Anyone who activated version 2010 before April 30, 2013 can upgrade for free until May 31, 2013.

The trial version is often pre-installed on new computers and laptops. The distribution contains the largest number of applications for creating documents yourself. different types, their editing and collaboration - see the short presentation.

An extensive library of templates is available, it is possible to download Additional materials from the Microsoft website. Here it is worth remembering the “90/10 rule”. According to one of his interpretations, 90 percent of users use 10 percent functionality programs.

In fact, the office software package from Microsoft is a de facto standard, the disadvantages of which include resource intensity and high price. The professional version will cost more than 15,000 rubles.

Microsoft Office 2013 comes in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Both require Windows 7/8 installed and hardware support for DirectX v.10, so will not work on older computers. The speed of the programs is relatively low due to the heavy interface and strong fragmentation of components (their total volume after installation takes up about three gigabytes). The speed problem is partially solved with the help of an SSD and/or large capacity random access memory. The x64 version requires at least 2 GB of RAM.

2. Microsoft Office 365

A product similar in functionality, but different in operating logic. If Microsoft Office up to version 2013 was distributed as classic boxed distributions for installation and local use, then Office 365 is offered as a subscription and is a cloud-based solution.

Office 365 is more convenient for collaborating on projects. It is focused on corporate users and owners of laptops with a permanent Internet connection. In addition to the classic set of office programs, the cloud service offers a set of web tools for planning, access to SkyDrive online storage and free regular backups on the company’s servers.

3. LibreOffice v.4.0.x

A fully featured, free, open source, cross-platform office suite. Works on computers under Linux control, Windows 2000 SP4 and higher, runs even on ancient configurations with Pentium III and 256 MB of RAM. It takes up about one and a half gigabytes of disk space (half as much as Microsoft Office 2013). Requires installation of the free Java Runtime Environment component, which is usually present on most computers.

LibreOffice supports most common formats, including Office OpenXML (files with extensions .docx; .xlsx; .pptx and others). Due to the implementation of this format, which is selected by default in Microsoft Office 2007 and newer versions, it is supported in all third party programs significantly limited. Problems still arise if you try to edit complexly formatted documents in LibreOffice created in Microsoft Office and saved in the Office OpenXML format.

The main document format used by LibreOffice itself is ODF (OpenDocument Format). It complies with GOST R ISO/IEC 26300-2010, which came into force on June 1, 2011. Its support has been included in Microsoft Office since version 2007 SP2. Actually, there is no reason to stick with the Office OpenXML format, other than the fact that it is offered by default in Microsoft products. There are half a dozen other equally convenient formats.

4. Apache OpenOffice v.3.4.x

In fact, it is the predecessor of LibreOffice, developing separately from it. Besides Linux and Windows everyone current versions, Apache OpenOffice is supported by Mac OS X, OpenSolaris and FreeBSD. There is even a portable version that does not require installation. OpenOffice with all your personal settings and templates can be carried on a flash drive and run on almost any computer.

The commercial version of another package, InfraOffice.pro, from Infra-Resource, is based on OpenOffice. It contains additional cryptography tools, original design and a set of various improvements. InfraOffice.pro can also be used as a portable assembly on a flash drive. Current value– 646 rubles. The version is especially relevant for commercial use, as it completely removes the specific problems of the software licensing process.

5. Corel Office

The distribution turned out to be extremely lightweight, since it contains only a set of the most commonly used programs - a text editor, spreadsheets and an application for creating presentations.

The software package can even work on old computers with Windows XP and a screen resolution of 800x600 or higher. The single language version takes up only 125 MB after installation. Both early and latest versions of Microsoft Office formats are supported. Integrated support for cloud solutions works through the Dropbox service.

Corel Office is optimal for netbooks and low-performance configurations. The current price for one license is 45 euros.

A distribution kit with extended functionality of Corel WordPerfect Office X6 is available only on English language. Additionally, it includes the Nuance PaperPort 12 SE document manager and PDF editing tools.

6. Ashampoo Office 2012

Like Corel Office, this distribution is limited to the three most current applications: TextMaker (similar to Word), PlanMaker (similar to Excel) and Presentations (replacement for PowerPoint).

Support for Microsoft Office formats includes latest versions. Saving to PDF is also available. The cost of a license is 1,200 rubles, and an update costs 300 rubles.

This office suite can be installed on a flash drive and used in the portable version. During such an installation, you will notice that the destination directory is called SoftMaker Office 2012. This is because the Ashampoo Office code is partially licensed from the German company SoftMaker Software - the authors of the next set of office programs under consideration.

7. SoftMaker Office 2012

A compact distribution of three basic applications, the main code of which was included in Ashampoo Office 2012. The professional version additionally includes an email client with task scheduler and contact library management functions.

SoftMaker Office 2012 is available in fourteen languages, including Russian. It supports ODF and all Microsoft Office formats. There are versions for Windows (since XP), Linux and Android (since v.2.2). Price basic version Windows is $80 and Professional is $100.

8. Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012

This distribution was developed in China, but this fact should hardly be considered a disadvantage. Most programs today are written by programmers from China or India.

Like many of the alternatives discussed above, Kingsoft Office includes three main programs: text document and spreadsheet editors and an application with the self-explanatory name Presentation.

Among distinctive features the latter – support for flash graphics (.swf) and the ability to display presentations in different modes simultaneously on two monitors. To protect files, encryption using the RC4 algorithm with a key length of 128 bits is used.

The distribution is extremely lightweight (68 MB) and undemanding in terms of resources. Minimum system requirements record lows: Pentium II and 128 MB of RAM.

So far the program still has problems with Russification, but the purpose of most elements user interface understandable without translation.

The main difference between Kingsoft Office is the ability to legally use it for free for home users and educational institutions. A commercial license will cost a little more than two thousand rubles (the actual price is tied to the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate).

Nominally, almost all alternative developments now support Office OpenXML, but this office suite works with such files only for opening, saving them after editing in any other format.

9. SSuite Office

This unusual product is distinguished by an abundance of versions with interface optimization for different screen resolutions and system requirements. Personal Edition is a modern minimalistic distribution. It is great for very old computers (works even in Windows environment 95) and monitors with a resolution of 800×600. There is a separate version of Excalibur Release, aimed primarily at owners of netbooks with a specific screen resolution of 1024x600. OmegaOffice HD+ version for FullHD screens is also available.

All distributions are as lightweight as possible (from 20 to 40 MB) and contain from six to eighteen programs, including the Tetris game. All of them install without rebooting and do not require Java or .NET. Personal and Deluxe Edition works on all versions of Windows (from 95 to 8 inclusive). The release “The Fifth Element” is intended for users of Windows 95 – XP. "Excalibur", "Premium" and "Omega" are designed for the Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7/8 line.

10. Google Docs

This is a set of three main online services that replace the installation of any office software package on local computer. To connect to them you only need free client Google Drive– watch the presentation video.

Versions for Windows XP, Vista and 7 are already ready. Work is underway on a client for Windows 8. Currently, MacOS (v.10.6 and higher), iOS and Android are also supported. You can work with documents from your smartphone without even copying them in advance. There is still no full-fledged local client for Linux users, but there are simple, unofficial ways to use the service.

Documents, tables, presentations - everything can be viewed and edited directly in the browser window, and joint work is allowed. The only thing required is an Internet connection (not necessarily high-speed). Officially supported Chrome browsers, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer, but usually everything works in others.

Among the available formats there are all common ones, including OpenDocument and Office OpenXML. User files are stored on the company's servers with the ability to export to any local media. Backups are created automatically and are available for a month. 5 GB free initially cloud storage. Additional volume can be purchased according to the prices of the selected tariff plan.

Have you ever had to choose which Microsoft Office is best to install on your home or work computer terminal, because today you can find a lot of available versions of it? Yes, sure! However, not all users clearly understand which software product should be preferred, not only based on its basic capabilities, but also taking into account some of the subtleties of working with it, not to mention the configuration of their own computer (laptop) in terms of installed hardware and operating system systems. Let's try to figure out which of all the packages available for installation is better and installing which of them will be the optimal solution in each specific case.

Which Microsoft Office is better: general description of packages

What should you consider when choosing an office suite?

These are the main versions of the office suite that are offered for installation by Microsoft itself. Which Microsoft Office is better, based on only the versions presented? In principle, it is quite difficult to answer this question, since you also need to take into account what operating system you have installed and what hardware is used in the computer.

For example, it is believed that for Windows 7 the best choice would be to install Office 2013. If you invariably follow technical innovations and want to use the latest versions of the package, immediately pay attention to the hardware, because packages released in 2016 and higher are very resource-demanding. Do not forget that the operating system can consume an incredible amount of them. Therefore, if your PC or laptop meets only the minimum requirements of Windows itself, do not chase innovations and install a simpler office suite.

Which Office is preferable for Windows XP?

Despite the fact that the version of the XP operating system is already hopelessly a thing of the past, it is still used very widely. Which Microsoft Office is better for Windows of this modification? It is believed that even version 2007 can be installed in this OS, however, after eliminating some of the vagaries on the part of the system itself.

But the optimal solution is still to use Office 2003, which practically does not load system resources, and many users who are not accustomed to the interface of the new packages find it much more convenient to work with. In principle, if you are a supporter of this particular version, you can even install it in Windows 10. Anyway, all the latest Office modifications have full support standard 2003 formats, and saving created documents in the new default formats (DOCX, XLSX, etc.) is completely optional. If you need to open files of new formats, in addition to the main package, you can install a special converter that allows you to work with documents of new standard extensions.

Selecting standard “Office” for Windows 7

It has already been partially said which version of Microsoft Office is better for the “seven”. In principle, if you don’t need advanced functionality, you can really stick with the 2013 modification. By and large, all subsequent versions of the office suite do not differ much from each other - neither in the interface, nor in the available tools for working with documents. There is absolutely no point in installing versions optimized for touch control, since the operating system itself does not support this input method.

Which Microsoft Office is best for Windows 10?

Despite the fact that Windows 7 and newer versions have system requirements at approximately the same level, office suites released simultaneously with new versions of the system itself were, as it were, “tailored” specifically for them.

As for the “eight” and “ten”, you can install some modification like 2016 and higher, although in practice this will not give any tangible advantages compared to previous modifications of the main office suite, unless you perform specific tasks .

Alternative in the form of MS Office Blue Edition

Which Microsoft Office is better, if we consider the standard versions of the package, we figured it out a little. Now let's try to figure it out alternative solutions. Apparently, there is no need to say that all the described packages are paid. It is recommended to purchase them officially. However, our users are in no hurry to post enough large sums money for such software products, and for activation they use semi-official utilities like KMSpico or KMSAuto Net. However, as it turns out, Microsoft has one official release, which is absolutely free and works no worse than the standard versions of the package.

We are talking about the Blue Edition modification, which is based on the 2007 version. Many experts ordinary users They recommend installing it, considering the package to be both lightweight in terms of consumption of computer resources and simple to manage.

Cloud Office 365

Relatively new development as cloud service Office 365 is not intended for use by ordinary users, especially since it costs quite a lot (you need to pay every year).

By and large, this development can be useful when processing documentation at large enterprises, when documents need to be provided general access several dozen employees in extensive corporate networks(perhaps even located in different regions). But this service can boast of an improved security system to a very high extent.

Epilogue

So which Microsoft Office is better? The answer to this question is quite complicated, since everything depends on the preferences of the users themselves, and on the computer configuration, and on the goals or objectives set. But if we talk, so to speak, about “home” users, I think, regardless of the Windows modification used, it is easier and best to install versions 2003-2013, which are not as “gluttonous” as newer modifications, even though Some of them have already been discontinued.