Slant community chat on Discourse| 11 Recommended Products | Recommendations | Platforms | Spreadsheets | Word processing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 LibreOffice· · · | 86 | 19 | Linux;Windows; OSX; BSD | Yes | Yes |
| #2 WPS Office· · · | 47 | 26 | Windows; OSX; Linux | Yes | Yes |
| #3 Google Drive· · · | 22 | 6 | Windows; OSX; Linux | Yes | Yes |
| #4 ONLYOFFICE· · · | 19 | 0 | Web-based, Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Android | Yes | Yes |
| #5 Abiword + Gnumeric· · · | 6 | 4 | – | – | – |
| #6 Calligra· · · | 5 | 0 | Windows; OSX; Linux | Yes | Yes |
Pro Free and open source
LibreOffice is available for free with code available here. It's licensed under LGPL v3 with new contributions dual-licensed under MPL.
Pro Cross-platform
All major operating systems are supported, including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux (Arch, Fedora, Mandriva, Debian, Ubuntu, Suse).
Pro Comprehensive suite of applications
LibreOffice includes applications for word-processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and database management.
Con Track Changes needs to be improved
Collaborating on a single document is difficult. Track Changes makes the document hard to read as both edited and deleted text is displayed, it's not possible to print comments, tracked differences between document versions are sub-optimal and there's no system for accepting/rejecting chang...
Pro Excellent Microsoft Office compatibility
WPS has the best compatibility with MS Office files of all major office suites that support Linux.
Pro Ribbon-like UI
WPS is the only Linux office suit to offer a Ribbon-like UI for better ease of use. Although, if you wish to keep using a classic drop-down menu style UI, you can.
Con Lacks ODF support
WPS Office does not support importing or exporting OpenDocument Format, the default file format of LibreOffice and OpenOffice.
Pro Real-time file sharing & collaborative editing
Google account holders and non-holders can be set to access and/or collaborate on files/folders in real-time. Additionally, you can find files you've shared not only by filename but by person you've shared the files with.
Pro Revision control
By clicking Ctrl + Alt + G in Windows or Command + Alt + Shift + G is OS X you can access previous version of the file.
Con No Linux desktop app
Google Drive on Linux is accessible only via web.
Con All data belongs to Google unless you purchase pro accounts
According to their EUA.
Pro Can be used as a web app
ONLYOFFICE offers a web-based office suite that can be deployed on your own server using various deployment options, including Docker script and virtual machines with the software pre-installed.
Pro Free and Open Source
ONLYOFFICE is distributed under AGPL v.3 license with the source code available on GitHub.
Con Wrong architecture
Not available as a desktop application in 32 bit in Linux. 64 bit only. That might be fine for your brand new machine you've set up with 64 bit but not for older machines that typically run Linux.
Pro Lightweight
Both AbiWord & Gnumeric are designed with low resource consumption in mind. As such they are great applications for older computers.
Con AbiWord has a dated aesthetic
The interface hasn't had a facelift since it's inception in 1998.
Con Default format is only readable with Gnumeric
Gnumeric is able to read/write a lot of file formats including ODS, XLS, XLSX, but it's default .gnumeric format is only readable with Gnumeric.
Pro Huge list of efficient and capable office components
Calligra consists of 9 tools. In addition to word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation software, it includes tools for project management, sketching/painting, database management, vector graphics, diagramming and brainstorming.
Pro Calligra offers cutting edge applications for artists to work on 2D drawings and illustrations
Calligra includes Krita, a sketching and painting application, and Karbon, a vector drawing application. Both offer end-to-end solutions. Krita is also available as a standalone program.
Pro Comprehensive suite of applications
Apache OpenOffice includes applications for word-processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and database management.
Pro Free and open source
Licensed under Apache License.
Con Documentation is lacking
OpenOffice documentation is incomplete and language is highly technical.
Pro Great interoperability with Microsoft Office
SoftMaker office can open doc(x), xls(x), and ppt(x) files without messing up formatting.
Pro Has a free version
A free version, called SoftMaker FreeOffice, is available. FreeOffice is a stripped down version of SoftMaker Office, with less features, templates and interface polish, but it still is feature-packed and with the same excellent import and export filters that enable opening/saving Microsoft Office...
Know any negative aspects of this option?
Pro Allows for real-time collaboration
Multiple people can work on the same document at the same time.
Pro Easy to transition from MS Office
Office 365 is laid out the same way with a similar ribbon interface that will be instantly comfortable to long-time Microsoft Office users.
Con Has only a fraction of Microsoft Office functionality
Office 365 is not a complete replacement for Microsoft Office. The most advanced functionality still can only be found on the desktop.
Pro Comprehensive, business-oriented suite of applications
Zoho contains both free and paid versions of tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, note-taking, wikis, customer relationship management, project management, invoicing.
Pro Allows for real-time collaboration
Multiple people can work on the same document at the same time.
Con Can get expensive quickly
Zoho Docs has 2 paid plans - $5/user/month and $8/user/month that add additional functionality and increase the storage limit. Compared to standalone purchases, the subscription fees can quickly rack up, especially since they are on a per user basis.
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