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Although Microsoft Office still dominates the marketplace, there are plenty of free alternatives that do a reasonably good job of duplicating many of its features. Kingsoft Office Free comes with three programs--Writer, Spreadsheets, and Presentation--that seek to compete with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, respectively. They're not perfect, but if you're checking out free alternatives to Office, Kingsoft products are definitely worth a look.
We started with Kingsoft Writer, throwing it a challenge by attempting to open a Word document full of tables. The result was a jumble of foreign characters--not an auspicious start, especially considering the fact that Kingsoft claims that Writer can open all Word documents. For reasons we can't explain, the program handled other Word documents containing tables with no problems. Writer itself contains all the typical word-processing features that we've come to expect, with plenty of tools for formatting, inserting, spell checking, and so on. If there are significant differences between Writer and Word's abilities, only very advanced users of Word are likely to notice. The same was true of Spreadsheets; the program had some trouble handling spreadsheets created in Excel when it came to summing data in predefined cells, but workbooks created from scratch in Spreadsheets worked just fine, and all the typical spreadsheet features were present. Presentation handled existing PowerPoint files just fine, and had plenty of design templates to choose from. All three programs come with comprehensive Help files that explain their features. If you're very concerned about the compatibility of Microsoft Office files, Kingsoft Office Free might not be your best choice. But if that's not a huge priority or you're willing to put up with a few annoyances, we think Kingsoft Office Free is a great choice. It has nearly all the features you'd expect from an office suite in a lightweight package, and it's free, too.
Kingsoft Office Free installs politely but leaves a folder behind upon removal.
Publisher's Description
From Kingsoft Office:
Kingsoft Office 2012 utilizes over two decades of global award winning experience to bring you the complete user-friendly office suite. It can create, view, edit and share the documents, it consists of Kingsoft Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheet. These three powerful programs can perfect meet your requirements for both daily office work and professional business. The Kingsoft Office 2012 can be run on the Windows 7 and is also compatible with all the latest Microsoft Office formats, it will create, view, edit and save documents created with Microsoft software, Meanwhile, Microsoft Office can also open Kingsoft files without having Kingsoft Office installed on that computer. The standout feature of Kingsoft Office 2012 is its incredible efficiency. Quick and easy to download and install, it takes up minimal space on your hard drive. This allows for the capability of your computer to never slow down or ever become sluggish as with some other office suites. Moreover, Kingsoft Office 2012 has a built-in PDF converter, which allows users to convert all Kingsoft files as PDF files. That means users can open, read and edit any PDF files, as well as save documents as plain text documents or export them as PDF files by using Kingsoft Office 2012. In addition, Kingsoft Office 2012 increase a new features, which is automatic spell check. Now a built-in spelling checker you can use to proof your document, if the word is spelt incorrectly a red underline will appear beneath the word. New features: Chief among these is a new Blank Document icon and Open icon included for times when no document is yet opened. These options can aid you in quickly creating new documents or opening any pre-existing documents. The updated version has also corrected certain bugs, including launch speed, scroll bar, Table Style option, and more.And an important bug is that you need not enter the serial in the new updated version, in another way, it is a totally free version without any serial.
What's new in this version: Version 8.1.0.3010 adds some of office templates, such as PPT template, excel templates. Chief among these is a new Blank Document icon and Open icon included for times when no document is yet opened. These options can aid you in quickly creating new documents or opening any pre-existing documents. The updated version has also corrected certain bugs, including launch speed, scroll bar, Table Style option, and more.And an important bug is that you need not enter the serial in the new updated vers... See all new features
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All versions:
4.1 starsout of 116 votes
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Current version:
4.0 starsout of 58 votes
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My rating:
Write review
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"Excellent alternative/replacement office suite"
Version: Kingsoft Office 2012 8.1.0.3010
Pros
Opens all of my MS office files from my other Win7 PC and colleagues. Better than Libre, Symphony, OpenOffice, etc - all of which had problems with documents from MS Office versions. Like the older non-ribbon, menu approach.
Cons
None to date.
Summary
I tried Libre, Symphony, OpenOffice and found Kingston to be clearly a better choice. Easy to use - pre-ribbon MS office. Opens all my MS Office files on my second PC - including macros in Excel. I use it because it works - not because it is free. It is little publicized - a hidden gem.
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"Very good, but changes regional settings at startup."
Version: Kingsoft Office 2012 8.1.0.3010
Pros
Very good compatability with Microsoft Office when the same font is available. Renders native Microsoft formats with ease. .doc and .docx files are almost exact, as are excel files.
Cons
Unacceptable change in the registry for number notation.
(European) users of calculating software beware:
Kingsoft Office is changing the number notation at startup (decimal comma and thousand point), resulting in other programs giving one-digit outcomes.Summary
Kingsoft Office is a very neat package. Compact, and works wonders.
Only the meddling with regional settings is unacceptable. -
"Very good, but don't have portuguese dictionary"
Version: Kingsoft Office 2012 8.1.0.3010
Pros
It's a very office, very similar to Microsoft Office.
Cons
I liked that it come with a portuguese language. I'm from Brazil and the dictionary of Kingsoft office don't know words in portuguese.
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"it's like ms office but it's free :-)"
Version: Kingsoft Office 2012 8.1.0.3010
Pros
Faster than open office and more like ms office.
Cons
No cons so far
Summary
I had tried Open Office before. It was fine, too. Then i tried Kingsoft. And i had no doubt to delete Open Office from my PC and to choose Kingsoft Office free.
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"You'll never miss MS Office, especially the cost!"
Version: Kingsoft Office 2012 8.1.0.3010
Pros
Seems to work exactly as you would expect each MS Office program to work; there's no learning curve.
Cons
Haven't used the graphics enhancements yet; that's where most less sophisticated programs fail, but I am hopeful. The .pdf outputs aren't quite up to MS's but indistinguishable if you don't put them side by side.
Summary
I have built major projects for Fortune 100 companies using MS Office programs and macros, so I would say I know MS Office inside out. This stacks up just fine.
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"highly compatible; solves Open Office issue"
Version: Kingsoft Office 2012 8.1.0.3010
Pros
Highly compatible with Windows Office; funky fonts in lists in Open Office handled appropriately without problem.
Cons
Spreadsheet only goes to 256 columns but Windows Office and Open Office appear to be unlimited.
Summary
Well worth the price and highly compatible.
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"I didn't download the Kingsoft Office 2012. Sorry."
Version: Kingsoft Office 2012 8.1.0.3010
Pros
I don't know I haven't used the program.
Cons
I don't know I haven't used the program
Summary
I have been using the free version and it doesn't have the entire program. I would Love to have the complete version but with the way the economic conditions at this time and living on a limited income I'm not able to purchase at this time. However; if funds were available I would diffidently get the program. The partial is working for me but I would like the entire program.
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"good, not enough"
Version: Kingsoft Office 2012 8.1.0.3010
Pros
Most features available but I do not see indexing options even Help does not shows any result for index.
Cons
It is very similar to MS Word 2003, easy to find commands and work fast.
Summary
Enough good for free software but not for writing books, brochures etc.
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"VERY IMPRESSIVE!"
Version: Kingsoft Office 2012 8.1.0.3010
Pros
Key features are virtually the same as the MICROSOFT VERSIONS. Kingsoft features are definitely user friendly and reliable.
Cons
I haven't really discovered any form of CONS- in regards to KINGSOFT PRODUCTS.
Summary
Very impressed with the KINGSOFT PRODUCTS.
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"WORKS WONDERFULLY"
Version: Kingsoft Office 2012 8.1.0.3010
Pros
HAS WORKED AS PROMISED
Cons
WISH THERE WAS A DATABASE INCLUDED
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