Scan & Fix 50 registry issues FREECNET Editors' review
When it comes to creating documents, spreadsheets, databases, and presentations, MS Office is the suite that comes to mind. But let's face it: Office is a pricey piece of software. Thankfully, there are cheaper alternatives out there, but they don't always live up to their promise. LibreOffice offers up a free alternative, and we found it on par with its more popular competitor.
LibreOffice opens with a main menu that let us select which application we wanted to use: Base, Calc, Draw, Impress, Math, and Writer. Each application's interface will look very familiar to you if you've used MS Office products. We started with LibreOffice Writer, the suite's word-processing application. We typed up a document and formatted it without any issues. The application saves documents as .odt files by default, which cannot be opened by MS Word. But to solve any compatibility issues, it does allow you to save it as a .doc file. We proceeded to check out Calc and Impress, the suite's spreadsheet and presentation programs. Like Writer, each program introduced a familiar interface. We were able to bypass the default .ods and .odp file types to MS file types and open them without any issues. And the Math and Draw applications were just icing on top of the cake of this capable suite of tools. Should you need it, each application includes a link that takes you to the Web site for support.
LibreOffice installs and uninstalls cleanly. Its tools work just as well as their pricey competitor's, and it's free. What else can we say? We highly recommend the program.
Publisher's Description
From The Document Foundation:
LibreOffice is a open-source personal productivity suite that gives you six feature-rich applications for all your document production and data processing needs: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math and Base. Support and documentation is free from our large, dedicated community of users, contributors and developers.
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All versions:
4.0 starsout of 138 votes
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Current version:
4.0 starsout of 17 votes
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My rating:
Write review
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"Pretty good"
Version: LibreOffice 3.4.3
Pros
Works well in Windows XP and 7. also seems to be a tad more 'zippy' in Ubuntu 10.10. When opening .doc files in Microsoft Word 2007 that were created in Libre Office 3.4 the formatting seems to be preserved better than when similar files were created in Open Office 3.3.
Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition software seems to work as well on it as it does with MS Word.Cons
Only disappointment is the limited number of official add-ons available compared with Open Office, although we have had some success installing Open Office add-ons such as writer2epub, ParaDTP and Pager in Libre Office 3.4
Summary
I Like it and look forward to future versions.
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"Does most of what MSOffice can do, and free."
Version: LibreOffice 3.4.3
Pros
Intuitive interface, widely compatible, great for editing shared document w/comment annotations.
Cons
Sophisticated use of the database and, to a lower degree, the spreadsheet applications are not quite as convenient as in the the rest of LOffice. Or more properly, DB & SS employ mindsets different from those I learned while using Fortran (with punchcards in 1969), Apple II & Apple Basic & single purpose apps, Appleworks, and eventually MSOffice/Visual Basic. This is not a major problem, just an occasional irritation when I have to figure out how to do (or hack LOffice to do) things that were built in or easily programmed in other software. As with any applications, once it's figured out, it's no longer a problem.
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"Lighter than Mammoth Office and others"
Version: LibreOffice 3.4.3
Pros
*Doesn't eat up so much RAM, it's quite light in fact.
*Accept a large number of document formats.Cons
*None so far, love this product.
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"Same as OpenOffice + Allows MSOffice2007 Format Saves"
Version: LibreOffice 3.4.3
Pros
Works well and smooth. Advanced features are competitive with Microsoft Office and Open Office, as well as compatible. Can files in MSOffice 2007 format.
Cons
Is not compatible with star. This is only minor as I have never encountered StarOffice.
Summary
I did a side by side comparison of OpenOffice and LibreOffice and it is interesting to see the direct similarities. I'm not sure which came first, but these two suites are obviously built off each other. The main differences that I could tell is that OO did not support saving files in MSOffice 2007 format while Libre did not support StarOffice files. For me, having never encountered StarOffice, Libre is the better choice because I would like to be able to save my file in MSOffice 2007 format for school (I go online and my files are submitted electronically instead of by paper).
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"As good as other programs costing hundreds"
Version: LibreOffice 3.4.3
Pros
Saves me from having to search out another alternative to office.
Cons
Have had only limited usage but nothing to report.
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"no cost and really good features"
Version: LibreOffice 3.4.3
Pros
Free and easy to use
Cons
none really
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"basic features are non-functional"
Version: LibreOffice 3.4.3
Pros
it has no cost
Cons
has different, more primitive UI, similar to StarOffice rather than MsOffice. some basic features such as cut/copy/paste are non-functional
Summary
OpenOffice is still superior to this
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"Good office suite"
Version: LibreOffice 3.4.3
Pros
Does mostly everything I need without being too complicated. Frequency of updates is appreciated.
Cons
Since I do quite a bit of work in English and French, I can't get the spell-checker to work correctly, even when I specify the language for either a selection, a paragraph or full text. Also, I don't get the red underline for a misspelled word.
Summary
Good for everyday home office use.
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"BETTER THAN MICROSOFT OFFICE"
Version: LibreOffice 3.4.3
Pros
Its free and works much more reliably than Microsoft Office
Cons
I havn't found any
Summary
Really good software
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"It's Good, It's Free - Its for me"
Version: LibreOffice 3.4.3
Pros
1 It Works
2. Free Software
3. Compatible with .odf and M/S Office formats.Cons
1. UI looks 10+ years old
2. Needs Java additional download to work even though it requires more space than OpenOffice with JRE.Summary
This computer is a 2009 Dell, reloaded with Windows 7 after W7 and Ubuntu systems crashed, used LO while Ubuntu still ran. Tried downloading OO.o while operating on wireless antenna, with poor connection, no luck, got a lucky decent connection and downloaded LO
and i'm back in business, especially as LO and OO.o are fully compatible and my office runs on OO.o.
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