CNET Editors' review
Looking for a word processor, spreadsheet and slideshow maker, basic vector drawing creator, and database manager? Open-source LibreOffice for Mac is all that and more. Compatible with most known file types such as MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint, this software offers functionality, an intuitive interface, and overall good results.
LibreOffice for Mac is about 175MB, which is rather large, but this can be expected of this type of software. The program features a quite intuitive and user-friendly interface, very similar to Office but a lot simpler. When it comes to its looks, this program seems rather outdated and could use a makeover. However, some users may appreciate it exactly for its simplicity and modesty. When it comes to opening documents with rather simple formatting this software does the job well, although you can expect some minor compatibility glitches with documents containing more complicated formatting and graphics. Overall, with an active community of contributing developers regularly pushing updates, enhancements and bug corrections, this software seems to have a bright future.
A serious alternative to MS Office for budget-minded Mac owners, LibreOffice for Mac is currently the best option available on the open-source market. It is perfect for students who can't afford an Office license or for any open-source software supporters.
Publisher's Description
From The Document Foundation:
LibreOffice is a free, 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.
Writer is the word processor inside LibreOffice. Use it for everything, from dashing off a quick letter to producing an entire book with tables of contents, embedded illustrations, bibliographies and diagrams. The while-you-type auto-completion, auto-formatting and automatic spelling checking make difficult tasks easy (but are easy to disable if you prefer). Writer is powerful enough to tackle desktop publishing tasks such as creating multi-column newsletters and brochures. The only limit is your imagination.
Calc tames your numbers and helps with difficult decisions when you're weighing the alternatives. Analyze your data with Calc and then use it to present your final output. Charts and analysis tools help bring transparency to your conclusions. A fully-integrated help system makes easier work of entering complex formulas. Add data from external databases such as SQL or Oracle, then sort and filter them to produce statistical analyses. Use the graphing functions to display large number of 2D and 3D graphics from 13 categories, including line, area, bar, pie, X-Y, and net - with the dozens of variations available, you're sure to find one that suits your project.
Impress is the fastest and easiest way to create effective multimedia presentations. Stunning animation and sensational special effects help you convince your audience. Create presentations that look even more professional than the standard presentations you commonly see at work. Get your collegues' and bosses' attention by creating something a little bit different.
Draw lets you build diagrams and sketches from scratch. A picture is worth a thousand words, so why not try something simple with box and line diagrams? Or else go further and easily build dynamic 3D illustrations and special effects. It's as simple or as powerful as you want it to be.
Base is the database front-end of the LibreOffice suite. With Base, you can seamlessly integrate into your existing database structures. Based on imported and linked tables and queries from MySQL, PostgreSQL or Microsoft Access and many other data sources, you can build powerful databases containing forms, reports, views and queries. Full integration is possible with the in-built HSQL database.
Math is a simple equation editor that lets you lay-out and display your mathematical, chemical, electrical or scientific equations quickly in standard written notation. Even the most-complex calculations can be understandable when displayed correctly. E=mc2.
LibreOffice also comes configured with a PDF file creator, meaning you can distribute documents that you're sure can be opened and read by users of almost any computing device or operating system.
What's new in this version: http://www.libreoffice.org/download/release-notes/
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All versions:
3.8 starsout of 9 votes
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Current version:
5.0 starsout of 1 votes
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"4.0.3.3 keeps getting better"
Version: LibreOffice 4.0.3
Pros
This is great software, very usable and reliable. But cnet still has not fixed the missing LO icon for the LO mac software entry. Is it that hard? This was first reported on 11th feb 2013. 3 month later and nothing has happened. That is of course not LOs fault but CNETs.
Cons
nothing really. You are using a opensource office suite using a free file format.
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