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[JasonH]

I'm getting a new PC (well actually an ex office one off ebay) and whilst it will have Win 10 on it, it won't have MS Office.

What are people's thoughts and experiences with Libre Office and Open Office (or anything else). I don't think this machine needs a full blown MS Office licence but being able to use Word, Powerpoint or Excel occasionally would be handy.

[TheBoy]

If you need the Microsoft products then you have little choice but to get the MS products, legally or otherwise.

If you need a reasonable word processor and spreadsheet, and dont really need true MS Office compatibility, then Libre Office may fit the bill...   ...but expect hassles if you need to share files with MS Office.


Open Office is a bit of a dead duck now, development stalled when Sun Microsystems went tits up sold out to Oracle, and Apache, who took over development, have down what the modern Apache Foundation have always done for the past decade or 2, screw it up.

[JasonH]

Thanks - excellent information.

There may be an option to use my son's school MS Office 365 licence. It seems that whilst he's at school he can install Office 365 on up to 5 devices. Now the question then is that going to all link to his school account or would other users on the same PC be able to use it and save files locally.

[TheBoy]

Thanks - excellent information.

There may be an option to use my son's school MS Office 365 licence. It seems that whilst he's at school he can install Office 365 on up to 5 devices. Now the question then is that going to all link to his school account or would other users on the same PC be able to use it and save files locally.

Strictly speaking, its for that user.  But it will work.

Where you may fall over is the 365 Office defaults to using OneDrive storage, and so you and he will et your files muddled.

[Mister Rog]

I'm not sure that Open Office even exists any more.
When working I used paid for MS Office. Since retirement I've found Libre Office to be just fine. My requirements are nothing fancy, documents, spreadsheets, presentations etc. Some adjustment to interface and how it works, but nothing major. Just invest some time. And, It's free !!!

[Jimbob]

If occasional use is all you need.

Just go to office.com, use your MS ID (or create one) and you can use the apps in the browser free.

The browser versions are sometimes limited in the advanced functionality, but may suit your needs.

[Viral_Jim]

There is also Google sheets, docs and slides (their version of Excel, word and PowerPoint respectively). These are again free for anyone with a Gmail address and are fine for light users.

These also have the advantage/disadvantage that they work with Google's cloud storage. So you are unlikely to lose anything if your device is damaged/lost/stolen, but they also won't be accessible without an internet connection (offline working is relatively straightforward to setup, but not how the programs run by default).

[deviator]

The biggest thing is when you save your documents, you need to change the format to .doc or .xls or other people will not be able to open your documents.

I'm not sure if it's there in the later versions, but there isn't support for .docx or .xlsx in the free office suites I've used.

As for buying it, it was less than £20 last time I looked on CD Keys for standard Office 2019. 2019 was the last, non-cloud version.

[TheBoy]

The biggest thing is when you save your documents, you need to change the format to .doc or .xls or other people will not be able to open your documents.

I'm not sure if it's there in the later versions, but there isn't support for .docx or .xlsx in the free office suites I've used.

As for buying it, it was less than £20 last time I looked on CD Keys for standard Office 2019. 2019 was the last, non-cloud version.

You mean the most current.  MS have committed to more "Offline" versions.  They realise that not everyone can use Microsoft 365 for a host of reasons.

.doc and .xls and so on are proprietary formats, which is why so many non MS products make a real hash of reading anything but the simplist documents.  .docx and .xlsx and so on are openly publish formats owned and controlled by MS, so no reason not to support them in your open source tools, but again most implementations make a mess of it.


£20 for an illegal hooky key sounds extortionate BTW.  If you want to be hooky, there are millions of resources out there for how to do it for free.  But obviously we do not allow that sort of discussion here.

[deviator]

The biggest thing is when you save your documents, you need to change the format to .doc or .xls or other people will not be able to open your documents.

I'm not sure if it's there in the later versions, but there isn't support for .docx or .xlsx in the free office suites I've used.

As for buying it, it was less than £20 last time I looked on CD Keys for standard Office 2019. 2019 was the last, non-cloud version.

You mean the most current.  MS have committed to more "Offline" versions.  They realise that not everyone can use Microsoft 365 for a host of reasons.

.doc and .xls and so on are proprietary formats, which is why so many non MS products make a real hash of reading anything but the simplist documents.  .docx and .xlsx and so on are openly publish formats owned and controlled by MS, so no reason not to support them in your open source tools, but again most implementations make a mess of it.


£20 for an illegal hooky key sounds extortionate BTW.  If you want to be hooky, there are millions of resources out there for how to do it for free.  But obviously we do not allow that sort of discussion here.

I didn't realise they had more offline versions available, I've just avoided it

I admit it's been a few months, but neither of the free tools I tried then supported docx/xlsx.

With regards CD Keys, whilst you can never be certain of the origins of the key, they do guarantee them. So at least you can prove you've tried. I posted this as it's likely more legal than other sources which we obviously don't mention.

[TheBoy]

There is also Google sheets, docs and slides (their version of Excel, word and PowerPoint respectively). These are again free for anyone with a Gmail address and are fine for light users.

These also have the advantage/disadvantage that they work with Google's cloud storage. So you are unlikely to lose anything if your device is damaged/lost/stolen, but they also won't be accessible without an internet connection (offline working is relatively straightforward to setup, but not how the programs run by default).

Again, it depends on the level of MS compatibility you need.  If MS compatibility is required, and online cloud apps are sophisticated enough for your needs, then the MS Onedrive free Office makes a whole lot more sense.

If MS compatibility is not required, I think I'd go with a downloaded product along the lines of Libre, as it will be a whole lot less hassle than using purely cloud based apps in a browser.

Which kind of leaves the G-Suite of Google apps as a bit of a niche product. Used only by MS Haters


Fortunately, I get a freebie Microsoft 365, so I don't have to make many difficult decisions beyond which 5 devices do I install it on

[TheBoy]

I posted this as it's likely more legal than other sources which we obviously don't mention.

Its not.

[deviator]

I posted this as it's likely more legal than other sources which we obviously don't mention.

Its not.

In which case, I'm sorry, please feel free to remove any references.

[TheBoy]

please feel free to remove any references.

No need I don't think, as no specifics given

[Mister Rog]

Since my switch from MS Office to Libre Office, the only major issue has been with databases. Almost impossible. Spreadsheets, Word documents, presentations have all been fine with just a bit of tweaking. Care needs to be taken when saving anything. There are many options for file formats including most MS, but sometimes the default is Libres own odt, which is a bit oddball.