Analog Microsoft Office: Apache OpenOffice, SSuite Office. Free analogue of Microsoft Office

If you purchased a computer without pre-installed standard programs, you will have to find all necessary software on your own. Of course, one of the first is the Microsoft Office package. Thanks to this program you can open files with the popular format: .doc, .docx, .xlsx, etc. But as you know, this service is paid, and quite expensive and not all available. The user has a choice: to search for a pirated version that can harm a PC, or to find an analogue of Microsoft Office.

Huge selection

It turns out that there are a lot of free alternatives for this application package. You can find a software, the interface which will appeal to everyone. The most famous nowadays are OpenOffice and LibreOffice. Softs are quite comfortable and do not require hacking abilities during installation.

There are other options to which you should pay attention. Despite the fact that these applications can not quite replace the popular package of office programs, nevertheless, most of them are the best free option.

Opening

The first free analogue of Microsoft Office is OpenOffice. This package of office applications can compete with commercial services. It has popular file formats, as well as a convenient and familiar interface. OpenOffice was the first to support the OpenDocument format. Now applications of this package work on all operating systems, including Linux and Mac. Now the collection is called Apache OpenOffice.

History

For the first time the "germ" of this package appeared in 1999. Initially it was StarOffice, which the Germans were engaged in. Then it was bought by another company. Directly itself OpenOffice.org began to function since 2000.

Three years later, the developers decided to update the software. Their main task was to establish interaction with the popular package of Microsoft Office. It was necessary to work on performance, because there were increased requirements for PC memory, as well as slowing down in operation.

It was necessary to improve the scripting language, improve integration, make a lightweight interface, create a new SQL database. An updated analogue of Microsoft Office was released in 2005. The first practical attempts indicated the shortcomings, which were quickly fixed within two months.

Later it was decided to update the program every 3 months. Now the most stable version is 3.0. It was released in 2008.

Problems

Rumors about OpenOffice.org long ago began to "wander" the Internet. Many knew about the discontent of the company's employees. It was necessary to solve the main problems. Complaints related to the "inflexibility" of the project and the lack of leaders. The structure had to be transformed and become more efficient. It was necessary to find an approach in which active developers would have access to the project.

As a result, employees of OpenOffice.org organized their firm The Document Foundation, which allowed them to continue the development of the office project. So there was LibreOffice, about which we will talk later.

At the same time, Oracle decides to transfer the rights to its Apache Foundation project. So Apache OpenOffice appears. The fund decided to change the license package, and later expressed disappointment about this event. The management recommended using LibreOffice. Already in September 2016, the project manager reported on the possibility of closing OpenOffice. This analogue of Microsoft Office now suffers not only a shortage of qualified employees, but also the inability to correct security errors.

Composition

While there is no official statement from the management about the closure of Apache OpenOffice, it is worth considering the composition of their package. It is very similar to the famous commercial alternative. This includes:

• Writer is responsible for creating and editing text.
• Calc works with tables.
• Impress creates and prepares presentations.
• Base helps to connect to external DBMS.
• Draw works with vector graphics, is engaged in its creation and editing.
• Math is editing formulas.

Demand

Since its inception, this free analogue of Microsoft Office has been installed on PCs of enterprises and organizations. His popularity was caused by a free license. Since 2007, this package was used by Rostelecom. And a little later the Foundation of the Russian Federation and the Federal Bailiff Service joined the meeting.

In 2010, Germany decided to conduct a survey, which showed that this package of free office programs was installed on computers by 21% of the country's users. Earlier it was actively introduced by many powers for their state institutions. In Germany this application was used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in France the police, in Belgium the Ministry of Justice, in the Netherlands the administration of Amsterdam.

Losses

One of the main losses was that Ubuntu abandoned OpenOffice and switched to its subsidiary LibreOffice. Now you can not call this analogue of Microsoft Office for Linux. For Apache OpenOffice, this was a big loss.

Branch

Meanwhile, the branch continues to develop. In 2010, a cross-platform office suite was created, which gathered around itself not only developers with OpenOffice, but also other professionals - about 480 programmers. Now the company operates under the command of The Document Foundation. This organization is non-profit, and therefore lives only through donations and investments. This analogue of Microsoft Office for Mac, Windows, Linux is effectively developed. It is used both on home PCs, and in educational institutions, commercial organizations and large companies.

Direction

LibreOffice has chosen a successful strategy, which counts on the active participation of society in the development of the project. In addition, programmers hope to merge with other additions. Successful experience in this direction is already present: the company managed to unite with the former project OpenOffice - Go-oo.

The composition of the package has not changed. There is still a text editor, a table processor, a software for creating presentations, an image editor, applications for working with databases, and a formula editor.

Popularity

Despite the fact that this analogue of Microsoft Office is actively used since 2011, it has already gained popularity in many countries of the world. Many of those who previously used OpenOffice.org switched to the new version, here are organizations of France.

LibreOffice use the hospitals of Copenhagen, the administration of Las Palmas, South Tyrol, Valencia, Toulouse. Also the package is used by many world organizations: metallurgical company Evraz, Citigroup, etc.

Those users and organizations that previously purchased Microsoft Office, now choose for their purposes LibreOffice. It is known that the military of Italy also preferred a free analog. By the next year, more than 75,000 users should be transferred, and by 2020 - another 25,000. According to the authorities, the choice of LibreOffice will save more than 29 million euros.

Big choice

It turns out that there are a lot of alternatives to the famous commercial office suite. One of them is SSuite Office. This program is also free. The package includes software, which will be useful for office work. Here there is a text editor, a program for creating spreadsheets, and also software for presentations. There is a notebook in the SSuite Office collection, a messaging application, a calendar, an image editor, and also a software for viewing photos. Users can access a new browser and even tetris.

For the text here responds WordGraph. At first glance, its interface is quite familiar. At the top is a panel with a shortcut menu. Below are all kinds of tools. In addition to the usual buttons there are also some that you will not find in other office packages. For example, you can insert a date, a smiley, a picture, or a special symbol into the text with a single click. The editor allows you to save a finished document not only in the usual format, but can convert it to a picture or PDF.

Accel works with tables. It is made in the style of WordGraph. Has all the necessary functions for creating and editing tables, their formatting, counting and other things.

But for surfing the Internet, the office suite is provided by the NetSurfer browser. Its main feature is that it has the same interface as other SSuite Office softwares. Also, it has many useful tools that simplify the work. Quick access to social networks or e-mail.

Image Editor deals with images. CleverNote is a multifunctional organizer. Well, the "sweet" - Tetris. Although fairly primitive, it can brighten up a couple of minutes at lunchtime.

Less popular

Find a Russian analogue of Microsoft Office is not difficult. In addition to LibreOffice, SoftMaker Free Office 675 can be referred to this package. Although not so popular in the CIS countries, this package is still quite functional for the least fastidious users. This version has its own commercial. The disadvantage of the free version is that it is not possible to save files in the proprietary formats of Microsoft Office.

However, DOC, PPT and XLS files can be read here. Pleases and support of the Russian language. To use the spelling dictionary it will have to be installed additionally. The advantage of the package is its speed. The work of the programs is rather bright. It quickly launches all its software, and there is no slowdown with editing files.

Not just mobile

Many people know the mobile application Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2013. Users android-gadgets consider this package the most optimized and functional. But few people know that there is a version for the PC.

It completely copies the Microsoft Office 2003 interface. Has the same functionality. The main advantage of the package is that it works with tabs, and also has a small size - only 40 megabytes. In Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2013, you can view and edit the proprietary formats DOCX, PPTX and XLSX. The main drawback for a Russian-speaking user is the lack of Russian localization, and, accordingly, spelling.

Analogues

It turned out that finding an analog of Microsoft Office for Windows 10 and other operating systems is not difficult. Among the most popular LibreOffice and OpenOffice there are also less known ones. WPS Office is another free office suite in Russian. He can edit text, tables, and presentations. Works with proprietary formats Microsoft Office. The main drawback of this program remains the presence of watermarks on the finished documents that go to print.

Also WPS Office has a version for gadgets. Works as quickly as Kingsoft Office. The rest of the program easily copes with the standard set of software. The interface is very familiar. There is support for working with tabs. For presentations, tastes, tables and images there is a whole set of templates. Also, the package quickly opens documents from Microsoft Office.

In addition to this application there is also Polaris Office. A fairly versatile free program that can support commercial analog formats. Lotus Symphony, Ashampoo Office 2012, Calligra Suite popular office software packages. At us they are less popular because of absence of Russian in the interface or dictionaries.

Do not forget about the popular Google Docs. This is an online version of office software. Especially convenient for those who save free memory of the PC. Thanks to this program you can import documents into the browser, and there you can edit them. Also supports all popular formats. An interesting feature is that the software allows you to work on the document together with colleagues and friends. It is especially convenient for students and those who create a common cause. You just need to open access to the files, and a colleague at the other end of the city can edit the document with you.