A trial version of Microsoft Office comes free already installed on new Windows 10 PCs, but it will soon expire, leaving you with no option but to buy a full version. Macs also come with Apple’s own office suite, but this will also put you in trouble when most of your colleagues are windows users, hence it’s time to better off a fit for all machines office suite.
We’ve compiled a list of very best free office suites both downloadable and browser-based applications working online from any machine, so you can pick the one best suits you for cheap essay writing and other office tasks.
LibreOffice
Without a shadow of doubt LibreOffice is awesome, at some point, it will make you thinking why paying for any office software. It is flawlessly attuned with all the Microsoft office documents having all the features you will find in the latest MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
The suite contains six programs Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math and Base which is pretty enough to address almost every need of the office task. Last three among previously mentioned are tools which never come free in many other free office suites. They are actually to draw vector diagrams, complex mathematical functions and create database respectively.
Base application is actually alternative to Microsoft Access and works efficiently.
LibreOffice is an open source project which is maintained by its community full of enthusiasm and working constantly to improve stability and bring more features to the public. LibreOffice also has a large number of free extensions and templates which make it even more comfortable and yes, it is free for business as well as home users.
Although LibreOffice is a fork of Apache OpenOffice and are very same here we selected LibreOffice due to its more frequent update schedule and an advanced interface. Its latest release of version 6 includes more interface customization options, better file import, and export facility, new online help pages and a huge array of new other features and fixes.
LibreOffice is fairly workable on Windows, Mac, and Linux, however, saying sorry to mobile users as there are no official mobile versions available except a document viewer for Android with some editing features, but we are not recommending this for mobile users to rely on.
- Google Docs, Sheets and Slides
If you are working in collaboration on any project and switching between multiple platforms like windows and mac, then we suggest you opt for Google Docs, Sheets and Slides ought to be your first call.
This suite will be a typical decision for those who are already deep into google or Android ecosystem. These three tools are not only available for all browser but it also accessible as mobile applications for both android and apple devices.
Compare to the LibreOffice (a desktop software) Google’s free office suite doesn’t offer the tools. There is not database tools as well as no pivot tables. However, a simple and easy to use layouts do all the necessary functions and all your data will be saved which can be synced automatically from any machine and any place. There is no need to worry about transfers and data backups.
The main issue with Docs, Sheets, and Slides is that opening documents created in other office applications is quite embarrassing and aren’t opened flawlessly.
Partly this is because Google’s office use web fonts, not the ones stored on your PCs and partly because Microsoft documents contain features which are not supported by Google.
- Microsoft Office Online
There is no big difference between Microsoft Office Online and desktop version. It looks and works very same although advance tools are not available such as pivot tables as Google Office. If you are a general user of MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint, Microsoft Office Online would be your best choice. Unlike Google free office, your documents created in Microsoft office will open perfectly keeping the original format. Your files will be saved in OneDrive which can be synced through any machine. Simply loginto your Microsoft account and you are ready to go.
It also has office online version for chrome and mobile application for Android and iOS devices.
- Polaris Office
Latest Samsung mobiles come with an already installed mobile version of Polaris Office if you are a Samsung user you might be familiar with. This multi-stage office software is available for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android devices while comes free for some Samsung devices. It offers simple easy to go interface with some basic customization options and compatible with all Microsoft document formats.
There is a good tip before installing particularly for windows not to accept others additional applications such as browser extension web advisor (for McAfee), research tool called premier Opinion and antivirus program. You must decline all of them.
Since Polaris office is a cloud-based application hence you need to login via facebook or google account else you can create a separate account for signing in. Your free Polaris account, by default, accompanies 60MB monthly data transfer and 1GB storage at could. If you run out of storage, you can connect Polaris to Dropbox, Box, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon Cloud Drive and Google drive to save work locally to your device.
- Open365
Open365 is not just an office suite, something beyond. It is actually a full cloud desktop that brings all open source desktop software together into your browser. It includes components form LibreOffice suite Writer, Cal, and Impress. Also GIMP (Photoshopimage editor), Kontact (Linux email packages) and cloud storage by Seafile. With this complete packages one can do everything which can be done by those desktop versions, also every format is supported as they do in their desktop versions.
For mirroring your cloud storage to the hard drive and file transfer there is a desktop client which also need to run itself in the browser. Because it is full desktop software with complete packages, hence slow on loading and put extra stress on your machine.
- Zoho Workplace
Although Google Docs is one of the most widely used strong brand but Zoho’s online office suite is also great in its own right. It is very similar to the desktop office suite and successfully pulled in big organizations like BBC and Nike as their regular users.
Zoho’s latest version of word processor offers formatting sidebar which has changed the entire classic interface of the word. This sidebar is well presented and loaded with many tools to create professional documents. It also has sound presentation package and excellent spreadsheet along with.
Zoho also incorporates an incredible site creation tool, file management system and other collaborative tools. Some are on the oversimplified side, so they’ll likely not supplant anything you may already have, but would be an excellent choice if you are initiating a small business.
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