To many people, using non-free Linux software alternatives seems sacrilege. However, if you are not a software licensing fundamentalist (And, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with being one) and you value functionality, there are very good options.. FreeOffice software maker is one of them.
Softmaker was developing an office suite for Linux (Paid) when the only other options we had were OpenOffice and the curious IBM fork called Lotus Symphony. With the passage of time, it released the free version that concerns us. FreeOffice. Although it had fewer functions than its paid brother (Softmaker Office) it always had a more careful interface and better compatibility with proprietary formats than LibreOffice.
If you are a Manjaro user, you already know FreeOffice because the installer gives you the option to choose it as an office suite instead of LibreOffice
Softmaker FreeOffice 2021 available. Why you should give it a try.
Keep in mind that we are not talking about shareware. That is to say, it is not an office suite that gives you full benefits for a short period of time, or that inserts watermarks or imposes some other type of artificial restriction. The programs are fully functional for as long as you want, for both commercial and home use.
If you are one of those who distrust the cloud, but write on your mobile, it also has a version for Android.
Another important fact is that in addition to its compatibility with LibreOffice formats, and its own, it also works natively with Word, Excel and Powerpoint formats.
User interface
When Microsoft switched from the Office interface to the tape interface, many hated it while others loved it. Softmaker FreeOffice manages to make everyone happy because You can choose the ribbon or the traditional menu. Anyway, if you choose the ribbon, you don't have to give up the menus. In the event that you have a touch screen connected to the computer, you have a specifically designed mode, if you select it, you will have larger icons and a greater space between the elements of the user interface, whether you have opted for the ribbon as per the classic menu.
The programs
Textmaker (Word Processor)
Actually, Textmaker goes beyond a simple word processor as it has desktop post creation functionalities, For this, it has predefined shapes and the possibility of drawing freehand. Images in different formats can also be inserted, in addition to editing them by resizing and adjusting the brightness, contrast and gamma values. It is also ideal for creating not too complex technical documents as it includes an extensive library for creating flowcharts and organization charts.
Going to the more specific word processing functions. In addition to Microsoft and LibreOffice formats, it can work with RTF, HTML, Pocket Word, ASCII and Unicode formats.
Another interesting feature is the creation of documents in PDF format including labels and bookmarks.
PlanMaker (Spreadsheet)
Years ago I printed the price list for a family member's clothing business. It had to fit on a single A4 page lying flat and ranged from 20 to 30 items with 15 sizes each. I confess that I never managed to know how to do it in LibreOffice and I managed with Gnumeric until I started using PlanMaker. All this is to say that one of its functions is to determine in 5 different ways how many pages the document has to print on.
Each spreadsheet can be up to 1 million rows and 16384 columns in size in which you can perform more than 430 calculation functions including complex numbers and matrices.
A picture is known to be worth more than 1000 words. For this reason, PlanMaker offers more than 80 different types of charts including bars, pictograms and pie.
As we already said, it is compatible with Calc and Excel
Presentations
If, like me, you have less skill in graphic design than Steve Wonder, the presentation program has several predesigned templates. Like the previous cases, the master slides are compatible with Powerpoint.
For animations and file transitions (which can be combined) Softmaker uses OpenGL.
At the time of presentation, you can do it automatically or personalized. In addition to helping you with a virtual pencil.
Download
I believe that our obligation as broadcasters is to comment on all possible alternatives and let you try them and choose the ones you like best.. When someone asks me to install a pirated version of Microsoft Office, I recommend that they give FreeOffice a try, and no one was ever disappointed. Also, it is my choice when I take a break from Ubuntu and install Manjaro.
If you want to try it, these are the links
The first dose is free.
You confuse the concepts of freeware with shareware.
Yes. You're right. Thanks
nothing for free ,,, just try.
the rest, I pay ...
Free Office is an excellent alternative to Microsoft Office, in addition to being free, its compatibility is incredible. I also have OnlyOffice installed for its greater compatibility.