If you're looking for Microsoft-caliber applications for free, OpenOffice has alternatives to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and more. OpenOffice has come a long way after racing to improve its compatibility with Microsoft Office.
Pros Free: The most significant feature of OpenOffice is that it's free -- no subscription fee, no lump sum, no upsell to a pro version. If your business needs don't include complex word-processing or database-management features, then OpenOffice is a bargain. Compatibility: OpenOffice supports the same file formats as rival programs like Word and Excel. Those coming from Microsoft will be pleased to hear that Office files work in OpenOffice, too. Function: For most basic uses, OpenOffice holds its own. Math allows you to create basic charts and cell-dependent calculations just like Excel, and most useful features from Microsoft Word also appear in Writer, including spell checkers and most text-formatting options. Cons Not for heavy Excel users: Expert spreadsheet manipulators will find it hard to live without compatibility with Visual Basic for Applications, especially if your macro functions depend on Microsoft's environment.
OpenOffice is a tool that helps users manage their spreadsheets, documents, and multimedia presentations. This software features several programs, including a word processor, a spreadsheet manger, a drawing tool, and a presentation creator, making both personal and professional use possible. Notes on the newest upgrades to LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice, including info on the latest IAccessible2 upgrade for the visually impaired.
Poor presentations: If you create the most basic of presentations, Impress will suffice. But PowerPoint holds a large lead when it comes to variety in designs, templates, transitions, and collaborative features. Though OpenOffice can open PowerPoint files, don't expect the transitional effects to import. Bottom Line Apache OpenOffice vs. Microsoft Office: The question isn't which suite has better features (that's Microsoft's), but rather whether the open-source suite has enough features for your work. Microsoft offers affordable pricing for Office 365, a subscription model that puts Office on just about every device you can imagine.