Top 5 Free Microsoft Office Replacements
Posted on July 9, 2007
The shelf life of Microsoft Office is quickly approaching an expiration date. The desktop application market in the foreseeable future will begin to lose market share to Web 2.0 driven applications. Everyone is tired of spending the $300-$500 on Microsoft Office only to have it become outdated with the newest edition coming out of every three years or so. There are very realistic options for home users to save money and use any of these free options:
- OpenOffice. This is the most sophisticated and mature replacement for Office to date. OpenOffice includes the ability to save documents in Office formats and then open with Office at a future time. Does not contain all the template and wizard features of Office but has a familiar feel for current Office users.
- Google Docs and Spreadsheets. A Web 2.0 environment that allows users to create, edit, save, and share documents and spreadsheets. Includes the ability to open and save Word and Excel files. Intuitive interface that an Office user will pick up on in minutes. Drawback is it can be a little slow saving at times. The main feature of Google Docs and Spreadsheets is collaboration. Having everything stored in a central location promotes sharing and collaboration, and Google provides all the tools and features to make it seamless. Never worry about losing a document again.
- Zoho Online Collaboration Suite. Another Web 2.0 application with ability to “create, edit, upload, store and share documents online.” Free for individuals but costs $3 per month/per user for more than one user. Full featured “virtual” Office replacement including email, instant messaging, presentations, online storage, task management, and calendar. Definitely worth checking out for a single home user with the need to centralize virtually.
- ThinkFree. Very clean and simple Web 2.0 application serving as replacement for Office. Emphasis on collaboration and sharing similar to Google Docs. Provides 1Gb of free online storage. Maintains version history to ensure documents are not overwritten or lost.
- Writeboard. Simple alternative to Microsoft Word making collaboration as fluid as possible. Writeboards are shared, web based text documents allowing multiple users to save edits, roll back to other versions, and compare changes. Ability to subscribe to documents via RSS to see changes as they happen. Can be used by single or multiple user.
While Microsoft Office will not be leaving the corporate world overnight, the home user has more choices than ever. Microsoft is going to have to provide some incredible features in the future to make people keep paying the $500 for the full Office suite.
*For more niche alternatives to Office check out this directory.
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[…] Personal finance presents Top 5 Free Microsoft Office Replacements. Are you tired of having to fork over a couple hundred bucks every-time your Microsoft software […]