Overview
What is LibreOffice?
LibreOffice is a free and open-source Office Suite from The Document Foundation, presented as the successor to OpenOffice.org. The suite includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula editing).
LibreOffice is a breath of fresh air in office systems dominated by Microsoft!
LibreOffice offers a complete feature set and compatibilty at zero cost
LibreOffice--Free is Good. But is Free Good Enough?
Open Source Office Productivity Suite Delivers Solid and Reliable Performance
Has greater potential if they can get the functionalities working properly
I use LibreOffice instead of MS Office
LibreOffice - a full featured, free office suite
- LibreOffice has a Draw …
LibreOffice, the best.
LibreOffice is a great alternative
LibreOffice is a great low investment option for the vast majority of users.
LibreOffice My default Office Suite Software, and why It should be yours too
Handy and inexpensive software: LibreOffice
A Viable Alternative
A worthy GNU alternative to proprietary office software
Heads above G Suite, but a few feet short of Microsoft Office
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What is LibreOffice?
LibreOffice is a free and open-source Office Suite from The Document Foundation, presented as the successor to OpenOffice.org. The suite includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula…
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What is LibreOffice?
The suite includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula editing). It is available in an installed edition (available in Windows, Mac OS, and Linux versions), through mobile apps for Android and iOS.
LibreOffice Applications
LibreOffice Calc - Spreadsheet
A free spreadsheet program designed to be easy to use but able to support more advanced calculations , with wizards to guide the user through some commonly needed advanced number crunching and report generation. Calc includes a Scenario Manager to perform "what if..." analyses, and a solver component that enables the user to find optimum value of a particular spreadsheet given constraints appearing in other cells. Also, its "DataPilot" features lets Calc pull raw data from exogenous data sources, and also integrate real-time data streams.
LibreOffice Impress - Presentations
LibreOffice Draw - Graphics
The LibreOffice suite also includes a graphics and diagramming tool. Draw also is designed to be relatively simple to use for quick sketches but also is able to support more advanced technical drawings, or brochures and the like that might be used to support marketing activities. Users can also work with existing graphical objects, using LibreOffice Draw as an editing tool with cropping, grouping, etc.
LibreOffice Base - Database
Base is designed to meet a range of enterprise DB requirements, and natively includes drivers for popular used database engines, such as MySQL, MS Access, and PostgreSQL. It includes JDBC- and ODBC- built-in support, to extend its versatility and enable Base to be connected to virtually any database. Wizards are present for help with database design, and it includes pre-defined tables for common use cases (e.g. sales orders, asset tracking, etc.).
LibreOffice Math - Formula Editor
Math is a standalone formula editor that can be used to generate formulae for presentations, spreadsheets, and word processors. Users can work with a range of elements with a pure focus on the math.
LibreOffice Charts - Charts & Visualizations
Similar to Math, LibreOffice also allows the user to work with charts in a freeform way, focusing on style, color, size, etc. across a variety of pie charts, bar charts, trend graphs, or 3D charts, so that the user can focus on perfecting its style before putting the chart on display in whatever presentation, drawing, or document its destined for.
LibreOffice is supported by an active community, FAQ, and documentation from The Document Foundation. Also, LibreOffice tutorials are plentiful and found online in video format. While The Document Foundation does not provide commercial support directly for enterprises, they do maintain a certification program for trainers, developers, and professional consultancies that do wish to provide premium support for LibreOffice implementations and on-going supports. Also, while LibreOffice is an installed option, a cloud-based service based on LibreOffice is available through Collabora Online, a SaaS based on the LibreOffice Office Suite that is available in a browser.
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LibreOffice Technical Details
Deployment Types | On-premise |
---|---|
Operating Systems | Windows, Linux, Mac |
Mobile Application | Apple iOS, Android |
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(129)Community Insights
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LibreOffice has gained popularity among users and organizations as a cost-effective alternative to Microsoft Office. Its functional compatibility with Microsoft Office allows users to seamlessly open and export files, making the transition smooth. With its simple and user-friendly interface, average users find it easy to navigate and access its features. Many reviewers have used LibreOffice for various tasks such as writing manuscripts, solving complex calculations, and creating high-quality presentations.
LibreOffice is particularly useful in mixed Windows/Mac/Linux environments for internal collaboration and document management. Users appreciate that it is free to download, eliminating the need for costly upgrades and version compatibility. The software is commonly used for word processing, spreadsheet creation, and even database functions. It has been relied upon by individuals, students, and organizations for over a decade, demonstrating its reliability and longevity.
The compatibility of LibreOffice with various file formats is highly valued by users, allowing for easy document sharing and collaboration. It is also praised for its ability to handle tasks such as data tracking, inventory management, and creating signs in retail stores. Whether in business or personal settings, LibreOffice has become a default tool for document creation. Reviewers appreciate the considerable cost savings provided by LibreOffice compared to commercial document creation software.
With its support of the open-source community and compatibility across different platforms, many users choose LibreOffice over proprietary office suites like Microsoft Office. Its stability, reliability, and versatility make it suitable for producing various types of documents. Businesses and individuals who don't require the full Microsoft Office suite can benefit from using LibreOffice. Reviewers express their commitment to continue using and supporting LibreOffice through donations.
Clear and well-defined styles: Users have stated that Writer, the word processing software in LibreOffice, is very good at defining styles for paragraphs, characters, tables, pages, etc. This concept is clearer than in MS Office, making it easier to write documents with well-defined styles. This feature has been beneficial for future changes to the document.
High-quality typographical features: Many reviewers appreciate the typographical features of Writer when using supported OpenType fonts. They feel that these features make it easier to produce high-quality documents that are almost desktop publishing quality. Features such as kerning and ligatures enhance the overall appearance of the documents.
Convenient PDF export feature: A significant number of users have highlighted the embedded PDF export feature in Writer. They find it complemented by a lot of useful features and makes it convenient to export documents as PDFs without the need for additional tools. This simplifies sharing and ensures compatibility across different devices and platforms.
Consolidated Macro Recording in Calc: Several users have found the Macro recording feature in Calc lacking compared to MS Excel, making it difficult to use and limiting their ability to automate tasks effectively.
Compatibility Challenges and Complex Syntax in Basic: Users have experienced incompatibility and a more difficult syntax of Basic in Calc compared to Excel, resulting in frustration and decreased productivity.
Lack of Comprehensive Tutorials for Calc: Many reviewers have noted that tutorials for achieving various tasks are written for Excel only and cannot be reused for Calc. This lack of resources makes it challenging for users to find appropriate guidance, hindering their proficiency with the software.
Users highly recommend using LibreOffice as a free alternative to Microsoft Office, particularly for small ventures or businesses. They praise its compatibility across different operating systems and consider it a great substitution for other office suites. LibreOffice's word processing and spreadsheet functionalities are highly recommended for creating documents and PDF publishing, while users suggest exploring alternatives for database management. Despite concerns about support and community, LibreOffice is highly recommended for users in various domains, be it professional, academic, or personal.
Users particularly favor LibreOffice for companies or startups with limited budgets who cannot afford expensive office suites. While they recommend sticking to Microsoft Office if feasible, they see LibreOffice as a low-cost and relatively effective option. However, they caution about minor compatibility issues but recommend using LibreOffice for reading, writing, saving, and opening MS Word documents, as well as for college students and editing documents. Writer, the word processor in LibreOffice, is considered style-based and easier to use than Word. For office tasks beyond database management, LibreOffice is deemed perfect. However, it may not fulfill all needs when creating PowerPoint presentations.
Users recommend utilizing LibreOffice when working with Linux-based operating systems. While it may not have all the features of Microsoft Office, it is still regarded as a great free alternative. Some caution that it may lack user-friendliness compared to paid options. As a cost-effective alternative to proprietary licenses, especially for business tasks, LibreOffice receives high recommendations from users. Its ease of use caters to both non-technical and new users alike.
Users highly recommend giving LibreOffice a try to save money but advise planning accordingly because while it is free and powerful, certain limitations should be taken into account. Overall, users see LibreOffice as an excellent open-source alternative to Microsoft Office that won't disappoint if given a chance. It is recommended for various office tasks unless group presentations require PowerPoint or preferred software by teammates. Users find it surprisingly efficient with almost all the same options as Word and suggest comparing it with OpenOffice for desired features. In conclusion, users recommend using LibreOffice and believe it will be well-liked.
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(1-25 of 29)- Syncs perfectly with MS files
- Works equally as well as MS
- Love the intuitive interface
- Updates should be more obvious and easier to implement
- Some drop down menu choices are difficult to find, they're not identical to MS apps
- It would be nice if it defaulted to current MS operating systems when choosing "Save As" for files.
- spreadsheet
- wordprocessor
- presentation
- Presentations format is not fully 100% MS compatible
- Importing MS Word documents is very very close but not perfect
LibreOffice--Free is Good. But is Free Good Enough?
- Word Processing.
- Basic Styles.
- Compiling chapters into a book-sized project.
- More advanced Style options.
- Consistent integration with bibliography management software.
- Group authoring.
- It's free.
- It's a full-featured office productivity suite.
- The various applications are able to import and export documents in a variety of well-known formats.
- Name brand office suites vendors such as Microsoft and Google have online portals where documents can be saved and shared for automation/integration. LibreOffice would do well to expand into this space.
- Memory handling in large spreadsheets (i.e., 60k rows or more) seems a bit quirky on my Macbook Air. It might just be a memory issues, but scrolling with the trackpad behaves strangely (i.e., cell selection jumps around unexpectedly).
- It's comparable to MS Office suites.
- MS Office documents are compatible.
- Better than Google Docs.
- It doesn't provide all the functions it should with a paid subscription.
- There are features that are only available with Premium and I have premium and they are still not available.
- Paying for the premium version doesn't provide additional services than free version
- Customer service is nonresponsive and has been nonresponsive for years even prior to COVID.
However, many of the features or functions are difficult to find even when utilizing the help menu. The website isn't too helpful either. My greatest disappointment is that I paid for the premium version a year ago but never received the features that were supposed to be available with a premium subscription. The upper right-hand corner of the app shows the subscription type and date of expiration of the subscription. I have premium yet every time I try to access a premium feature it requests me to pay. I have contacted LibreOffice several times over the year and they never responded or provided a refund. I can only recommend the free version because even with a premium subscription, which mine is supposed to expire on 10/22/21 (the date of this review is 08/04/21), I have yet to be able to utilize the premium features I paid for last year. I would not use this as my primary app for Word processing which is where I am experiencing the majority of the blocked features issues. Even with a paid premium subscription, I am unable to create labels. It's asking me to pay again. I think LibreOffice has greater potential but a user must get the features they paid for. I hesitate to call the company a scam but I can say I have contacted LibreOffice numerous times over the past year about the ongoing issues and have not received a response at least once. Along with the features and subscriptions issues that needed to be addressed, another area of improvement is their website. It is very difficult to locate information. Even when using the search field the instructions often do not match the app. I am not sure how often they update their online guides but I have never found it to be helpful. I have also found it very difficult to impossible to download templates. I usually get weird links with garbled codes and no template when trying to download a template. I'm not sure if it's an issue with their site or not but since they don't respond to inquiries I cannot determine a possible cause for the problem.
I use LibreOffice instead of MS Office
- It is free.
- It works with all MS Office files.
- It is a full-featured desktop solution. No internet connection required to use.
- Excel macros are not supported.
- You need to get used to it. While it operates like Office, some of the icons/locations of items are different.
- It runs like Office 2003, not Office 365.
LibreOffice - a full featured, free office suite
- LibreOffice has a Draw program that allows you to make diagrams and flowcharts - a feature missing from the Microsoft Office Suite.
- Also, for laptops that are used only occasionally, where office applications are seldom used, it's not worth purchasing a license, so we install LibreOffice.
- Likewise, for hosting servers, where Remote App users do not need to use a word processor, but may need to occasionally open or view an attachment, LibreOffice meets this occasional usage.
- It also provides an excellent and full office suite while working from home for staff that may not otherwise need to purchase Microsoft Office.
- Full Featured - Just about everything you can get in a purchased office suite is available - word processor, spreadsheet, slides, drawing, database.
- The Draw program provides features that you may not find elsewhere (at least not easily) - e.g. flowcharts with arrows that automatically connect to boxes, following smooth lines.
- Follows industry standards - e.g. the spreadsheet uses the same formulas you'd be used to from Excel.
- Compatible - Easily open and edit documents from Microsoft suite; save in all the usual file formats, with good formatting. (i.e. It won't look skewed when you send it to others. There are small issues with editing existing slides from PowerPoint, but these are minor.)
- Editing PDFs - Word will not let you do this. For small-scale edits, LibreOffice Draw works great.
- Maintained actively with frequent and useful updates.
- The menus are outdated; while it's full featured, some tools are buried within dialogs that you'd have to find under sub-sub-menus, etc.
- It's not online. The current way of collaboration is online apps like Google Docs. This makes collaboration less convenient.
- It can give a poor impression if it becomes visible to clients or other stakeholders; this isn't a flaw with the suite itself, but often impression matters.
It's also very useful for working at home if you need to edit documents on your own machine, but not often enough to merit purchasing an Office suite.
It would be less appropriate as a full-time Office suite used often each day in a professional environment, or where online collaboration is needed.
LibreOffice, the best.
1) It is functionally compatible with the Microsoft package for both opening and exporting files.
2) It maintains a simple and user-friendly interface that wisely hides the most sophisticated features from the average user.
- It is available for installation on the three major PC platforms: Windows, Linux, and Mac (including official application stores for these systems).
- It has always been able to open, edit and/or export files (even with specific formatting) in MS Office proprietary formats without piracy, as it is completely costless.
- It is constantly updated (certainly much more than MS Office), which ensures more security, stability, and new features.
- Paid, online, fast problem-solving technical support.
- An online version that is really similar and compatible with LibreOffice for desktop, similar to MSOffice 365.
- An updated service that works within the LibreOffice itself.
Therefore, it is only in situations where the official MS Office license has already been purchased (purchased or donated) that exclusive use of LibreOffice would not be recommended, but as licenses do not last forever, this situation may change.
LibreOffice is a great alternative
- Very user-friendly.
- Compatible with other programs.
- Cost of entry.
- Easier help function.
- Better PDF integration.
- Basic spreadsheet functionality
- Word processing
- Creating CSVs for importing
- Some Excel created spreadsheets have formatting issues.
- Some of the more advanced Excel functions take some extra effort to achieve.
- LibreOffice can open and save your documents in the most popular file formats, including Microsoft Office doc.
- You can easily export your document as a PDF document (retaining your content format) from with Libre Office; no additional cost or plugin is required
- You can extend the functionality of LibreOffice by using free plugins e.g language plugins, dictionary, formatting, and other types of plugins.
- Some MS Office documents' special formatting in Word and Excel doesn't convert well when you are opening these documents using LibreOffice.
Handy and inexpensive software: LibreOffice
- Statistical calculation
- Presentation making
- Manuscript write-up
- Low-quality figure
- Not easy to use for beginners
- Major functions are missing in Libre presentations
A Viable Alternative
- Excellent document features.
- Stable.
- Excellent legacy document compatibility.
- Help documents could be improved. But, there are often online sources that are readily available.
- UI is not tablet and touch screen friendly.
If you interact heavily with outside organizations that rely on MS Office for native documents, you might find LibreOffice ill suited.
A worthy GNU alternative to proprietary office software
- The text word processing (Writer) has come a long way and, if you are able to install your corporate fonts, there is basically nothing LibreOffice cannot handle. It works very well with document reviews and comments, and it can save in a variety of formats, making it compatible with the likes of Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
- The spreadsheet software (Calc) can also handle most of the common tasks you may need, link various sheets, and perform some automated functions quite well. It is, I must say, somewhat less complete than the word processing side (Writer).
- The Draw program allows you to do organizational charts and basic publications very well. It was a deficit in the past, but not anymore.
- One of the areas which are not yet as good as some proprietary software is charts within the Calc spreadsheet program. The graphs are basic, and manipulation is not as intuitive as it could be.
- LibreOffice Impress Presentation software does not import PowerPoint successfully, especially when converting fonts you may not have.
- The Draw and Base programs have fewer features than proprietary competitors. But you are relying on a team of mostly volunteers and it gets the job done if you are not a power user.
Heads above G Suite, but a few feet short of Microsoft Office
- It's free, which is the biggest difference between Office. It definitely feels like a full-fledged office suite of software for no more than the cost of an optional donation.
- Lots of templates exist out on the internet for Writer and Impress (the Word and PowerPoint equivalents in LibreOffice). The open source community really likes to support one another in their usage of each other's software.
- It works smoothly on almost every OS out there, including Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
- It's a step up from Google Docs, but it doesn't quite reach the heights of Microsoft Office. This might simply be because if you grew up using Microsoft Office, the nuances add up spread across the multiple pieces of software.
- There is no Outlook or OneNote equivalent in the LibreOffice suite. They recommend some alternative apps, and you can find suggestions on the internet, but nothing works or integrates as smoothly as the entire Microsoft Office Suite does.
- Though lots of templates exist, it's clear that this software is mostly supported by developers and Linux users, which doesn't number a lot of graphic designers in comparison to MacOS or Windows.
- It converts MS Word very well. This is a strength for the same reasons I mentioned in my summary - LibreOffice is a free and open-source office suite but most importantly, it provides identical functionality to MS' version, empowering those who otherwise cannot afford it. More than MS Word, it opens almost any word processing format
- It also does a great job of opening/editing spreadsheets, also virtually any format.
- For those of us who are using Linux OSs, this is your go-to Office alternative.
- The Impress Presentation application does not open all MS PowerPoint files well. It seems it cannot translate the applied themes, at times. It DOES open them, and you can navigate slides well enough, but once opened, it often loses enough quality that you would not want to share as-is in an actual presentation (I've found using Google Docs to convert is more effective here).
Opensource office suite program
- It runs very well on a lot of laptops and computers, even if they're old.
- It has a very good document editor very similar to Microsoft Word.
- It's open source and free.
- It does not consume a lot of resources of your computer. It's very fast and reliable.
- The compatibility when switching the file format could be a little bit better.
- Sometimes it crashes and you lose all your data.
- It's a good alternative to Microsoft Office but it's not quite the same. We miss some features and tools.
Best open Office suite
- It's lightweight, it opens fast and doesn't consume a lot of resources. Helpful for older computers.
- Real multi-platform, I can use the same software on Windows, Linux and MacOS. I can compose a document on my MacOS laptop and the open it at my linux machine without any problems. Also workers can use any OS without losing compatibility with OpenOffice.
- Great compatibility with other offices suites, it can open any document format so we don't have to worry about formats.
- One click export to PDF, we can quickly creates PDF by exporting with a single click.
- UI is outdated, it feels like an Office suite from a decade ago.
- Some tools are not intuitive, I have to search documentation or online guides to do some tasks.
- Their Microsoft compatiblity is not enough
A great Office suite alternative
- Full compatibility with other Office suites, thus avoiding any problem derived of compatibility issues.
- You can get it for free from its website. This way you can save money!
- Allows you to add more features using extensions that can be found on the internet
- Thanks to being open source, it has a great and big community behind fixing problems and updated the suite.
- It would be good update the UI for a more modern one, it wont make It work worse, but it's a bit dated.
- Sometimes it consume more system resources than I would like, they can improve in this.
- The Sheets function needs an update to make it more intuitive to use for people not used to work with Sheets
The best open source office suite available
The only program that I still prefer the MS option for is for presentations, but I still find PowerPoint BAD, so LibreOffice's Impress is even worse. (For context sake, I'm a designer used to Adobe Creative Cloud programs so it's natural to feel limited by presentation programs.) Im currently testing other alternatives for that.
Apart from that, LibreOffice offers some programs that are way superior to MS Office's options such as "Draw" (way better than Visio), its equation editor "Math" (way better than MS Office equation editor) and "Charts". So basically LibreOffice made most of its programs "as- ood" as MS alternatives (except Impress) and took some small MS Office features (Visio/equation editor/charts) and made them into full features programs as differential.
It does miss a key feature though... the CLOUD.
If you don't use Office365 Cloud features, PowerPoint isn't your main application, and aren't in love with the MS ribbon interface, LibreOffice is likely an as good (or better) option for you.
- Work with CSV files (MS is reeeeally bad at this and it's very important for my job).
- Diagrams.
- Formulas.
- Its interface (but hey, its a question of taste on this one).
- Format compatibility (they use Open Document Format, NOT a proprietary format as MS and are fully compatible with MS ones).
- Impress, I'm very unimpressed by it! (see what I did there?)
- But to be fair, I also consider MS Office's alternative BAD. (from a designer's standpoint)
- Cloud Integration (that could be a deal-breaker for O365 users).
- It could be prettier (its UI feels dated, but please don't copy the Ribbon interface).
LibreOffice Calc - Great for working with data
- Native support for Regular Expression
- Easy interaction with CSV documents
- Supports Excel formats
- Upgrade the user interface, it is looking very mid-2000s
- Support for structured references
Hard to Beat at the Price Point
- Free to use, includes many core office applications including CAD
- Relatively mature offerings and full featured software; applications such as Calc and Writer support macro functionality
- Easy to get started with using if you're familiar with older versions of the Microsoft Office suite
- Stability of the applications is a concern. It has improved over the years but expect at least a couple of crashes a month in Writer or Calc.
- Does not support VBA scripts if importing documents from Microsoft Office
- Weird formatting and rendering inconsistencies with switching between file formats or importing from MS Office.
- LibreOffice is a full suite of office use solutions. Those include: Writer (to work with documents - .doc, docx, and even .pdf). Calc which is a full-featured spreadsheet tool, Impress which is to do presentations and slideshows, Draw which is as it sounds - a drawing tool, Math for working with formulas, and Base which is for working with databases.
- There are templates for a number of items that you may need to create from time to time.
- It works well with most items created in Microsoft Office and the other way around.
- There a number of extensions that can be installed to be used to make it work for a specific purpose. Such as Code Highlighter so that code will be colored based on the syntax. I believe that plugins support some 350 or so programming languages. This is just one of the many extensions available. I just happen to like this one personally.
- When saving a Word file (document) you have to be careful to save it as an MS Word DOCX file or it will by default save it as an ODT file.
- I would like Draw to be more feature rich. But, for documents, it is very sufficient. So, I guess I can't expect it to be PhotoShop, since that it not its real purpose. But, some of those types of features sure would not be frowned upon :)
- LibreOffice does a remarkably good job of converting files in other vendors' formats, generally with little loss of function or format (e.g., opening and manipulating other .doc or .docx files from Microsoft Office).
- Just because it's free doesn't mean its functionality is limited! I can't think of any Office function or feature which isn't also available from LibreOffice.
- Have a variety of users, devices and operating systems? No problem, LibreOffice is a "cross-platform" suite, available for Linux, Windows, Mac, tablets and Androids.
- There are some quirks, and finding the solution isn't always easy. For example, spreadsheet files in CSV format can be tricky to open if specifics about the "delimiter" (tab, comma, etc.) are provided in detail. I've had to play "guess the delimiter" and use trial and error to open a number of popular CSV export formats (particularly when exporting/importing contacts between programs).
- LibreOffice's extended functionality is expanded by "extensions," however, some of these extensions either fail in the installation or don't work (in particular, the grammar extension).
- It's a minor thing, but it would be great if the spell check would prompt with the correct spelling, instead of just the red underline.
Steep learning curve & dire interface but better fundamental functionality than others
- Calc has better statistical tools built in
- Ability to map macros (i.e. ctrl-K for inserting links) to whatever you want
- Cross platform better than windows/mac
- Works on Linux
- Interface is actually dire - 20 years out of date. It's like Word 2000, or maybe 98.
- The PowerPoint analogue leaves a LOT to be desired. You have to spend quite a lot of time making stuff up for it.
- There's no real analogue to Project.
- The Visio analogue is Draw, which is really not as easy to use.
It's less well suited for going back and forth between MS and Office docs - particularly things like version control and it hasn't handled .docx/.xslx/.pptx files as well as the older alternatives (though that is getting better). Also doesn't handle SmartArt from Word.
It's *much* more stable particularly with BIG spreadsheets and documents (having known an author who lost ~120K words of a novel to Word and refuses to use it ever again)