LibreOffice - An affordable alternative to Microsoft
November 10, 2017

LibreOffice - An affordable alternative to Microsoft

AK Cyrway | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with LibreOffice

I use it primarily on my own desktop at work, as an offline office suite to meet my needs. I use it primarily for word processing and spreadsheets, though on the occasion utilise the database functions as well. It is an affordable, open source powerhouse to Microsoft Office and is easy to pick up regardless of what office suite used in the past.
  • Intuitive menus recognisable by long-time computer users - functionality over aesthetics.
  • Easy to understand tutorials - the help menus are built in, offline, and detailed.
  • Offline programme - does not rely on an internet connection to fully function.
  • Menus, while functional, do tend to have a clunky, dated look.
  • Some formulae in the spreadsheet programmes do not translate well from XLS or Google Sheets.
  • No online back up unless saving to a programme such as Dropbox or Google Drive (that I have found).
  • Offline capabilities; in the case of either an outage or away from wifi, I can still work on proposals and pricing.
  • Compatibility with other major office suites; can open Microsoft products easily
  • Familiarity; no having to relearn where functions and tools are placed after an update
Microsoft Products: LibreOffice is an affordable programme that is on par with Microsoft products. Unlike Microsoft, which tends to reinvent itself every couple of years and sacrifices functionality for aesthetics, LibreOffice is tried and true, sticking to the functionality and familiarity of their tools and options.

OpenOffice in contrast is similar in function to LibreOffice; I find personally that LibreOffice is less resource heavy than OpenOffice on my computer's processor.
LibreOffice is an affordable powerhouse contender to the likes of Microsoft Office; it is perfect for startup businesses, non-profits, schools and other educational facilities, and personal use. I've used LibreOffice in my own novel/script writing, writing business proposals, building spreadsheets and cost estimators, and compiling customer and distributor data.