{"id":12691,"date":"2019-03-28T13:34:19","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T13:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/?p=12691"},"modified":"2019-03-28T13:34:19","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T13:34:19","slug":"16-most-used-microsoft-office-alternatives-for-linux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/2019\/03\/28\/16-most-used-microsoft-office-alternatives-for-linux\/","title":{"rendered":"16 Most Used Microsoft Office Alternatives for Linux"},"content":{"rendered":"

Productivity on any operating system is without doubt one of the most important things that can make or break a platform however, execution is the key \u2013 if done right, enterprise adaptation would be shortly underway.<\/p>\n

Linux today is most certainly an ultimate viable alternative to Windows \u2013 both in the general consumer and business market.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/b>\u00a0Most Commonly Used Windows Applications for Linux<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re quite familiar with the fact that the ecosystem of any platform (i.e, the apps available to it) determines its success then you will know by now that\u00a0Firefox OS<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Sailfish<\/strong>\u00a0likewise (which are alternative mobile platforms to Android and iOS) aren\u2019t where they ought to be particularly because they lacked the extensive array of apps to attract users like their counterparts.<\/p>\n

Productivity on Linux had terribly lacked in the past and adaptation was rather hard and impossible for most during it\u2019s earlier days \u2013 fast forward two decades later and we have an abundant of apps tailored to the specific needs for Linuxers and extremely user-friendly operating systems for newcomers in the Linux world.<\/p>\n

When we talk about productivity the first thing that comes to mind mostly is an office suite before anything else \u2013 and more specifically, Microsoft office or it\u2019s immediate competitor,\u00a0LibreOffice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

While we may have these two as the most popular, they are not necessarily the best and the former is not native to Linux.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve made a comprehensive list of Office suites available for the Linux platform in this article totaling\u00a016<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 most of which are cross platform too \u2013 essentially making them alternatives to the\u00a0Microsoft Office<\/strong>\u00a0suite available on competing desktop platforms (Windows and OSX) out there and even the mobile ones.<\/p>\n

1. LibreOffice<\/h3>\n

This office suite is essentially a fork of the used-to-be well-known\u00a0Openoffice<\/strong>. It features support for most formats native to\u00a0MS Office<\/strong>\u00a0suite including\u00a0doc<\/strong>,\u00a0docs<\/strong>,\u00a0xlsx<\/strong>\u00a0etc., alongside many other open document standards.<\/p>\n

Libreoffice<\/strong>\u00a0is cross-platform and features a word processor \u2013 Writer, spreadsheets \u2013 Calc, Presentation \u2013 Impress and many others.<\/p>\n

Asides its feature set, LibreOffice is also customizable with a varying number of icon sets available on its website and added functionalities as plugins.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Libreoffice<\/a><\/p>\n

Libreoffice for Linux<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For installation instructions visit:\u00a0Install LibreOffice in Linux Systems<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Apache OpenOffice<\/h3>\n

OpenOffice<\/strong>\u00a0has quite a lot in common with\u00a0LibreOffice<\/strong>\u00a0given that they share the same underlying code. Development on OpenOffice has somewhat lagged behind LibreOffice particularly because of its slow development cycle which was one of the main reasons LibreOffice broke off from them back in the day, however, OpenOffice remains a viable alternative with many of the functions available in LibreOffice and many years of development work.<\/p>\n

Also, OpenOffice is cross-platform with availability on Windows, OSX, and Linux.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Openoffice<\/a><\/p>\n

Openoffice for Linux<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For installation instructions visit:\u00a0Install Apache OpenOffice in Linux Systems<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Calligra Suite<\/h3>\n

Calligra<\/strong>\u00a0is one of the oldest open-sourse Office suites that has been in active development for the well part of\u00a015<\/strong>years and was formally known as\u00a0KOffice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a Qt-based office solution built around the the KDE desktop environment but still available for other platforms.<\/p>\n

Under\u00a0Calligra<\/strong>\u00a0is a host of suites for almost all forms of productivity work including the popular image manipulation software known as\u00a0Krita<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Calligra Words \u2013 word processor<\/li>\n
  2. Calligra Sheets \u2013 spreadsheet<\/li>\n
  3. Calligra Stage \u2013 presentation<\/li>\n
  4. Calligra Author \u2013 used to make Epubs<\/li>\n
  5. Calligra Plan \u2013 project planner<\/li>\n
  6. Krita \u2013 paint<\/li>\n
  7. Calligra Flow (formerly Kivio) \u2013 flowchart designer<\/li>\n
  8. Karbon (formerly Karbon14) \u2013 vector graphics<\/li>\n
  9. Braindump \u2013 mind-mapping and notes application<\/li>\n
  10. Kexi \u2013 database manager<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    \"Caligra<\/a><\/p>\n

    Caligra Office Suite for Linux<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    Visit Homepage:<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/www.calligra.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

    4. WPS Office<\/h3>\n

    WPS otherwise (writer presentation and spreadsheets), has quickly grown to become of the most-used productivity suites especially due to its modernized look and availability on the most used desktop platforms and mobile alike.<\/p>\n

    WPS<\/strong>\u00a0used to be\u00a0Kingsoft Office<\/strong>\u00a0and was born in June 2013. The program\u2019s code is proprietary and has the free and premium side of things with premium offerings that include, over 230 fonts, documents collaboration, advanced spreadsheets, documents encryption et \u2018al.<\/p>\n

    However, the free versions of the mobile and desktop apps alike offer quite a lot for free including online templates and a modernized UI which is not something most of the office suites in this article can exactly boast of.<\/p>\n

    WPS is today featured as the default Office suite in many Linux-based distros such as\u00a0Deepin OS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    The Kingsoft made office suite supports all MS Office formats and also features some proprietary formats of its own known one of which is\u00a0.wps<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \"WPS<\/a><\/p>\n

    WPS Office for Linux<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    Visit Homepage:<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/www.wps.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

    5. GNOME Office<\/h3>\n

    This is yet another open-source office suite built around a desktop environment like\u00a0Calligra<\/strong>\u00a0above. If you haven\u2019t guessed it by now,\u00a0GNOME Office<\/strong>\u00a0is built for the\u00a0GNOME DE<\/strong>\u00a0using\u00a0GTK<\/strong>\u00a0technologies.<\/p>\n

    It supports just as much formats as the above-mentioned suites with elements (some of which you already know) used across varying distributions around the world.<\/p>\n

    GNOME Office<\/strong>\u00a0is however only available on the Linux platform and has the following list of softwares under its entirety.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. AbiWord \u2013 word processing application<\/li>\n
    2. Gnumeric \u2013 spreadsheets application<\/li>\n
    3. Ease \u2013 presentation application<\/li>\n
    4. Inkscape \u2013 Drawing<\/li>\n
    5. Glom \u2013 database manager<\/li>\n
    6. GnuCash \u2013 financial manager<\/li>\n
    7. Evolution \u2013 Email manager and RSS viewer<\/li>\n
    8. Evince \u2013 PDF viewer<\/li>\n
    9. gLabels \u2013 label-maker<\/li>\n
    10. Dia \u2013 Diagram designer<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n

      \"Gnome<\/a><\/p>\n

      Gnome Office for Linux<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      Visit Homepage:<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/wiki.gnome.org\/GnomeOffice<\/a><\/p>\n

      6. Softmaker Office<\/h3>\n

      Softmaker<\/strong>\u00a0is a\u00a0Microsoft Office<\/strong>\u00a0compatible closed-source software also offering the free and premium side of things.<\/p>\n

      The former is rather referred to as\u00a0Softmaker FreeOffice<\/strong>\u00a0while the latter is just\u00a0Softmaker<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 encompassing all the features and functionalities.<\/p>\n

      Like\u00a0LibreOffice<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0WPS<\/strong>,\u00a0Softmaker<\/strong>\u00a0is available on multiple platforms and the apps under the Office Suite includes the following.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Textmaker<\/li>\n
      2. PlanMaker spreadsheet<\/li>\n
      3. SoftMaker Presentations \u2013 presentations<\/li>\n
      4. BasicMaker \u2013 VB programming tool ( Windows only)<\/li>\n
      5. eM Client \u2013 email-client (professional only)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n

        \"Softmaker<\/a><\/p>\n

        Softmaker Office for Linux<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

        Visit Homepage:<\/strong>\u00a0http:\/\/www.softmaker.com\/en\/softmaker-office-linux<\/a><\/p>\n

        7. Oxygen Office<\/h3>\n

        This is essentially a continuity of the \u201cOpenOffice.org Premium<\/strong>\u201d of back in the day in a free package with all the essentials supported by the\u00a0Apache Office<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0LibreOffice<\/strong>\u00a0with noteworthy differences in the maneuverability of the GUI and it\u2019s enhanced code-base.<\/p>\n

        It supports all the norm including word creation, spreadsheets, and more with a few nifty extras like an antivirus software (for those on the Windows platform) \u2013 Avast Home Edition specifically, a diagram creator and also a calculator.<\/p>\n

        \n

        \"Oxygen<\/a><\/p>\n

        Oxygen Office for Linux<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

        8. Yozo Office<\/h3>\n

        This is one of the fewer-known Office suites that also offer a wide array of features including support for most Microsoft Office formats. Its components include a word processing engine, spreadsheets, PDF viewer, and presentation.<\/p>\n

        Yozo<\/strong>\u00a0is however, proprietary but free and cross platform. But if you want even more features, then you you\u2019ll have to go for the premium bundle which is quite hefty in pricing. Yozo also features its own custom file format ending in\u00a0.eio<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n

        \"Yozo<\/a><\/p>\n

        Yozo Office for Linux<\/p>\n

        9. Google Docs<\/h3>\n

        Google Docs<\/strong>\u00a0which is an online-based office suite takes quite a different approach in documents creation and it\u2019s essentially cross-platform, free and powerful.<\/p>\n

        It is used by millions around the world and has native apps for the two most used mobile operating systems (Android and iOS). It is written in\u00a0JavaScript<\/strong>\u00a0and features online collaboration, offline saving, and more.<\/p>\n

        It is the suite of choice for thousands of schools around the world and enterprises too.<\/p>\n

        Google Docs applications include:<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. word processor,<\/li>\n
        2. Sheets \u2013 spreadsheet<\/li>\n
        3. Drawing \u2013 diagrams and flowcharts<\/li>\n
        4. Forms \u2013 surveys<\/li>\n
        5. Slides \u2013 presentation<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n

          \"Google<\/a><\/p>\n

          Google Docs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

          10. Zoho Docs<\/h3>\n