My MS Office 2008 trial period is over and I need to edit docs. I like it a lot but not sure if I want to fork over the dough yet. Any really good open source alternatives (free) that have compatibility with the new office format (.docx) and many of the same features?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Best Open Source MS Office 2008 Alternative
- Thread starter Carmellom
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I really want to be able to use it for standard to advanced-standard features on spreadsheets and word docs (.docx). Will NEO office do this? I downloaded open office and thought it was pretty much ****.
Ha, for around $100 dollars. Office should be cheaper considering they sell it in China for $9.95, I would for like 49.95...
i would say open office. cause it has its own GUI right now?
neooffice was kinda the suppliment until Openoffice got a aqua gui imo.
neooffice was kinda the suppliment until Openoffice got a aqua gui imo.
I understand but after open office, I'm not workin or polluting my mac for another crap program
i know, deleting an app is very hard
they are free. see if they do what you want. if not too bad and get the real thing. if so great
you really have no room to complain....
I agree. If your looking for an advanced document editor then use Office. iWork and Neo Office pale in comparison when it comes to features. When it comes to features. No matter how much negative words you hear about Office 2008 (especially no macro support), it is still the best office suite on the Mac.
I would rank iWork a solid second because while it may have a better UI and templates, it lacks in advanced features and compatibility. I've been using it for the past month but I've been impressed with the updates the MacBu has done.
Agreed, and with SP2 last week, my one major complaint - speed compared to 2007 or even 2003, was pretty much fixed.
Complain to microsoft. Maybe they'll give you a discount.
Just buy office or try out any of the programs mentioned in this thread. Honestly if you *really* need everything to be perfect, you're going to have to buy either Office 2008 or the windows version so you can run it with VMWare or something of that nature.
It's back-to-school season, so watch retailers to see if they've got a good price. I just checked Amazon, and they've got the Home and Student Edition for $100 as of this split second. There's usually more back-to-school specials as the summer wears on, too.
If you're a university student or work for a large company, check to see if you can get Office for less than retail. Microsoft has a Home Use Program that lots of companies and schools take part in, and it's pretty inexpensive.
If you're in either the San Francisco Bay Area or the Seattle area, you can sign up to take part in usability studies. In exchange for an hour or two of your time, you can get a copy of Office 2008 (or other hardware/software from Microsoft), plus you get to see a glimpse of the future of the suite and help shape it. (We do conduct usability studies elsewhere, but the vast majority is in our offices so that the app teams have the opportunity to observe it. )
Regards,
Nadyne.
If you're a university student or work for a large company, check to see if you can get Office for less than retail. Microsoft has a Home Use Program that lots of companies and schools take part in, and it's pretty inexpensive.
If you're in either the San Francisco Bay Area or the Seattle area, you can sign up to take part in usability studies. In exchange for an hour or two of your time, you can get a copy of Office 2008 (or other hardware/software from Microsoft), plus you get to see a glimpse of the future of the suite and help shape it. (We do conduct usability studies elsewhere, but the vast majority is in our offices so that the app teams have the opportunity to observe it. )
Regards,
Nadyne.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I'm trying that out now, it crashed on me once so far. As soon as I installed it and tried to create a new document, it just quit. It does seem faster than OOo or NeoOffice.
All i needed Neo Office to do was upload their version of a .doc resume to Monster and there was all sorts of formatting problem. Unfixable imo.
I'm saving up for Office 2008.
Is the new Open Office any better?
I'm saving up for Office 2008.
Is the new Open Office any better?
Thanks Nadyne, any testing in Milwaukee?? I would be happy to come in and spend a few hours to aid in development... I market for a large real estate company and could have some good suggestions. Let me know. Thanks
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I'm wondering if it's something to do with your set up, I've had it installed for quite some time now and it's never crashed on me once. Sorry to hear about your troubles with it. Have you tried the standard, repair permissions/ running onyx stuff?