LibreOffice vs MacOS Office Apps?

[Super Spartan]

So if one doesn't want to use Microsoft Office, is it better to use the built in office apps in MacOS or LibreOffice?

From a features and compatibility point of view that is.

 

[dumastudetto]

LibreOffice looks like most open source projects - like it was designed during the Window '95 years. Functionally they all do the same really, Office is more advanced but most people don't need it.... so why go for uglier design and bad UI?

I'd go with Apple's productivity apps every time over LibreOffice. Your docs sync seamlessly across all your Apple devices, and the design is thoughtful and elegant at every display size.

 

[velocityg4]

Libreoffice can do native reading and saving of MS Office documents without export. You just need to change the default save settings. Heck I've seen some Windows made MS Office documents which worked better in LibreOffice than the Mac Version of MS Office.

Edit: while LibreOffice looks more like MS Office 2003 by default. There are visual styles for the toolbar. Making it look more like the modern ribbon. Although I still think the old toolbars were more efficient.

 

[EdwardC]

Ditto! I would go the Apple route over LibreOffice.

 

[KaliYoni]

I've tried Numbers and OpenOffice as replacements for Excel. I like OpenOffice a lot more than Numbers, because most of my Excel habits and muscle memory allowed me to just start using OpenOffice. Numbers works so differently from Excel that I didn't want to spend the time learning how to use it.

 

[Realityck]

I have both, but LibreOffice has improved substantially and it doesn't convert MS office documents. Version 7.2.1.2 is still an intel app at this time, but offers native Apple Silicon support since 7.2

 

[sgtaylor5]

From what I've seen, if you don't want to use OpenDocument format, then neither LibreOffice, NeoOffice nor OpenOffice is the right choice. They are all committed to you switching formats because of course (in their opinion) any proprietary format document isn't as good as an open format document, simply because any proprietary format isn't open for inspection at the code level.

One has to use what works best for you. For instance, I need two functions in a word processor: "Forget formatting and/or styles" and "non-contiguous selection of text". I've tried most suites with the exception of Office (too expensive and not Mac-like in how it installs) and most cross-platform suites don't have non-contiguous selection of text. So, I've had to use a combination of Nisus Writer and Numbers on the Mac and TextEdit+ and Numbers on my iPhone. That combination works for what I need to do with a computer and a phone, and it's not a recommendation for anyone else.

 

[velocityg4]

From what I've seen, if you don't want to use OpenDocument format, then neither LibreOffice, NeoOffice nor OpenOffice is the right choice. They are all committed to you switching formats because of course (in their opinion) any proprietary format document isn't as good as an open format document, simply because any proprietary format isn't open for inspection at the code level.

One has to use what works best for you. For instance, I need two functions in a word processor: "Forget formatting and/or styles" and "non-contiguous selection of text". I've tried most suites with the exception of Office (too expensive and not Mac-like in how it installs) and most cross-platform suites don't have non-contiguous selection of text. So, I've had to use a combination of Nisus Writer and Numbers on the Mac and TextEdit+ and Numbers on my iPhone. That combination works for what I need to do with a computer and a phone, and it's not a recommendation for anyone else.

I never had an issue with that with LibreOffice. I just go into settings and change the default save formats to XLSX, DOCX and PPTX.

 

[sgtaylor5]

I never had an issue with that with LibreOffice. I just go into settings and change the default save formats to XLSX, DOCX and PPTX.

When I tried that, at least in NeoOffice, and sometimes in older versions of LibreOffice, the dialog box would appear asking me if I still wanted to save to OpenDocument formats. Couldn't make it go away, and it's something I didn't click in LibreOffice, probably.

 

[Hunter5117]

I went though this about a year ago when my old employer (I am retired) discontinued my company subscription the MS Office. Since then I am using the Apple apps and for everything I do now they work just fine.

I actually came over to this forum to see if anyone is talking about the new pivot tables in Numbers. This was always the one thing missing that I used quite a bit in Excel. So far the Numbers pivot tables look quite capable and supposed to be compatible with Excel.

 

[sracer]

So if one doesn't want to use Microsoft Office, is it better to use the built in office apps in MacOS or LibreOffice?

From a features and compatibility point of view that is.

From a features and compatibility perspective there's no competition... it's LibreOffice. I say that as a big fan of Apple's office apps. I heavily use Google Docs, MS Office, LibreOffice, and Apple apps on a daily basis and whenever I have the choice, I'll pick Pages and Keynote every time.

The basic questions to ask yourself are: Will I be exchanging Office documents with others that will be modified by multiple people? How much of the advanced formatting and features will be required for the documents I work on?

If you don't need those moderate and advanced features of LibreOffice, then the Apple app work just fine.

 

[MSKenyon]

I went though this about a year ago when my old employer (I am retired) discontinued my company subscription the MS Office. Since then I am using the Apple apps and for everything I do now they work just fine.

I actually came over to this forum to see if anyone is talking about the new pivot tables in Numbers. This was always the one thing missing that I used quite a bit in Excel. So far the Numbers pivot tables look quite capable and supposed to be compatible with Excel.

I need to ask this. And I hate to derail the conversation... but I'm hoping a stranger on the internet can help me.

WHAT on Gods green earth is a pivot table? What's it for? How does it work? Or any other question I'm forgetting to ask. I saw it in the update notes and I have /NO/ idea what it is.

thanks in advance for any sort of reply/insight on this feature.

 

[sgtaylor5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pivot_table

but you can't make one unless your original dataset has repeating data.
Beyond that, someone else will have to explain better.

 

[Artiste212]

I imported a 3,000 row, 40 column spreadsheet from Excel into Libre Office. It was extremely slow in Libre Office but ran well in Excel. There were no very complicated formulas, only used subtotals. So I wound up having to work with it on Windows. I didn't get a chance to try it on a Mac that had numbers.

 

[Hunter5117]

WHAT on Gods green earth is a pivot table? What's it for? How does it work? Or any other question I'm forgetting to ask. I saw it in the update notes and I have /NO/ idea what it is.

A pivot table is a live summary table of multiple columns and rows of a large master table. Think of it as a report from a database.

As you update the master database table, the pivot table could then continue to update all the summary values.

It is sort of like using categories to summarize data but it lets you "pivot" column data into rows of the pivot table to make a more detailed summary.

For instance if you ran a business, you could have a list of individual random dates, items sold, number sold and price sold for, and a pivot table could summarize by month, then items, then how many of each item and average selling price and total sales, all into one small easy to read table.

 

[HughRR]

I’ve spent some time on this one. I used office professionally for nigh on 30 years including developing extensive extensions for it with VSTO on w*****s. I ran Macs at home during that time and used office for Mac. But when they went O365 I decided I didn’t want to pay subscription fees going on and didn’t want to pay up front anymore so I jumped on the LibreOffice bandwagon.

Fundamentally it’s like using office 2000 with some added niceties. However there’s a severe impedance mismatch between it and every platform it runs on, it’s slow, cranky and quite frankly painful to use. And it goes wrong all the time. I’ve spent many an hour on their bugzilla arguing with weird things like it taking 5 minutes to open a document if your printer is offline.

So a couple of years back I was fed up of salting my eyeballs and said **** it. All I do is run some finance spreadsheets and write up the odd letter so I switched to using Numbers and Pages. As long as you don’t waltz in and use them and expect them to be the same as office was then they work really well. I’ve got to the point I run my entire life off native apple apps only now. The killer is that the iOS Numbers app is as powerful as the desktop one so I will sit there with my morning coffee on my iPad and consolidate my banking spreadsheet quite happily.

So basically use Pages, Numbers etc but go in with a fresh and clear mind of what to expect and learn to use them. Also don’t expect you can bastardise every problem domain you can imagine into it like you’ve been doing with other spreadsheets for years; you shouldn’t be doing that anyway 🤣

With respect to compatibility, if you have to deal with other people’s spreadsheets and documents you’re always going to need office If you like it or not. I refuse. Give me the data in CSV or a PDF not some horrible docx or xlsx full of garbage formatting thanks.

 

[skaertus]

I have Microsoft 365 and I think it is worth it. You can install Microsoft Office on several computers and use all the apps, plus the OneDrive storage. I cannot think of software more worth it than Office.

If you do not want to pay for it, then it is probably because you do not really need it. Apple iWork just works better in macOS and, if all you want to do is the basic stuff, it will be just fine. LibreOffice has more features, but the interface is just bad.

 

[Tagbert]

So if one doesn't want to use Microsoft Office, is it better to use the built in office apps in MacOS or LibreOffice?

From a features and compatibility point of view that is.

if you use these for work where you regularly exchange documents with other people, you really need MS Office. If you do it mainly for your own purposes, and rarely or never share documents, then Libre Office probably has more features but is clunkier and probably harder to use. The Apple Office apps are probably a little easier to use.

 

[HughRR]

If you want cheap office, O365 genuine personal product keys can usually be bought on Amazon for mot much money if you lurk for a deal. That includes Mac and mobile apps. Im still paying for the family version so the kids can use it for school and that costs £59 a year approx for 5 seats and 5 devices each.

 

[Fishrrman]

There is a particular area in which LibreOffice excels:
Converting files from "older formats".

If you have an old Mac file that was created by a long-gone program, it's worth a try to see if LibreOffice can open it...

 

[polyphenol]

I have Microsoft 365 and I think it is worth it. You can install Microsoft Office on several computers and use all the apps, plus the OneDrive storage. I cannot think of software more worth it than Office.

If you do not want to pay for it, then it is probably because you do not really need it. Apple iWork just works better in macOS and, if all you want to do is the basic stuff, it will be just fine. LibreOffice has more features, but the interface is just bad.

I'm willing to pay for MS Office - I went for the family pack that allows us to install Office on multiple machines, MacOS and Windows, as well as tablets and phones. And we get OneDrive with separate allowances for each of us. Having used Office from Mac II/SE days - but mostly under Windows - I do find most alternatives a bit of effort.

However, if the cost rises substantially, I'll be looking elsewhere.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Go to File / New / Text Document always makes me laugh. Like I am going to create code in BBedit or something.

 

[tanquiano]

I've tried Numbers and OpenOffice as replacements for Excel. I like OpenOffice a lot more than Numbers, because most of my Excel habits and muscle memory allowed me to just start using OpenOffice. Numbers works so differently from Excel that I didn't want to spend the time learning how to use it.

What is your Mac version? I have 10.14.6, and I've seen that the OpenOffice I've been using is outdated. I'd like to update to the latest version (4.1.13), but it's listed as functioning up to and including Mac 10.13... What do you think? or anyone?

 

[velocityg4]

What is your Mac version? I have 10.14.6, and I've seen that the OpenOffice I've been using is outdated. I'd like to update to the latest version (4.1.13), but it's listed as functioning up to and including Mac 10.13... What do you think? or anyone?

Try libreoffice. I changed to that a long time ago when it seemed OpenOffice would never get updated. It’s not much different or wasn’t much different. I haven’t tried the real OpenOffice in a long time. Libreoffice is based off OpenOffice.

 

[planteater]

I have LibreOffice installed but rarely use it. It's lacking one critical feature for me, although for most, it's unimportant. That is the ability to type character accents for Spanish and French using my US keyboard simply by holding the key and having it appear as a selection above (á, í, ñ, etc.) Most other applications support it, LibreOffice does not.