SoftMaker Office Suit

SoftMaker Office

Trying to be productive and dealing with (in my opinion) clunky software is not my idea of fun. After many months of fighting LibreOffice, I ventured out to look for something else. My search took me through several free to use office suits for the Mac that had pay to use versions that allowed for additional functionality.

Three of the best contenders were WPS Office, OnlyOffice and FreeOffice. Of these FreeOffice stood out above the rest. There are many things that I liked about the product.

First, the interface was esthetically pleasing, functional and well laid out. You can choose to use a ribbon bar or not. You can even customize the ribbon bar with often used commands. A user group is added at the end of the ribbon and you can start adding commands that you often use.

Next, It has an excellent import of MS Office files. Let’s face it, It is the standard that everyone uses. I found that converting all my old LibreOffice files worked best if I exported them to DOC files and then imported them into FreeOffice. LibreOffice doesn’t always play nice, and I do have to clean them up a bit. But then it’s native file format is ODT.

Finally, everything is simple. For example, Different page headers were a nightmare in LibreOffice. In FreeOffice, they simple, pre-defined, and easy to insert and modify.

What really sold me on the product was that ability to us a presentation clicker with their IPad software to advance slides in their presentation program. No other product I tried had this capability. I no longer have to drag my laptop around with me. The second thing that sold me was their customer interest. They will respond to customer comments and or questions, and are actually interested in the end user needs to improve their product.

FreeOffice does have some limited functionality. Mainly dictionaries and a Thesaurus. For that you can purchase or subscribe to a fully functional product SoftMaker Office. I did and was glad.

Whether subscribing or outright purchasing their product, you just can’t go wrong. For me it is just a pleasure to work with it. I purchased the 2024 home edition and have used it for almost a year. I think, that I will eventually subscribe to the software.

The bottom line is, at least for me, is that LibreOffice is bloated, clunky, and frustrating to learn and use. SoftMaker, on the other hand was easy to learn in just a few days. Give it a try, You just may find something you like!