Word, Power Point, Excel.... questions

403Phaze

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Every time I try and find those Microsoft products, I keep getting prompted to purchase Office, so I decided to just go for Apache Open Office...

but is it possible to get any of those programs for free? I mean, someone I know is NOT computer savy at all, and only knows hows to use Microsoft word, excel, and Power Point.. so any ideas would be greatly appreciated

Thanks :D
 

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You cannot get Microsoft Office programs free (unless sponsored by another business, etc). Only Open Office is free.

You can, however, pay a monthly subscription for Microsoft Office 365 that gives you access to all those Microsoft Office programs on a monthly basis.
 

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You cannot get Microsoft Office programs free (unless sponsored by another business, etc). Only Open Office is free.

You can, however, pay a monthly subscription for Microsoft Office 365 that gives you access to all those Microsoft Office programs on a monthly basis.

thanks figured as much
 

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No problem :)
 

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I would highly also recommend using Libre office over open office. Far better support.
 

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Hi there
you can get VERY CHEAP / FREE versions of office -- either from a business that's subscribed to the Ms Use at home facility or from a college / university on proof of a student card.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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You can use www.office.com and run the free web versions which are suitable for many people.

Office 365 is a good deal. $99 a year and you can install 5 copies locally and run just fine without having to use the cloud.

The Microsoft home use program is only available to businesses who have an enterprise agreement and maintain software assurance. And it's only available to their employees. Technically if you leave the company you are supposed to discontinue use of the software.
 

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I recommend SoftMaker Office Professional which is much cheaper than Microsoft Office, but just as good (or even better in several details).

This is the only! office suite that offers a very good compatibility with Microsoft Office, it lets you open/save all kinds of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint formats faithfully. All! others I every tried out destroy formatting more or less (espcially when using Microsoft Offices xml formats).

That's only one point. It also has a very good Outlook alternative included as the only, namely eM Client 5 Professional. Coding is tight, and program is small and runs fast, but it isn't less feature-packed as Microsoft Office. Interface is similar / familiar to that of MS Office 2003 (no ribbons), with several modern extensions such as tabs for multiple pages, navigation bar etc., so there's not too much of a learning curve.

I prefer it clear to OpenOffice, or LibreOffice for those and few more reasons. A free 30 day trial download is available on the SoftMaker website. Have a look. And say goodbye to Microsoft Office.
 

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I recommend SoftMaker Office Professional which is much cheaper than Microsoft Office, but just as good (or even better in several details).

This is the only! office suite that offers a very good compatibility with Microsoft Office, it lets you open/save all kinds of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint formats faithfully. All! others I every tried out destroy formatting more or less (espcially when using Microsoft Offices xml formats).

That's only one point. It also has a very good Outlook alternative included as the only, namely eM Client 5 Professional. Coding is tight, and program is small and runs fast, but it isn't less feature-packed as Microsoft Office. Interface is similar / familiar to that of MS Office 2003 (no ribbons), with several modern extensions such as tabs for multiple pages, navigation bar etc., so there's not too much of a learning curve.

I prefer it clear to OpenOffice, or LibreOffice for those and few more reasons. A free 30 day trial download is available on the SoftMaker website. Have a look. And say goodbye to Microsoft Office.

No. Either buy Office or use a free (slightly worse when it comes to compatibility) alternative. Don't pay for a (slightly worse when it comes to compatibility) alternative.
 

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Your friend can also use on-line services like Google Drive or OneDrive that have modules that allow you to create/view/edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint docs. Both services are free and provide some free storage to start (15GB for Google Drive, 7GB for OneDrive) and can be expanded if needed. Google drive documents can be viewed/edited off-line as well.

As far as free MS Office suites there are the previously mentioned Libre Office and Open Office as well as my favorite free office suite, Kingsoft Office. Any of these free packages can read/write MS compatible documents.
 

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Any of these free packages can read/write MS compatible documents.

Compatible-ish yes. As long as you are not too picky about layout.
 

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Any of these free packages can read/write MS compatible documents.

Well ... yes and no.

MS Office document formats that use the file formats BEFORE the XML formats came out work fairly well. But files using the newer XML formats present problems, especially to Open Office and Libre Office -- if the frequency of complaints about format problems on various Linux distro forums is any indication.
 

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