The 5 best Microsoft Office alternatives for Windows

There are numerous alternatives to Windows for Microsoft Office, most of which are available for download free of charge. In this practical tip, we present five recommended programs.

1. Office alternative: OpenOffice

OpenOffice is the classic alternative to Microsoft Office.

• The OpenOffice suite consists of a program for word processing, spreadsheets, creating presentations, drawing and a database solution.
• Most Microsoft formats can be opened and edited easily in OpenOffice.
• If you are used to Microsoft Office, you will quickly get along with OpenOffice. The user interfaces are very similar and largely self-explanatory.
• You can use OpenOffice for free without restrictions.

2. Office alternative: LibreOffice

LibreOffice emerged from OpenOffice, which is why both programs are still quite similar. However, since 2010 they have been developed independently of one another.

• With LibreOffice you can open, edit and save many Microsoft formats such as DOCX, PPTX and XLSX.
• LibreOffice is very similar to OpenOffice, but sometimes gets new functions and updates more often.
• LibreOffice, like OpenOffice, is completely free.

3. Office alternative: Google Drive

As a so-called online office, Google Drive offers you a tool for spreadsheets and word processing, as well as tools for creating presentations, drawings and forms.

• You can access Google Drive from your browser or connect it to the desktop.
• You need a Google account to use it. In return, you get 15 GB of online storage space.

4. Office alternative: Thunderbird

However, there are usually no e-mail programs on board in the open source office suites. Here you should use a separate alternative.

• Thunderbird is an alternative to Outlook.
• The program is powerful and extensive and therefore almost a full Microsoft alternative.

5. Office alternative: Kingsoft Office

Another free office alternative is Kingsoft Office. The program is available for free download from CHIP Online.

• Kingsoft Office includes word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software. A PDF converter is also on board.
• Both the arrangement of the program items and the design are very similar to Microsoft Office - this means that those who are changing can get to grips with Kingsoft Office relatively quickly.