OpenOffice: The 3 best alternatives

In this practical tip, we present the three best alternatives to the OpenOffice office software.

1. Calligra Suite as an OpenOffice alternative

• The Calligra Suite is a combination of office and graphic tools. The application originally comes from the Linux area, but is now also available for download for Windows.
• The programs include Words (word processing), Sheets (spreadsheet), Stage (presentations), Krita (digital painting), Carbon (vector graphics), Author (e-book editing), Plan (project management), Braindump (thought management), Flow (Flowcharts) and Kexi (databases). This means that the "Calligra Suite" is even more extensively equipped than OpenOffice.
• Like OpenOffice, the "Calligra Suite" uses the OpenDocument format.

2. OpenOffice alternative SoftMaker FreeOffice

• SoftMaker FreeOffice is a free office suite that includes the programs TextMaker (word processing), Presentations (presentations) and PlanMaker (spreadsheet).
• The range of functions includes opening and saving DOC files, an automatic spell check and export to PDF format.
• SoftMaker Office is also available in a paid version. It comes with a synonym dictionary, an expanded sidebar and compatibility with more formats.

3. The third alternative: LibreOffice

• LibreOffice originated from OpenOffice and is therefore very similar to the OpenSource tool.
• LibreOffice comes with word processing, alphabetical calculation, presentation tool and a drawing program. LibreOffice supports Microsoft and OpenOffice formats such as DOC, DOCx and ODT.
• If you have a touch-capable monitor, you can mark your documents with your finger.
• If you want to learn more about the exact differences between OpenOffice and LibreOffice, read on in the next practical tip.