I downloaded and installed the SoftMaker Office suite and its pretty close to the MS Office. Has anyone else tried or are using this. I hate MS and except for hotmail, I am getting away from their software as much as possible. Only drawback is no IOS version yet, but they are working on it.
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SoftMaker Office
- Thread starter Pierre535
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Actually Softmaker has a free Office suite in addition to their pay version. I've used both the free version and the pay version and am not impressed with either. But that is only my personal opinion, other folks seem to like Softmaker Office.
I agree with @Apple_Robert recommending the iWork suite - Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. I use Pages quite often even though I have MS Office 2019.
I agree with @Apple_Robert recommending the iWork suite - Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. I use Pages quite often even though I have MS Office 2019.
IMO, they are crap compared to MS Office... Numbers is a joke - incredibly neutered in comparison to Excel ... Pages is meh, I much prefer Word... perhaps Keynote >= Powerpoint.
I have and used all of the spoken options (including Libre office, Open office etc.etc. etc.). There are many options, it really just depends on preference, usage and demands really.
I have checked out most options for others (over the years) also and this is an opinion:
For general usage: Pages, Numbers and Keynote is great. Keynote actually (as many will say) is generally better than Powerpoint, though of course Powerpoint over the years has improved and is constantly increasing its functionality to be a "go-to-app" now for presentations; especially when Universities (and generally Educational systems now) "train" students and almost demand them to use Microsoft Office. After the University years, they are use to Office, so they just continue to use it, including most jobs they go to after.
SoftMaker Office is decent...but has its limitations of course. The free version is adequate for most basic stuff and users.
For more complex applications, corporate synergy with the other apps in its suite and collaboration with others and teams etc. Microsoft Office is the best option for functionality and synergy....unfortunately.
Many Apple users (including myself) prefer the concepts and philosophy of Apples iWork suite (how it generally functions), but Microsoft Office is better for complex business and larger corporate activities now unfortunately. Maybe Apple (Jobs) made a deal with Microsoft (Gates) behind the scenes to limit iWork to prefer Office when Gates bailed out Apple with finances when Jobs came back to Apple in the late 90's when Apple was close to bankruptcy. That might have been the "deal"...
What kills (don't like) Microsoft Office for me (though I am force to use it because of collaboration with clients) is now you have to be constantly connected or logged in to Microsoft (365) to use. I would prefer the stand-alone option (use it too on some systems), but that can be costly and Microsoft purposely keeps the stand alone "as is" while constantly updating 365 (subscription) so sometimes new docs etc. have issues when opening up to the stand alone (in the name of innovation and security). Little glitches that eventually MAKE YOU purchase Office 365 subscription. Microsoft also knows to keep their subscription price reasonable and enticing if you are budget conscious. I also have issues with Office "calling home" all the time (meaning constantly connecting to Onecloud and their servers) and it has sometimes caused some issues with on older Macs (i.e. internet slow down etc.).
My preference.....(after using Microsoft Office since the beginning of its birth) Pages, Numbers and Keynotes. For Personal only (though Numbers is no way close to Excel in functionality). When Office first started the war WAY back when..WordPerfect and Lotus 1,2,3 was "it". Too bad Microsoft became king of the block. Corel owns WordPerfect now...but Corel has always had issues, especially after the original owner messed up business wise (probably grew to fast to handle) and WordPerfect is "just works" by title (once great) now only.
For collaboration, teams, business activities...Microsoft Office. It is the standard now..no way around it.
I have checked out most options for others (over the years) also and this is an opinion:
For general usage: Pages, Numbers and Keynote is great. Keynote actually (as many will say) is generally better than Powerpoint, though of course Powerpoint over the years has improved and is constantly increasing its functionality to be a "go-to-app" now for presentations; especially when Universities (and generally Educational systems now) "train" students and almost demand them to use Microsoft Office. After the University years, they are use to Office, so they just continue to use it, including most jobs they go to after.
SoftMaker Office is decent...but has its limitations of course. The free version is adequate for most basic stuff and users.
For more complex applications, corporate synergy with the other apps in its suite and collaboration with others and teams etc. Microsoft Office is the best option for functionality and synergy....unfortunately.
Many Apple users (including myself) prefer the concepts and philosophy of Apples iWork suite (how it generally functions), but Microsoft Office is better for complex business and larger corporate activities now unfortunately. Maybe Apple (Jobs) made a deal with Microsoft (Gates) behind the scenes to limit iWork to prefer Office when Gates bailed out Apple with finances when Jobs came back to Apple in the late 90's when Apple was close to bankruptcy. That might have been the "deal"...
What kills (don't like) Microsoft Office for me (though I am force to use it because of collaboration with clients) is now you have to be constantly connected or logged in to Microsoft (365) to use. I would prefer the stand-alone option (use it too on some systems), but that can be costly and Microsoft purposely keeps the stand alone "as is" while constantly updating 365 (subscription) so sometimes new docs etc. have issues when opening up to the stand alone (in the name of innovation and security). Little glitches that eventually MAKE YOU purchase Office 365 subscription. Microsoft also knows to keep their subscription price reasonable and enticing if you are budget conscious. I also have issues with Office "calling home" all the time (meaning constantly connecting to Onecloud and their servers) and it has sometimes caused some issues with on older Macs (i.e. internet slow down etc.).
My preference.....(after using Microsoft Office since the beginning of its birth) Pages, Numbers and Keynotes. For Personal only (though Numbers is no way close to Excel in functionality). When Office first started the war WAY back when..WordPerfect and Lotus 1,2,3 was "it". Too bad Microsoft became king of the block. Corel owns WordPerfect now...but Corel has always had issues, especially after the original owner messed up business wise (probably grew to fast to handle) and WordPerfect is "just works" by title (once great) now only.
For collaboration, teams, business activities...Microsoft Office. It is the standard now..no way around it.
My take on this is if you collaborate with people with Office-type documents, use Microsoft Office. Otherwise, you have options. My clients are generally older, and many like options, especially free ones or ones that are low cost. Their needs are light, and not business-oriented.
SoftMaker Office on the Mac, like Pages, does not have non-contiguous text selection. That was a deal breaker for me for a long while, until I resigned myself to that truth. I'm using Pages and Numbers, now. There are some features not present in FreeOffice that you have to purchase in SoftMaker Office: labels and envelopes come to mind.
SoftMaker Office on the Mac, like Pages, does not have non-contiguous text selection. That was a deal breaker for me for a long while, until I resigned myself to that truth. I'm using Pages and Numbers, now. There are some features not present in FreeOffice that you have to purchase in SoftMaker Office: labels and envelopes come to mind.
That's a good point. I have also found that to be true. As long as someone is not collaborating documents with others, Softmaker Office, either the free or pay version is a good choice.
However, compared to what Apple gives us with the current set of iWork apps, I usually tell folks to try those first.
Switched back to SoftMaker Office after I started to have consistent syncing problems with iCloud versioning. They have their iOS versions out now. Free for virtually all functions, but:
really useful interface on iPhone than most other office apps. hamburger menu in lower left corner reveals full menu structure. large, clear icons for must used functions on bottom row.
- printing from the phone
- exporting to PDF, PDF/A and EPUB
- Sharing documents directly from apps
- Outliner
- Multilingual thesarus
- 2D and 3D charts
- Comments and tracked changes
- Free customer support
really useful interface on iPhone than most other office apps. hamburger menu in lower left corner reveals full menu structure. large, clear icons for must used functions on bottom row.
Using the free NeoOffice which is a Mac native fork of OpenOffice / LibreOffice - https://www.neooffice.org . It's a Universal build for silicon machines.
I never had to deal with that. The one thing I found annoying is formatting. That didn't "translate" well for me when moving back and forth between SoftMaker and Office. (both TextMaker/Word and PlanMaker/Excel)
When iCloud breaks, there's little anyone can do to fix it, as it's a black box.
Luckily, I don't have to switch back and forth. In fact most of my documents are for private consumption, so I'm using SoftMaker's proprietary formats. I can always switch to Microsoft Office formats if I have to.
It seems one can get a perpetual license to Office for Mac for around $49.00 most of the time through Mashable or various other sites. I have one for my Mac as well as my PC. Why use imitations when for a small fee you can get the real thing for as long as you wish to hold on to it.
I don't want Outlook for Mac on my system, as I would never ever use it -> I have no need to use Exchange in my work.
SoftMaker or iWork give me what I need and nothing extra.
EDIT: I just thought of another reason I like SoftMaker: Their iOS interface is clearer and more accessible than Microsoft Office's or iWork's iOS interface. Full menu on the hamburger icon and larger, easier to understand buttons on the bottom row. That was the clincher right there. Before about a month ago, SoftMaker didn't offer an iOS version; now they do.
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Wow! I should have looked around more. Right now, they have it for $39!
A lifetime Microsoft Office license is at its cheapest price ever
Stop paying monthly for essential apps.
mashable.com
A lifetime Microsoft Office license is at its cheapest price ever
Stop paying monthly for essential apps.
It's $55 now... still a good price, but no longer $40.
You do realize that you are buying a perpetual license for "Microsoft Office for Mac 2021" only. No free upgrades.
A year ago I bought a license for Softmaker Office Standard 2021. Cannot recommend it though. Planmaker ('Excel') hangs often, has some strange behaviors and sometimes certain settings are hard to find. After a year of annoyance I decided to quit working with it.
Today I bought Microsoft Office and it is quite a bit better actually. Opening the account was a nightmare though. One has to solve 10 puzzles which are extremely unclear in their setup. Up to the point that I thought I was being fooled. It took about 10 minutes just to open an account. My aversion to MS immediately flared up
But the good part is that I bought it for €12.97 only. Of course that is a suspicious price, but I bought it at Gamers Outlet, which, according to Trustpilot, is in business since 2013 and has great reviews. I also opened the account and entered the serial directly on the site of Microsoft, which worked without problems (except for the weird puzzles). I also downloaded the installer from there.
Today I bought Microsoft Office and it is quite a bit better actually. Opening the account was a nightmare though. One has to solve 10 puzzles which are extremely unclear in their setup. Up to the point that I thought I was being fooled. It took about 10 minutes just to open an account. My aversion to MS immediately flared up
But the good part is that I bought it for €12.97 only. Of course that is a suspicious price, but I bought it at Gamers Outlet, which, according to Trustpilot, is in business since 2013 and has great reviews. I also opened the account and entered the serial directly on the site of Microsoft, which worked without problems (except for the weird puzzles). I also downloaded the installer from there.
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