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MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,727
3,892
Same here. LibreOffice is terrific and rely on it heavily. But no matter what icon set I use, LibreOffice is still ugly as sin.

I found this on a video which seems to be on Windows. Looks pretty clean:

Screen Shot 2024-09-28 at 2.49.21 AM.jpg


The real horror show is the MacOS version:

Screen Shot 2024-09-28 at 2.57.54 AM.jpg


File compatibility for documents with advanced formatting is still lacking. In those scenarios, I've started using OnlyOffice. I have a Micrsoft365 subscription, but MS Office on Mac OS is a terrible experience for me, so I'm glad to finally be in a position where I don't need MS Office. (OneDrive space included is the primary reason I still have that subscription)

Why not go full time OnlyOffice?
 

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,402
13,283
where hip is spoken
I found this on a video which seems to be on Windows. Looks pretty clean:

View attachment 2429409

The real horror show is the MacOS version:

View attachment 2429410



Why not go full time OnlyOffice?
I use that Windows default icon set on both Mac and Windows, while better, it still seems unattractive to me for some reason.

As for why not go full time with OnlyOffice... it basically comes down to a lack of confidence in really how compatible it is and its longevity. I just haven't used it long enough, and under the same conditions that I've used MS Office and LibreOffice.

There are a few documents that I have created, over 1000 pages with 1000's of hyperlinks. LibreOffice handles it without breaking a sweat. MS Office crashed and burned on it. But I haven't loaded it into OnlyOffice yet.
 
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DaveFromCampbelltown

macrumors 68000
Jun 24, 2020
1,779
2,875
I use that Windows default icon set on both Mac and Windows, while better, it still seems unattractive to me for some reason.

As for why not go full time with OnlyOffice... it basically comes down to a lack of confidence in really how compatible it is and its longevity. I just haven't used it long enough, and under the same conditions that I've used MS Office and LibreOffice.

There are a few documents that I have created, over 1000 pages with 1000's of hyperlinks. LibreOffice handles it without breaking a sweat. MS Office crashed and burned on it. But I haven't loaded it into OnlyOffice yet.

My understanding is that OnlyOffice, NeoOffice, LibreOffice (and perhaps other xxxOffice) are all fruit of the same digital loom. LibreOffice is more actively developed than all the others.
 

MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,727
3,892
I use that Windows default icon set on both Mac and Windows, while better, it still seems unattractive to me for some reason.

As for why not go full time with OnlyOffice... it basically comes down to a lack of confidence in really how compatible it is and its longevity. I just haven't used it long enough, and under the same conditions that I've used MS Office and LibreOffice.

There are a few documents that I have created, over 1000 pages with 1000's of hyperlinks. LibreOffice handles it without breaking a sweat. MS Office crashed and burned on it. But I haven't loaded it into OnlyOffice yet.

OnlyOffice format is DOCX so its around as long as MS Word is around.

Not to intrude but a 1K page document in LibreOffice, is this personal notes? Because I do not think this will be sharable with others in the business world where MS Office is the standard.
 

MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,727
3,892
My understanding is that OnlyOffice, NeoOffice, LibreOffice (and perhaps other xxxOffice) are all fruit of the same digital loom. LibreOffice is more actively developed than all the others.

NeoOffice is no longer developed. OnlyOffice is meant to be online collaborative tool with its main selling point is that DOCX is the default format ensuring compatibility with MS Office. My problem is its priced similarly to office, so I have no idea why would any one choose to pay for OnlyOffice. Same goes for WPS and Softmaker Office NX (paid version of FreeOffice)
 

bzgnyc2

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2023
373
402
My understanding is that OnlyOffice, NeoOffice, LibreOffice (and perhaps other xxxOffice) are all fruit of the same digital loom. LibreOffice is more actively developed than all the others.

I believe OnlyOffice was written from scratch independently of the others (which were forked from OpenOffice).

I can't speak to which is more actively developed but OnlyOffice is actively developed.
 

bzgnyc2

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2023
373
402
NeoOffice is no longer developed. OnlyOffice is meant to be online collaborative tool with its main selling point is that DOCX is the default format ensuring compatibility with MS Office. My problem is its priced similarly to office, so I have no idea why would any one choose to pay for OnlyOffice. Same goes for WPS and Softmaker Office NX (paid version of FreeOffice)

Standalone versions of OnlyOffice are available for free download for multiple platforms including Mac and Linux. I've downloaded it for Mac and it work pretty well. Several years ago I tested all the Word alternatives, and I found OnlyOffice to have the best compatibility with MS Office for Word documents with complex formats.

Three reasons (other than price) that I might choose OnlyOffice over MS Office:
  • Open source and developer-oriented API for doing complex integrations
  • Self-hosting allowing for web-based editing without storing sensitive documents in someone else's cloud
  • Native Linux version allowing collaborative editing for those users without forcing them to use a web client
Also at one point I found it had the best PDF -> Word converter. Then somehow this capability went backwards. However, I've noticed they recently added a PDF editor to the suite so will be curious to try that at some point.

Just to clarify I still use MS Word as my primary for creating the relevant documents. OnlyOffice has been improving every year but hasn't quite matched MS Office in the past (especially their spreadsheet module). I am just always on the lookout for ways to be untethered to vendors for the content I create.
 

gregmac19

macrumors regular
Jul 28, 2016
232
163
I believe OnlyOffice was written from scratch independently of the others (which were forked from OpenOffice).

I can't speak to which is more actively developed but OnlyOffice is actively developed.
You are correct. I suspect DaveFromCampbeltown is confusing OnlyOffice with OpenOffice.

Thanks for your helpful posts.
 

MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,727
3,892
Three reasons (other than price) that I might choose OnlyOffice over MS Office:
  • Open source and developer-oriented API for doing complex integrations

How API integration is used with an office suite?

  • Self-hosting allowing for web-based editing without storing sensitive documents in someone else's cloud
  • Native Linux version allowing collaborative editing for those users without forcing them to use a web client

thats such a tight niche. You have to be on linux+do not want to use web interface+you want to store on your own cloud.

Now that I think of it, given MS Office is cloud based, all those business and governments are storing all kinds of private information of millions of citizens and customers unencrypted online.

I am involved in running a small business and scary how much information you can have on customers like ID , phone numbers, addresses, signatures etc etc
 

bzgnyc2

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2023
373
402
How API integration is used with an office suite?

Not sure - that is not my niche. Just something they highlighted on their website that I could see being valuable to somebody (else).

thats such a tight niche. You have to be on linux+do not want to use web interface+you want to store on your own cloud.

I would guess lots of government agencies and mid-to-large coprorations prefer to keep things in their own cloud. Then if they want to run Linux over Windows....I would guess a lot of EU agencies would at least be candidates for that. Not sure the TAM of it though.

Now that I think of it, given MS Office is cloud based, all those business and governments are storing all kinds of private information of millions of citizens and customers unencrypted online.

Yeah...at least everyone who jumped to Office 365. I think MS has a government-only cloud option but still not sure that's enough.

Not that long ago I worked for a government agency that as part of the deal to get highly sensitive data from another government agency had to agree not let the data touch any cloud-based service. Data couldn't leave the server not to mention the premises. Which severely limits options for geocoding among other things...which while it made things more difficult for my team, I appreciated their caution around the data controls. Granted pretty much everything about us is already somewhere on the dark web anyway...
 
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bzgnyc2

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2023
373
402
Now that I think of it, given MS Office is cloud based, all those business and governments are storing all kinds of private information of millions of citizens and customers unencrypted online.

I am involved in running a small business and scary how much information you can have on customers like ID , phone numbers, addresses, signatures etc etc

Speaking of which just stumbled across this article:

And that's not even getting into all the PII you mentioned.
 
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SnowCrocodile

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2022
465
470
SouthEast of Northern MidWest
Same here. LibreOffice is terrific and rely on it heavily. But no matter what icon set I use, LibreOffice is still ugly as sin.

File compatibility for documents with advanced formatting is still lacking. In those scenarios, I've started using OnlyOffice. I have a Micrsoft365 subscription, but MS Office on Mac OS is a terrible experience for me, so I'm glad to finally be in a position where I don't need MS Office. (OneDrive space included is the primary reason I still have that subscription)
LibreOffice is also rather buggy. I like playing with it, and I experience far more crashes in Calc than Excel. And yes, it's not a looker... although it did get better icons in the last several years.

However, anything that requires collaboration with others = MS Office. It's that simple. It's just the way things are.

A legit lifetime licensed copy of Office 2019 (no subscription) can be had on SlackSocial for about $50. Not exactly breaking the bank.
 
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MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,727
3,892
LibreOffice is also rather buggy. I like playing with it, and I experience far more crashes in Calc than Excel. And yes, it's not a looker... although it did get better icons in the last several years.

However, anything that requires collaboration with others = MS Office. It's that simple. It's just the way things are.

A legit lifetime licensed copy of Office 2019 (no subscription) can be had on SlackSocial for about $50. Not exactly breaking the bank.

I doubt it a lifetime licensed copy. I have good feeling it will start to act up once you upgrade your MacOS or something. usually apps need to be updated to work on newer OS. Maybe I am wrong but I doubt I would double click iMovie 09 and it will work or Photoshop CS will work on Windows 11.

I paid like $60 for CrossOver and it stopped working in like less than 12 months after I did 1 MacOS upgrade and they told me my "lifetime license" does not include free upgrades to work on the new OS. I am still salty about that and no longer recommend Codeweaver apps to any one.
 

SnowCrocodile

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2022
465
470
SouthEast of Northern MidWest
I doubt it a lifetime licensed copy. I have good feeling it will start to act up once you upgrade your MacOS or something. usually apps need to be updated to work on newer OS. Maybe I am wrong but I doubt I would double click iMovie 09 and it will work or Photoshop CS will work on Windows 11.

I paid like $60 for CrossOver and it stopped working in like less than 12 months after I did 1 MacOS upgrade and they told me my "lifetime license" does not include free upgrades to work on the new OS. I am still salty about that and no longer recommend Codeweaver apps to any one.

I am still relatively new to MacOS, bought my first Mac two years ago.

On Windows, the software can often still be usable for a couple decades after any development ceased. MS is working very hard to keep Windows backwards compatible. Of course there are some software titles from 20 years ago that no longer work, but there’s also a lot of ancient stuff that is still chugging along, and MS is still providing many old libraries that are needed to run it.

That’s mainly because many businesses rely on old software that they developed ages ago and would be extremely pissed if it stopped working.
 

Slartibart

macrumors 68040
Aug 19, 2020
3,140
2,815
The entire premise/op question is weird. Why on Earth would I be using anything else?
you mean aside from Word offering e.g. lesser typographic or even lesser type setting quality as other programs? Or aside that Excel can’t be really recommended if e.g. your data seem unusual or include missing values? Indeed, why would one care to use something else? 😂🤣
 
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MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,727
3,892
The entire premise/op question is weird. Why on Earth would I be using anything else?

because you have to pay for Microsoft Office when you can get Apple suite, LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, Google Docs, FreeOffice, WPS Office for free.
 

DaveFromCampbelltown

macrumors 68000
Jun 24, 2020
1,779
2,875
The entire premise/op question is weird. Why on Earth would I be using anything else?

Because Word is still not as stable, nor as fast, with large documents as LibreOffice using ODT. Microsoft, as usual, had to use their own, bastardised version of XML.
Also, Word still can't do multi-file documents properly.
 

eduardodfj

macrumors member
Jan 27, 2022
72
147
you mean aside from Word offering e.g. lesser typographic or even lesser type setting quality as other programs? Or aside that Excel can’t be really recommended if e.g. your data seem unusual or include missing values? Indeed, why would one care to use something else? 😂🤣
because you have to pay for Microsoft Office when you can get Apple suite, LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, Google Docs, FreeOffice, WPS Office for free.
Because Word is still not as stable, nor as fast, with large documents as LibreOffice using ODT. Microsoft, as usual, had to use their own, bastardised version of XML.
Also, Word still can't do multi-file documents properly.

You are missing the point. I HAVE TO use Office because everyone else is using Office. Regardless of quality, stability or any other merit.

Could I use LibreOffice instead? No, because (for example) Office apps are the only ones that allow you to have several people working in the same document at the same time via Sharepoint or OneDrive.

Could I use Apple suite? No, because on top of the previous point, Apple apps don't open and save Office documents with 100% fidelity to format, plus a number of other compatibility issues here and there (such as assigning tasks to people in Word comments, for instance).

Microsoft is a de facto walled garden, in my experience more so than Apple and their iPhone-Mac-Watch system.

Yes, if all I have to do is to write short texts for myself I can use LibreOffice, Pages or even TextEdit. But for any interaction with other people, particularly professional, there is no way out of Microsoft Office*.

* Terms and conditions apply. Google Docs wants to have a word.
 

Slartibart

macrumors 68040
Aug 19, 2020
3,140
2,815
You are missing the point. I HAVE TO use Office because everyone else is using Office. Regardless of quality, stability or any other merit.

Could I use LibreOffice instead? No, because (for example) Office apps are the only ones that allow you to have several people working in the same document at the same time via Sharepoint or OneDrive.

Could I use Apple suite? No, because on top of the previous point, Apple apps don't open and save Office documents with 100% fidelity to format, plus a number of other compatibility issues here and there (such as assigning tasks to people in Word comments, for instance).

Microsoft is a de facto walled garden, in my experience more so than Apple and their iPhone-Mac-Watch system.

Yes, if all I have to do is to write short texts for myself I can use LibreOffice, Pages or even TextEdit. But for any interaction with other people, particularly professional, there is no way out of Microsoft Office*.

* Terms and conditions apply. Google Docs wants to have a word.
Everyone understands this. But I responded to Jago’s “Why on Earth would I be using anything else?” - so while its use might be ubiquitous, there are sufficient good reasons not to. 😃
 
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MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,727
3,892
You are missing the point. I HAVE TO use Office because everyone else is using Office. Regardless of quality, stability or any other merit.

Could I use LibreOffice instead? No, because (for example) Office apps are the only ones that allow you to have several people working in the same document at the same time via Sharepoint or OneDrive.

Could I use Apple suite? No, because on top of the previous point, Apple apps don't open and save Office documents with 100% fidelity to format, plus a number of other compatibility issues here and there (such as assigning tasks to people in Word comments, for instance).

Microsoft is a de facto walled garden, in my experience more so than Apple and their iPhone-Mac-Watch system.

Yes, if all I have to do is to write short texts for myself I can use LibreOffice, Pages or even TextEdit. But for any interaction with other people, particularly professional, there is no way out of Microsoft Office*.

* Terms and conditions apply. Google Docs wants to have a word.

In professional collaborative field you are correct, but that is not necessarily the use case of everyone.
 
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SnowCrocodile

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2022
465
470
SouthEast of Northern MidWest
You are missing the point. I HAVE TO use Office because everyone else is using Office. Regardless of quality, stability or any other merit.

Could I use LibreOffice instead? No, because (for example) Office apps are the only ones that allow you to have several people working in the same document at the same time via Sharepoint or OneDrive.

Could I use Apple suite? No, because on top of the previous point, Apple apps don't open and save Office documents with 100% fidelity to format, plus a number of other compatibility issues here and there (such as assigning tasks to people in Word comments, for instance).

Microsoft is a de facto walled garden, in my experience more so than Apple and their iPhone-Mac-Watch system.

Yes, if all I have to do is to write short texts for myself I can use LibreOffice, Pages or even TextEdit. But for any interaction with other people, particularly professional, there is no way out of Microsoft Office*.

* Terms and conditions apply. Google Docs wants to have a word.

I think you and I have different definitions of "walled garden".

I can use Microsoft Office files on pretty much any OS, any device, and I don't necessarily need MS Office to use them (although I may lose some formatting).

On the other hand, I can only use Apple Office files on Apple devices and via Apple office apps.

Moreover, if you look at some OS's (say iOS / iPadOS) and count the number of apps that can use MS Office format files, vs the number of apps that can use Open Office files, you'd probably find that MSO is significantly better supported by the 3rd party developers, and there's more user choice in the apps that can work with MSO formats than the apps that can work with Open Office formats, or especially apps that can work with Apple Office formats.

This, to me, is the opposite of a "walled garden". MSO has become an industry standard across most industries, but it's also a very wide open field as far as accessibility and user choice.
 
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Ctrlos

macrumors 65816
Sep 19, 2022
1,361
2,851
Pages is actually closer to Publisher than Word. Its a lot better for creating rich documents which Word is rather poor at. Microsoft seem to have given up on Publisher altogether, barely advertising it anywhere. I believe its still included in a $6/m 365 sub. Pages is free, works just as well on iCloud.com (meaning its just as good on Windows, Linux and Chrome) and has some lovely templates.

Most things you might use Word for, such as a resume for a job Pages is just as good. Digital submissions tend to be PDF so it has full compatibility.
 
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