https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2...-can-do-the-job
Why pay for Microsoft Office when other programs can do the job?
TECHNOLOGY
Saturday, 31 Oct 2020

10:00 AM MYT
By Sven-Hendrik Hahn


Whether at home or in the office, most people now need a word processor on their computer. — Microsoft/dpa

Whether you're talking about texts, tables or presentations, Microsoft dominates the market with its Office suite and the programs Word, Excel and PowerPoint. But there are plenty of good alternatives out there, and often, unlike Microsoft's offering, they're free.

Microsoft is increasingly switching its sales model from a one-off purchase to a subscription. For the user, that means ongoing costs.

Like any subscription, US$8 (RM33.26) per month for the complete Office package doesn't sound like much, but after five years, that's over US$450 (RM1,870.65) – for applications that you might only use occasionally, points out Patrick Hannemann of the German industry magazine Chip.

Microsoft argues that its subscription-based Office suites, such as Microsoft 365 Personal or Microsoft 365 Family, bring added value.

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"In Microsoft 365, we are further developing the known applications with cloud and AI technology, and adding solutions like Teams for video conferences or the task management Planner," says Microsoft's Bruno Daellenbach.

Hannemann isn't convinced: "As a private user or student, I don't need that. The free alternatives are completely sufficient for occasional office work."

More and more office work is happening in the cloud, and Microsoft has recognised that. Anyone who can live with using Office programmes only in their browser and not having them installed on their computer can use the company's Office Online, which is free and web-based.

In this market segment of cloud-based office services, there are also many other providers with free basic offers, such as Google Docs, Dropbox Paper or the data protection-focused Cryptpad.

Hannemann says that occasional users should be satisfied with Google Docs, which is well-connected with Google Drive for online storage and which also enables cooperative work.

If you use a Mac rather than a Windows machine, they come with the Pages text editor and the Numbers spreadsheet pre-installed. However, opinions differ when it comes to usability and compatibility.

The two best-known free Office suites are Open Office and Libre Office. Both are based on the same core software, look similar and are available for virtually all operating systems. Documents produced using them can be saved in the Microsoft Office formats, so it's generally no problem to move documents between the different suites.

Another option is FreeOffice from SoftMaker – the company promises the greatest possible compatibility with Microsoft programs.

FreeOffice is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux computers. – dpa

can't beat MS Excel for people that need advanced functions.

Microsoft office should be free of charge tbh and comes with the Windows.

I use Libre Office personally, and I know people who use Google Docs

Libre Docs is perfectly a okay except for some diff shortcut keys

Libre Sheets has some user unfriendly control issues, some very basic. Some advanced formulae not there. So I foresee difficulty if I have to use it

Also Libre in general is quite inefficient in memory use

I would use Google Docs except the offline mode a bit topkek

However the kicker is that my new laptop has free MS Word and Excel for life again, so I just switch back to MS in the end

I dunno. Just take it as it comes I guess.

Why pay people salary when can ask other cheap labors to do work at discount, you like this ar?

even MS Office still having bugs and issues

Google office because I don't use Excel much. RM30 per month is still too much when competitor is free.

Lol nobody forced you to use it.

Gomen staff use StarOffice / OpenOffice.

I paid not for Office but for OneDrive mostly. Sync data from all my 10 ThinkPads via 1 home PC is crucial and convenient.

my samseng come with micosop opis

Ikr
Why pay for office 365 for personal devices when you can just crack them.
Owai
Apart from onedrive.

Office 2019 standalone? Else I find it hard to believe can have free for life as Office 365 subscription based.

to save on frustrations

I use libre sheets on Linux laptop. Feels clunky compared to excel

Given their skill level as evidenced by COVID-19 announcements and charts, I guess that's fine.
After all, they can't even be bothered to hide the auto-correct red underlining in their presentation for almost a year now.

I am paying for a subscription because of the 1TB OneDrive only. Reaching 1TB soon so probably next year I’ll have to kick out one of my 5 shared members to get another 1TB.

Something something home edition yeah

Latest offering, 100% legit

Quite worth it!

Cool, most of the new laptops I see come with Office 365 with limited functionality.

genuine office 365 RM5 only