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Office Suites for MS Windows | View information about Office Suites for MS Windows within our Technology Website Directory section by reviewing this area of our website. We provide a wealth of information online to help our visitors become better informed about Computer Buzz. |
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Office Suites for MS Windows
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An office suite, sometimes called a productivity suite, is a software suite intended to be used by clerical workers and knowledge workers. The components are generally distributed together, have a consistent user interface, and usually can interact with each other, sometimes in ways that the operating system would not normally allow.
Most office application suites include at least a word processor and a spreadsheet program. In addition to these, the suite may contain a presentation program, database tool, graphics suite, and communications tools. An office suite may also include an email client and a personal information manager or groupware package.
The currently dominant office suite is Microsoft Office, which is available for Microsoft Windows and the Apple Macintosh. It has become a proprietary de facto standard in office software.
An alternative is any of the OpenDocument suites, which use the free OpenDocument file format. The most prominent of these is OpenOffice.org for Windows, Linux, Macintosh, and other platforms. OpenOffice.org, Koffice, and Kingsoft Office support many of the features of Microsoft Office, as well as most of its file formats and have spawned several derivatives such as NeoOffice and StarOffice, a commercial version by Sun Microsystems.
Let's take a quick look at some of the currently available office suites for Windows.
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Microsoft Office for Windows
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Office was introduced by Microsoft in 1989 on the Apple Mac, with a version for Windows coming along in 1990. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of Office contained Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Additionally, a "Pro" version of Office included Microsoft Access and Schedule Plus. Over the years, Office applications have grown substantially closer with shared features such as a common spell checker, OLE data integration, and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications scripting language.
The current versions are Office 2007 for Windows, launched on January 30, 2007, and Office 2004 for Mac, released May 19, 2004. They include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook (Windows version)/Entourage (Mac version).
Computer Buzz recommends MS Office for Windows, although we wish it were a bit more stable. Both Word and Excel--especially Word--have an infuriating tendency to quit abruptly for no apparent reason. And we wish it were a helluva lot more affordable; an MSRP of $480 is little short of highway robbery. Moreover, we are not entirely happy with Microsoft's decision to keep the Word and Excel file formats secret and proprietary. This forces other software publishers to have to reverse engineer their products to be more-or-less-but-not-exactly compatible with Microsoft's. We much prefer the OpenDocument format.
Official Website: www.us1.trymicrosoftoffice.com
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Microsoft Works for Windows
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Microsoft Works is an office suite available from the Microsoft Corporation. Smaller and less expensive than the Microsoft Office suite, its core functionality includes a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a database. Newer versions have a calendar application while older releases included a terminal emulator. The Works Calendar supports importing and exporting iCalendar (.ICS) files and autosyncing them and the contacts in the Windows Address Book with a portable device. It does not, however, support subscribing to iCalendar files. Moreover, in Works 9.0, the autosync capability has been removed.
While Works' proprietary native WKS (spreadsheet), WDB (database) and WPS (word processor) formats limit its utility for larger organizations, the simplicity and ease of integrating database/spreadsheet data into word-processor documents (e.g., mail merge) allow it to remain an option for some small business owners. The database, while a "flat file," i.e., non-relational, allows the novice user to perform complex transformations through formulas and user-defined reports which can be copied as text to the clipboard.
Microsoft is not famous for offering bargains, but Works is the one product in the MS stable that is well worth the paltry 40 bucks (i.e., 1/12th the price of MS Office!) that Bill Gates is asking. We suggest you get it while the getting is good.
Official Website: www.microsoft.com/products/works/default.mspx
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StarOffice
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StarOffice is Sun Microsystems' proprietary office suite software package for the Windows, Linux, and Solaris operating systems. It is the basis of the free and open source OpenOffice.org package, and contains some additional features.
StarOffice was originally developed by the German company StarDivision in 1984. The company, copyright, and trademark of StarOffice were acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999 for US$73.5 million. Sun soon offered StarOffice 5.2 as a free download for personal use. Sun then released most of the StarOffice source code under a free/open source license. The resultant free/open source software codebase is developed as OpenOffice.org. In August 2007, Google started offering StarOffice as a free download as part of its Google Pack application.
StarOffice supports the XML file format, including the OpenDocument standard, and can generate PDF and Flash formats. The program comes with templates, a macro recorder, and a software development kit.
The program includes:
StarWriter word processor
StarCalc spreadsheet
StarImpress presentation program
StarDraw drawing tool
StarBase database
Computer Buzz strongly recommends StarOffice and its sister app, OpenOffice.org. We use it in-house on a daily basis.
Official Website: www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/
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OpenOffice.org
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OpenOffice.org (aka OOo or OO.o) is a free software office suite available for multiple operating systems including Linux, Windows, MacOS X, Solaris, FreeBSD, OpenVMS, and IRIX. It supports the OpenDocument standard for data interchange, and can also read and write files from other common office software packages including MS Office.
This package is informally referred to as "Open Office," but project organizers report that this term is a trademark already registered, thus requiring them to adopt the clumsy "OpenOffice.org" as its formal name.
OpenOffice.org is based on StarOffice, an office suite originally developed in Germany and acquired by Sun Microsystems in August 1999. The source code of the suite was released in July 2000 with the intention of reducing the dominant market share of Microsoft Office by providing a free, open, high-quality alternative.
Computer Buzz finds that OpenOffice.org is easy to learn, and if you have ever used another office software package, you'll take to OpenOffice.org right away. If you already have files from another office package, OpenOffice.org will read them with no difficulty.
Best of all, OpenOffice.org can be downloaded and used entirely free of any license fees, because it is released under the GNU Lesser General Public License. This means you may use it for any purpose domestic, commercial, educational, or whatever. You may install it on as many computers as you like. You may make copies and give them away to family, friends, students, and employees; anyone you like.
OpenOffice.org has four main components:
1) Writer is the word processor.
2) Calc is the spreadsheet.
3) Impress is the presentation package.
4) Draw is the tool to create graphics and drawings.
At a cost of zero, OpenOffice.org may very well be the one single most valuable software deal in all of cyberspace. Computer Buzz can not recommend this program loudly enough.
Official Website: www.OpenOffice.org
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GNOME Office
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GNOME Office is a free software office suite, originally written for the GNOME desktop environment, which consists of the AbiWord word processor, Gnumeric spreadsheet, and GNOME-DB data base. The Linux/Unix version of GNOME Office consists of all three applications; the Windows version contains just AbiWord and Gnumeric, and the Mac version only has AbiWord (leading Computer Buzz to wonder if a "suite" with only one app can really be a suite).
Integration is achieved chiefly through the Bonobo component technology. The integration between the various applications in the suite is rather loose, causing many observers to consider GNOME Office to be merely the collection of desktop productivity applications written for the GNOME environment rather than an office suite in the usual sense.
Computer Buzz recommends GNOME Office very highly. It is stable, well thought-out, and full-featured without being bloated. We particularly like the word processor module.
Official Website: www.gnome.org/gnome-office/
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KOffice: A
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KOffice is an office suite originally developed for the K Desktop Environment (KDE). All its components have been released under free software/open source licenses. The latest version of KOffice is 1.6.3 and was released on June 7, 2007. The suite is released separately from KDE and can be downloaded at the KOffice homepage at: http://koffice.org/
The current KOffice 1.6.x series is designed for Linux/Unix, but the upcoming 2.0 release should add compatibility for Mac OS X and Windows. KOffice applications use OpenDocument as their native file format whenever possible.
The KOffice suite includes the following components:
--Kword: A word processor with style sheets and frame-support for DTP-style editing of complex layouts.
--Kspread: A spreadsheet app with multiple sheet support, templates, and more than 100 math formulas.
--Kpresenter: A presentation program with image and effect support.
--Kivio: A programmable flowchart drawing program.
--Karbon14: A vector drawing application with a variety of drawing and editing tools.
--Krita: (Formerly known as Krayon and KImageshop) A bitmap graphics manipulation program, primarily designed as a painting program, with some image processing features.
--Kugar and Kchart: Integrated report and chart generators.
--Kformula: An integrated mathematical formula editor.
--Kexi: A data management app, like MS Access or FileMaker; can be used for designing databases, processing data, and performing queries; has limited compatibility with the MS Access file format.
--Kplato: A project management application that can create Gantt-style charts.
The superior quality and outrageous value of the free KOffice suite inclines Computer Buzz to overlook the infuriatingly stupid tendency of the developers to name everything about it with artificial words beginning with the letter "K." We "rekommend" it.
Official Website: koffice.org/
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Ability Office
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Ability Office is an office suite for Microsoft Windows published by Ability Plus Software. It is a low-cost (although not free like the similarly-featured OpenOffice.org) alternative to Microsoft Office. Version 4 of Ability Office offers Office 2003 look and an expanded number of applications. Ability Office also supports Microsoft Office and other popular file formats for import and export of files.
The following modules are included:
Write -A word processor similar to Microsoft Word.
Spreadsheet-A spreadsheet equivalent to Microsoft Excel.
Database-A relational database manager in the category of Microsoft Access
Photopaint-A bitmap graphics editor.
Presentation-A new module in Version 4 similar to Microsoft PowerPoint.
Photoalbum-A photo application.
An alpha version of Ability Office for Linux has been developed, but work on it has stalled.
C/NET has published the following review of Ability Office:
"The good: Well-integrated word processor and spreadsheet; fast e-mail support; database opens native Access files.
"The bad: Slow word processor; spreadsheet doesn't open all Excel files; poor HTML conversion skills; no Mac or Linux versions.
"The bottom line: In our book, Ability just doesn't have enough abilities. This $70 suite is a bargain only if you require an inexpensive Microsoft Access-compatible database."
Official Website: http://www.ability.com/
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EasyOffice Premium
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EasyOffice Freeware is an office suite for Microsoft Windows that is free for non-commercial personal use. It was featured in Maximum PC magazine as the second best alternative for Microsoft Office. It comes to us from the UK.
EasyOffice Premium consists of EasyOffice Freeware plus a PDF Filter. It is an office suite compatible with Microsoft Office and the portable document format (PDF). It also includes EasyAntiVirus, an antivirus program.
This package includes a stunningly impressive list of modules, especially when you consider that the asking price is a paltry $49!
EasyWord with PDF Filter (DOC, RTF, HTML, and PDF files)
EasyMail integrated with CRM, EasySchedule, EasyCRM, high-speed Anti-Spam
Easyspreadsheet (XLS files); EasyPresentation (PowerPoint-like presentations)
EasyDictionary (full-reference dictionary)
Easybookkeeper (accounting)
EasyPad (Notepad replacement)
Easy Contact Manager (hot lists, mass e-mails, form letters)
EasySpeaker (reads docs and e-mails out loud)
EasyZip (full-fledged zipping/unzipping program)
Easyhelper
EasyImage
EasyDatabase
EasyCalculator
EasyCalendar
EasyBackup
Some of the modules may not be state of the art in their particular categories, but it's hard to complain about the price.
Official Website: http://www.easyofficepremium.com/
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Lotus Symphony
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Lotus Symphony from IBM is a set of applications comprising:
-Documents, a word processor
-Spreadsheets, a spreadsheet program
-Presentations, a presentation program
Symphony supports the OpenDocument format (ODF), as well as Microsoft Office and Lotus SmartSuite formats, but not Microsoft's Office Open XML format, which is used by Microsoft Office 2007. It can also export Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
Symphony version 1.2 is available for Linux and Windows, with a Mac OS X version currently in beta. It is based on OpenOffice.org 1.1.4 for the core office suite code. Symphony requires 512 MB of RAM and 540 MB of hard drive space.
IBM plans to incorporate code from the latest version of OpenOffice.org into version 2.0. Symphony 2.0 will also include modules that are already part of OpenOffice.org, including an equation editor, database software, and a drawing program, as well as other modules specifically provided by IBM.
Computer Buzz is pleased to see IBM hopping on the open software bandwagon. (Who'll be next, Microsoft?) All the same, we would just as soon use the genuine OpenOffice.org software and cut out the IBM middleman.
Official Website: http://www.symphony.lotus.com/
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GoBeProductive
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GoBeProductive was originally published as an office suite for the ill-fated Be OS around the turn of the millennium. The failure of Be, Inc and BeOS meant that ports had to be undertaken, so Windows and Linux variants were developed. Although the Gobe company shipped a Windows version of its software in December 2001, it was unable to obtain sufficient operating capital after the 2000 stock market crash and finally ceased operations in 2002. A new venture based in Beaverton, Oregon, Gobe Corporation purchased the rights to GoBeProductive and the Gobe trademarks; it continues to publish the GoBeProductive application for Windows.
GoBeProductive is an efficient little productivity suite that combines a text editor, spreadsheet, slide show generator, and two image editors into one slim, inexpensive, easy to use package.
The word processor is actually quite powerful and sophisticated. Images generated by the integrated graphics and photo editing tools can be rotated and moved anywhere on a page, pushing gobeProductive's text editor beyond being just a word processor and into page layout territory. It's almost to the point of being a competitor to Microsoft Publisher and Adobe PageMaker.
The spreadsheet tool is as good as most, and the presentation software, which integrates nicely with the text editor and image tools, is an adequate replacement for PowerPoint. There is no GoBeProductive database module.
The price is a very affordable $50. Computer Buzz recommends this office suite very highly.
Official Website: www.gobe.com/
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SoftMaker Office
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SoftMaker Office is an office suite for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Windows CE, and the Pocket PC, developed since 1989 by the German company SoftMaker Software GmbH (Nuremberg).
Up to and including the 2006 release, the proprietary suite included:
TextMaker (word processor)
PlanMaker (spreadsheet)
SoftMaker Office 2008, currently in beta for Windows, adds two new applications:
SoftMaker Presentations (presentation graphics, compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint)
BasicMaker (a VBA-like programming tool)
SoftMaker Office lacks a presentation program, a communication program, and a graphics program. It uses its own native formats and is highly compatible with MS Office file formats. The user interface is based on MS Office's look and feel. In comparison, it starts and runs faster and needs less memory than MS Office.
MSRP is a very fair $70.
Official Website: www.softmaker.com/
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ThinkFree Office
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ThinkFree Office by Haansoft ThinkFree Co. Ltd. is an office suite written in Java that runs on Windows, Linux, and Macintosh platforms. The package includes a word processor (Write), a spreadsheet (Calc), and a presentation program (Show). ThinkFree Office reads and writes to Microsoft Office file formats (.doc, .xls, and .ppt) and has a look and feel similar to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint,.
Computer Buzz has evaluated this package. We like it, but we're not crazy about it. The Write program is a little clunky, and there are some line spacing problems (especially at large point sizes) that may be typeface/font-related.
ThinkFree Online is a web-based version of this same office suite.
You can think "free" all you like; the Haansoft folks are thinking "fifty-dollar bill." For that price, ThinkFree Office is a bargain.
Official Website: www.thinkfree.com/
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Corel WordPerfect Office
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The WordPerfect name dates back to the early days of MS-DOS when it dominated the word processing business. WordPerfect first became part of an office suite when the company entered into a co-licensing agreement with Borland Software Corporation in 1993. The offerings were marketed as Borland Office, containing Windows versions of WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, Borland Paradox, and a LAN-based groupware package called WordPerfect Office (not to be confused with the complete applications suite of the same name later marketed by Corel) based on the WordPerfect Library for DOS.
The WordPerfect product line was sold twice, first to Novell in June 1994, who then sold it to Corel in January 1996. Once the 900-pound gorilla of word processors, WordPerfect now claims to be the number two office suite (with 15 percent of the market) behind MS Office.
Computer Buzz is unable to see how its price of $300 can be justified when so many other equally capable packages are available for a small fraction of that figure.
Official Website: www.corel.com/
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Evermore Integrated Office
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Evermore Software is China's leading developer of Office software. A joint venture between the Chinese and American investors, Evermore Software was founded in 2000 and currently employs over 400 software engineers. Evermore Software is one of the largest independent Java developers in the world and the biggest single project software development team in China.
The flagship product, Evermore Integrated Office, was first released in 2002 as a fully integrated Office system. Written in Java, EIOffice runs on Linux, Windows, and Macintosh operating systems. MSRP is $99.
Not yet evaluated or rated by Computer Buzz.
Official Website: www.evermoresw.com/
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602PC Suite
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The oddly-named 602PC Suite uses the same document formats (.DOC & .XLS) as Microsoft Office and has the same look and feel. And you can export to Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) directly from any 602PC Suite application for quick and easy online distribution. This package is excellent for creating, editing and viewing documents and spreadsheets. Many of its features work the same way as Microsoft Office.
602PC Suite also includes an app to edit, restore, enhance, print, and share your photos. It's not the most full-featured office suite around, but at 40 bucks for a single-user license, it's a good deal for most folks. Eighty bucks gets you a license for three users, and 400 dollars less than the price of a single installation of MS Office gets you a license for 25 users! And each multi-user license purchased for an organization allows installation on an employee's home computer! A simple, one-time software registration is required for the entire organization.
Official Website: http://www.software602.com/products/pcs/
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Papyrus Office
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Papyrus Office is an office suite developed in Germany. It is published in German and English for Windows and Mac OS X (but not Linux/Unix), and it contains the following modules:
--Word-processing
--Desktop publishing suitable for professional applications
--Embedded spreadsheets with over 100 calculation functions
--Relational database with a powerful search engine
It can read and write in MS-Word format, as well as PDF output.
Everything you need to install Papyrus can be delivered via Internet. The Papyrus package includes the complete online help and a tutorial, a license key file and your personal installation key code. The download archive for installing Papyrus is just 5 MB (Windows) / 8 MB (Mac), thus making it one of the most compact and efficient office suites on the market.
A single user license is $99, and a double license is $165. Computer Buzz has not tested the Windows version, but we have used the Mac version, and we had problems with it. Papyrus is not our favorite office suite by a long shot, but we're willing to bide our time and give them a chance to get it right. At this time, we have to give it a "don't buy" rating.
Official Website: www.rom-logicware.com
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Kingsoft Office (aka WPS Office)
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Kingsoft Office 2007 (previously known as WPS Office) is a Microsoft Office compatible suite of applications. It consists of Writer, Presentation, Spreadsheets modules (W-P-S; get it?), all of which have a close resemblance to the familiar layout and functionality of MS Office. Kingsoft comes to us from Beijing, China, and this software outfit has been around since the 1980s.
Kingsoft's download demo version comes with the longest trial period we've ever heard of 180 days! Oddly enough, the inscrutable orientals don't give the purchase price of the package anywhere on their website. The capitalistic concept of "Get the money!" has apparently escaped them.
Not yet tested or rated by Computer Buzz.
Official Website: www.OpenOffice.org
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