Why is paid Microsoft Office better than free and which one to choose? Top ten office suites Which office is better than windows 7

It's hard to imagine a work computer without a suite of programs like Microsoft Office. It includes everything you need to work with documents, spreadsheets, presentations, mail and many other files and services. But Microsoft Office for Windows is not free program that comes with operating system, it needs to be purchased separately for an additional fee, which is quite significant. Not all PC owners with the Windows operating system decide to buy Office for a computer to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other applications. And, if an office suite is still needed, the right solution would be to search for analogs of these applications. In this article, we will consider which one to download free office for Windows so that it has functionality as close as possible to the product from Microsoft.

Table of contents:

Free office suite - LibreOffice

Perhaps the most famous free office suite for Windows is LibreOffice. It can be downloaded from the developers site. It is compatible with any version of the operating system from Microsoft, while translated into dozens of languages, including Russian. Free use of the program is completely legal, while not only private, but also corporate, as a result of which many entrepreneurs install LibreOffice on their employees' computers in the office.

Program LibreOffice is a set of applications that allow you to work with various data: text documents (all popular formats), spreadsheets, presentations, pictures, databases, formulas.

LibreOffice applications are considered one of the best office counterparts from Microsoft. With the exception of very specific functions and macros, LibreOffice has everything you need (and more) to work with documents. The programs in the office suite are actively supported by the developers, constantly updating and getting new functionality.

Free office - OpenOffice

Another set of free office applications that can be put on a par with LibreOffice. This software package is more suitable for users whose computers are not particularly powerful. This suite of office applications is much less demanding on PC performance, but it cannot be said that it lacks any functionality available in LibreOffice.

Please Note: ApplicationsOpenOffice is developed in parallel by the same developers. But it is precisely

OpenOffice, like LibreOffice, can work not only with documents and tables, but also with specific data, such as formulas and pictures. It has no problems with compatibility with files saved in the original Microsoft Office, that is, the application can be used to work with docx, xlsx, pptx and other formats.

WPS Office - a new analogue of office from Microsoft

Another office suite that you definitely need to consider when talking about office counterparts from Microsoft. Unlike the options discussed above, the WPS Office suite is relatively new on the market. It is also distributed free of charge, but it supports significantly more formats than OpenOffice or LibreOffice. Accordingly, if you often have to work with documents of "unusual" formats saved in different versions of offices, this application will become the best analogue of Microsoft Office.

In the package of documentsWPSOffice includes analoguesMicrosoftWord,MicrosoftExcel,MicrosoftPowerPoint and other applications. Even the interface of this program is very similar to the original office from Microsoft.

But the WPS Office application also has a clear drawback, which must be said. The program is distributed free of charge in a trial version. If you want to experience its full functionality, you will need to purchase the complete package, which costs less than Microsoft Office, but also quite substantial.

In trial version Microsoft programs Office does not have the ability to save the created documents in many formats (only basic ones are supported), you also cannot use macros, and when you print files in PDF format, they are indicated by the application watermark.

Among the interesting features of the Office application "Documents" of the WPS Office suite, it is worth noting the presence of tabs for documents. That is, you do not need to open the program several times, and inside one window you can switch between open documents.

Polaris Office

This office suite was created, rather, for foreign users, since the Russian language is not supported in it. However, the program itself is interesting and the developer is "eminent", so it is possible that over time the application will receive localization, and then it will be much more comfortable to use it.

The office programs included in the Polaris Office suite are very similar in appearance to the original Microsoft Office. At the same time, these applications provide full compatibility with all formats fromWord,Excel andPowerPoint. One more interesting feature Polaris Office is the ability to use cloud services of developers, due to which it is possible to synchronize versions of documents on a computer and mobile devices(iOS and Android) where app versions are also present.

Available from Polaris Office and paid version, and therefore, some restrictions are imposed on the free one. Of the most important, there is no way to search within a document, there is no export functionality to PDF, and no pen is supported.

Online analogue of the office - Google Docs

If you have the Internet on your computer and do not need a powerful editor for documents, and an office suite is required only for viewing and minor corrections in documents, you can use an online solution from Google. In fact, Google docs Is a complete analogue of Microsoft Office in terms of viewing files. But it lacks the "powerful" office suite tools from Microsoft, such as macros.

SoftMaker FreeOffice

Another set of programs, which is positioned as a replacement for the paid office from Microsoft. This kit cannot boast of a large set of functions, nevertheless, it has all the options necessary for most users.

Please note: Program for editing text documents fromSoftMaker looks very much like an appWordPad, which is included in the default set of programs for the operating systemWindows.

To use SoftMaker FreeOffice, you need to register your account in it, after which you can use all the functionality for free. It should be noted that the program has some advantages in comparison with other analogs. For example, it allows you to export documents to PDF format as well as some other Microsoft formats, with the exception of docx, xlsx, pptx.

Onlyoffice as a replacement for Microsoft Office

The last of the analogs considered in the article, but far from the last in importance, is Onlyoffice. The application is interesting in that it is included in a single ecosystem with mobile versions programs, and it also offers enterprise solutions for collaborating with documents.

Important: Set office programs Onlyoffice are documents, spreadsheets and presentations. This set of applications does not work with formulas and images.

At the beginning of this year, sales of the office suite Microsoft Office 2013 started. The interface was updated, new useful functions and added integration with online storage SkyDrive, so you can now access your documents almost anywhere. Alas, the prices for this popular and rather expensive office suite have now become even higher. The licensing conditions have also become more stringent - now one license is intended only for one device, while, for example, in the case of Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010, according to the license, it was provided for the installation of two copies of the program - one on a desktop computer, the second on a portable device ( notebook). Of course, you can go the other way - get a so-called household license by subscribing to Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium for 2149 rub. per year, which at first glance is about four times cheaper. In this case, the application package can be installed on five computers at the same time, including “some smartphones and tablets”. However, for home users it is also not cheap, because the subscription will have to be renewed annually, and the very idea of ​​a "cloud" office not every user will like.

Therefore, the task of choosing an alternative office solution for a home PC is quite relevant, especially since the potential majority of users in practice do not require such a powerful and multifunctional solution as Microsoft Office. Finding affordable or even free alternatives to Microsoft's expensive brainchild on the market is not so difficult today. Another question is whether they suit you as a replacement for your usual office product. That is, will they be convenient to use, whether they are functional enough in terms of the tasks to be solved and how successfully they are compatible with files of Microsoft Office formats, because MS Office, no doubt, will continue to be actively used on corporate level and in the overwhelming majority of cases, you will have to deal with files created in its environment. Support for the Russian language is also desirable - both at the interface level and in terms of spell checking. Therefore, we will try to evaluate the possible options for such alternative solutions taking into account the listed aspects.

Free "office"

In addition to MS Office, the list of office products on the market includes many different solutions that differ in the supported platform and the range of capabilities provided. There are also free office products among them, the palm among which for a long time belonged to the multi-platform office suite OpenOffice.org. Now the situation has changed - the OpenOffice.org solution faded into the background, and it was replaced by the LibreOffice suite of office applications, developed by the non-profit organization The Document Foundation as an offshoot of OpenOffice.org. Today it is perhaps the most complete free alternative to office Microsoft solution... However, LibreOffice is quite heavy and slow. Therefore, users who agree to sacrifice functionality (see table) in favor of compactness and more high performance, you should pay attention to the free editions of the SoftMaker Office and Kingsoft Office Pro packages, known in the market as SoftMaker FreeOffice and Kingsoft Office Suite Free.

LibreOffice 4.0.2

The developer: The Document Foundation

Siteprograms: http://www.libreoffice.org/

Distribution size: 184 MB

Work under control: Windows (all versions); there are versions for Mac and Linux

Distribution method: freeware (http://www.libreoffice.org/download)

Price: is free

LibreOffice is an office suite created in 2010 based on the well-known office solution OpenOffice.org. This set of office applications is an open source software product and can be considered a serious competitor to Microsoft Office, as it offers the same wide functionality. At the same time, the package has Russian-language assemblies, which provide for a Russian-language user interface and spell checker, and has good compatibility with MS Office. True, this solution cannot boast of the speed of work - opening and saving documents in LibreOffice (especially in spreadsheets and the presentation editor) takes much more time than in MS Office. But thanks to its powerful tooling, LibreOffice is definitely one of the best free alternatives to MS Office today.

When you start LibreOffice, the main window opens (Fig. 1) with icons for launching the applications included in the package - in particular, the text Writer processor(Fig. 2), Calc spreadsheets (Fig. 3) and the Impress presentation system. Possibilities text editor Writer is impressive with TOC and link support, full formatting, automatic spelling and autocorrect, the ability to include illustrations, and more. Thus, in the editor, you can prepare documents with a very complex design - books, brochures, etc. Spreadsheets also include all the functionality necessary for work, including tools for entering complex formulas, creating a variety of diagrams and conducting statistical analysis. Impress capabilities allow you to prepare impressive multimedia presentations with all sorts of animations and special effects. In addition, LibreOffice includes a database management program Base data, editor for creating diagrams and sketches Draw and editor for mathematical formulas Math. Finally, this office suite includes another useful tool - an integrated PDF creation module in the applications, with which you can export the generated documents to PDF format (including in accordance with the ISO PDF / A standard).

Rice. 1. LibreOffice main window

Rice. 2. Word processor LibreOffice Writer

Rice. 3. LibreOffice Calc Spreadsheets

Launching LibreOffice opens the main menu with icons for launching specific applications: word processor, spreadsheet, etc. The interface of each of the applications is similar to that of Microsoft Office, so you can start working in this solution literally right after installation. Documents open in different windows. Compatibility with Microsoft formats is implemented at a high level - it is possible to open MS Office files from versions 6.0 to 2010 and save files in MS Office 97/2000 / XP / 2003 and MS Office 2007/2010 formats. However, the display of imported documents is not entirely correct in some cases. For example, we noted that Writer paginates DOC documents differently than Word, and slightly offsets the text in the leaders vertically, and Calc can distort the chart type (depending on the type) and sometimes shifts the captions to charts.

SoftMaker FreeOffice 675

The developer: SoftMaker Software GmbH

Distribution size: 58.7 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / 7/8; there is a version for Linux

Distribution method: freeware (http://www.freeoffice.com/en/download); to use the product, you must register and receive a free serial key

Price: is free

SoftMaker FreeOffice is a lightweight version of the commercial SoftMaker Office 2012 product offered on the market in two editions: Basic Standard and Advanced Professional (the latter additionally includes “ mail client"). The solution is compact, high-speed, minimum requirements to hardware resources and good support for MS Office formats. In addition, the product can be operated from any flash drive, which allows you to always have it at hand required programs... SoftMaker FreeOffice has Russian language localization and can be configured to automatic check spelling in Russian (you will need to download and install the Hunspell Russian dictionary). The possibilities of the free version of SoftMaker FreeOffice (in comparison with SoftMaker Office), of course, are limited, and documents with complex design cannot be created in this office product. Also, it is impossible to save DOCX-, XLSX- and PPTX-files in it (only reading files in these formats is available); documents in DOC, XLS and PPT formats can be opened and saved without problems. However, the functionality of this solution is quite enough to perform most of the office tasks facing home users, so this product is very promising for equipping a home PC.

SoftMaker FreeOffice includes three modules: the TextMaker text editor (Figure 4), the PlanMaker spreadsheet (Figure 5), and the Presentations presentation program. TextMaker will help you prepare a variety of documents with highlighted by means of filling and borders paragraphs, lists, tables, streamlined text pictures, links, columnar text and table of contents. With PlanMaker, you can perform all the basic operations in tables, including calculations with connected functions, applying named links, analyzing data, illustrating calculations with graphs and charts, and more. In the presentation maker Presentations, you can create simple-to-design presentations with a variety of transitions, animations, sound annotations and videos. Also, SoftMaker FreeOffice has the ability to export working documents to PDF format.

Rice. 4. Text editor TextMaker (SoftMaker FreeOffice)

Rice. 5. Spreadsheets PlanMaker (SoftMaker FreeOffice)

The interfaces of the applications from the SoftMaker FreeOffice suite are very similar to the interfaces of the corresponding applications in MS Office 2003, so a minimum of time is enough to master the products. Due to the wide support of all popular office formats, it is possible to open and save files in DOC, XLS and PPT formats for MS Office versions 6.0-2010 (including password protected), as well as OpenDocument documents, RTF, HTML and a number of others. For DOCX, XLSX and PPTX files, only open is implemented. The display of documents created in MS Office, as a rule, fully corresponds to the original, although exceptions are possible. For example, we noticed that TextMaker in some documents, when displayed, changes the borders of labels, flips the text in leaders and can resize OLE objects. In PlanMaker, we faced the inability to work with pivot tables created in MS Excel.

Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012 (8.1.0.3385)

The developer: Kingsoft Software

Distribution size: 39.1 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / 7/8

Distribution method: freeware (http://www.kingsoftstore.com/download-office)

Price: is free

Kingsoft Office Suite Free is a free stripped-down version of the commercial office suite Kingsoft Office Pro from Chinese developers, which is widely known in China as WPS Office. This software product is distinguished by its modest dimensions, high speed of operation and undemanding system resources(works without problems even on netbooks). The solution has a higher level of compatibility with MS Office (in comparison with the above-discussed office suites), and it looks like an office product from Microsoft, and has an impressive (albeit limited, if compared with Kingsoft Office Pro) functionality. True, this office suite does not have a Russian-language interface, and the spell-checker in Russian is too tough for it. Nevertheless, the "office" from Chinese developers still looks attractive as an alternative to expensive commercial products for a home PC.

Kingsoft Office Suite Free includes: the Kingsoft Writer word processor (Figure 6), Kingsoft Spreadsheets (Figure 7), and the Kingsoft Presentation presentation software. Use a text editor to create professional-quality documents with styles, columnar text, colorful tables, charts, and even watermarks. Spreadsheets Kingsoft Spreadsheets include all the necessary tools for processing, analyzing and graphing data, and the Kingsoft Presentation solution can be successfully used to create effective presentations based on thematic templates. Kingsoft Office Suite Free also has a built-in PDF converter that allows you to convert office files (including Word documents, Excel and PowerPoint) to PDF files; if necessary, generated PDF documents can be password protected from changes.

Rice. 6. Kingsoft Writer word processor

Rice. 7. Spreadsheets Kingsoft Spreadsheets

The office solution Kingsoft Office Suite Free outwardly resembles Microsoft Office 2003: the arrangement of panels, buttons and commands is copied almost one to one; functionality is almost completely duplicated. The main difference is only in the support of tabs at the application level, which is good, since with tabs working with multiple documents becomes more convenient. Almost 100% compatibility with Microsoft Office - you can open and edit MS Office documents (97/2000/2003/2007/2010) in DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX formats, as well as DOT, RTF, XLT files, CSV, HTML, PPS, etc. True, saving in the new formats DOCX, XLSX and PPTX is not supported, which means that documents will have to be saved as DOC-, XLS- and PPT-files, but for most users this is irrelevant. And in this solution in terms of compatibility, of course, some distortions are possible when displaying documents created in MS Office, however, after viewing a lot of materials (among which there were a very complex structure), we were able to notice only a slightly different distribution of text within paragraphs. This sometimes leads to movement of text on pages and within labels and callouts.

Office in the clouds

Thanks to the widespread use of the Internet, "cloud" technologies are getting closer to us, and an increasing number of various tasks, including working with office documents, are being solved in the "clouds". An example of this is Google Docs and Zoho Docs, which are real online offices with a traditional set of office software. With their help, you can create and edit documents in a text editor, work with spreadsheets and prepare presentations, however, provided you have access to the Internet (you will also need to create your account on the corresponding service).

Of course, the functionality of "cloud" office solutions is an order of magnitude lower than that of the usual stationary products (in particular, MS Office). But when working in the online office, you can freely exchange documents with other users and work with them on project materials in real time. Also edit office documents online, you can from any computer connected to the Internet (including from a computer on which no office suite is installed at all) - this is important for users working on different computers... It should also be noted that with a relatively small total volume of documents, you will not have to pay at all for using online services.

Google docs

Developer: Google

Google Docs is a popular set of office web services that is considered to be the best online solution of this kind. It is distinguished by ease of use and relatively high speed (and this allows you to work if necessary, even with not the fastest connection), and also has impressive sharing capabilities and tight integration with other Google products. Russian-language support is provided at the interface level (you will need to select Russian in the settings), spelling check in Russian is possible, but not all errors are underlined (apparently, the built-in dictionary does not include all terms). The level of compatibility with MS Office documents is poor. The total amount provided for Google service Docs space in this moment capped at 5 GB, additional space must be paid for (25 GB - $ 2.49 / month, 100 GB - $ 4.99 / month).

Google Docs includes a Google Document text editor (Figure 8), a Google Spreadsheets spreadsheet (Figure 9), and a Google Presentations presentation service. There is also a toolkit for preparing different schemes, charts, drawings - Google Drawing and creating forms for surveys - Google Form. Formatting capabilities generated documents are minimal, so the service is more suitable for preparing simple materials, spreadsheets and presentations. On the other hand, the functionality designed for joint work with documents will allow organizing private access with certain rights (editing or reading) to specific documents for selected users, which will provide an opportunity for effective coordination of materials during their preparation. All materials are placed in collections (Fig. 10) and can be created from scratch or downloaded ready-made in popular file formats.

Rice. 8. Text editor Google Document

Rice. 9. Google Spreadsheets spreadsheet

Rice. 10. Organization of documents on Google Docs

The interface of all applications in Google Docs is very spartan and includes a minimum of tools and functions, but they are quite enough for preparation simple documents... Export and import of files for most standard formats is supported - including loading and editing MS Office documents in DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT and PPTX formats. Since last fall, Google Docs users have lost the ability to export documents to the old MS Office 1997-2003 formats (DOC, XLS, PPT), and now export is only possible to DOCX, XLSX and PPTX formats (HTML, RTF, ODT, PDF, etc.) are of course supported).

Compatibility with Microsoft Office in relation to complex documents is not yet ideal - the most varied distortions are possible. For example, when opening imported DOC files, you can often see that the text on the pages is distributed differently, and the borders of the tables have disappeared, are missing, or the contents of the inscriptions are superimposed on other text, pictures torn between pages are also not uncommon, etc. In tables, the situation is the same - some of the formatting settings are discarded, charts often disappear, it is basically impossible to work with pivot tables created in Excel (and the very appearance of such tables can be very different from the original), etc.

Zoho Docs

The developer: ZOHO Corp.

Zoho Docs is the largest office "in the clouds", which offers two dozen office web services (it is even possible to work online with databases and a scheduling calendar), however, many of the services are available only in commercial rates. The word processor and spreadsheets included in Zoho Docs are more powerful than their Google Docs counterparts, but the speed of working with documents in this online office is noticeably slower, and there are more situations when the servers are unavailable. The interface of a number of office applications is Russified, the ability to check spelling (including in Russian) is implemented, but only in a text editor, and such a check is initiated manually. But compatibility with documents created in MS Office environment is better than in Google Docs. The size of the space provided on the Zoho Docs service and the number of work areas depends on the selected tariff. In the case of the free plan Free, 1 GB of space is allocated and you are allowed to create only one work area... In the commercial plans Standard ($ 3 per month) and Premium ($ 5 per month), 2 GB and 5 GB are allocated for free, and the number of workspaces can be up to 10 and 50, respectively; it is allowed to increase the provided space for files for an additional fee.

Basic Zoho Docs services include the Zoho Writer text editor (Figure 11), the Zoho Sheet spreadsheet (Figure 12), the Zoho Show presentation solution, and the Zoho Notebook and Zoho Calendar. The document formatting capabilities in Zoho Writer and Zoho Sheet are impressive enough (which cannot be said for the presentation editor). However, it is still more convenient to create effectively designed complex documents in stationary software products, and not with the connection of online office services. The latter are more interesting to use for quick exchange of materials and when working together on a project - for example, in Zoho Docs, you can directly open access (reading or editing) to a series of documents at once to several users working together in a particular project. It is even more convenient to create your own thematic workspace for each project and open access to this area for a group of colleagues - as a result, all users of the group will have access to newly added documents automatically (that is, without any effort on your part). Documents and other materials are placed in the Zoho Docs environment by folders and work areas (Fig. 13), the organization plan also provides for the ability to assign tags to files, which may be useful for their quick search in the future.

Rice. 11. Text editor Zoho Writer

Rice. 12. Spreadsheet Zoho Sheet

Rice. 13. Document management in the Zoho Docs environment

The interface of the Zoho Docs office applications is made in the style of MS Office 2007. The range of supported file formats is very wide: you can even download ZIP archives with their subsequent unpacking using Zoho Docs tools and import documents stored on the Google Docs service (however, it also happens in a distorted file format. import progress). For documents in MS Office, support for DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPS, PPTS, PPSX formats is implemented - both import and export.

When importing MS Office documents, some of the formatting is lost, but the results are often better than when performing a similar operation in Google Docs. True, the type of imported documents may be far from the original. In complex documents created in Word, for example, paragraph indents, table of contents, pictures, all balloons and notes may disappear, although the basic elements of text formatting are often left unchanged. In turn, in spreadsheets, the types of fonts and their sizes often change, long text in cells breaks off at the border (in Excel it is visible if the next cell is empty), charts and images disappear, etc.

Let's summarize the above. Today you can find a worthy alternative to Microsoft's office product. First of all, these are traditional desktop solutions in the style of MS Office, which are well compatible with the formats of Microsoft office products and allow you to prepare materials that are very complex in design. In fact, you can prepare almost any document created in Word, Excel or PowerPoint in the considered alternative stationary applications (it is possible, however, with less convenience). In addition, you can use the services of online offices - they have sufficient functionality for preparing simple documents, spreadsheets and presentations and are very convenient when you need to work together.

If you do not need all the power of MS Office products on your home computer, then it is quite possible to save money by limiting yourself to a free desktop office in the form of one of the considered by us software products... As for online office services, in our opinion, it is more reasonable to use them to exchange documents and quickly reconcile them in real time. If the materials used in the course of joint work do not differ in complex design and there are no problems with the Internet, then this way of editing and commenting on documents in the process of working on a project can be very convenient and effective. Another thing is when finalizing large, complexly structured and effectively designed documents, previously created in the MS Office environment. Here you can expect disappointment, since in practice, compatibility with Microsoft office formats in office services is far from perfect, and editing large documents is slow.

Microsoft has released a new operating system Windows 10, and a significant number of PC owners have started using it. In this regard, users ask themselves a logical question: “ Which office is better for Windows 10?»

The most popular suite of applications for working with electronic documents at the moment is Microsoft Office, because most of the users worked with texts, tables and presentations in Word, Excel and PowerPoint programs.

Which office is best for Windows 10

The first version of the application package was released already in 1990, and now the most common versions are 2007 (12.0), 2010 (14.0) and 2013 (15.0). The most recent version of the office suite is Office 19.

Microsoft Office versions supported by the Windows 10 operating system
Latest Windows supports the following editions of Microsoft Office:

• Microsoft Office 2010 (License 300 rubles);
• Microsoft Office 2013 (License 800 rubles);
• Microsoft Office 2016 (License 1290 rubles);
• Microsoft Office 2019 (License RUB 1550);

Office 2007 is also supported, but its release has already ended and support for this version will end in the near future. Therefore, it has not been tested on this system, which can lead to unexpected application failures.

The best option would be to use the latest edition of Microsoft Office, since the total period of its support by the manufacturer will be at least five years, which promises additions, improvements and elimination of errors in the work of the office suite.

Therefore, if you choose which office is better for Windows 10, then it is worth staying at the Office 2019 version. You can buy at a discount here.

Which free office is better for windows 10

Not everyone can afford to fork out for the full version of the office from Microsoft, since even the "lightest" assembly costs several thousand rubles. Here are some of the best free office suites that can easily replace Microsoft products.

And they will eliminate the need to search for information about which free office is better for Windows 10:

Supports the same file formats as Microsoft Office.

1. Open Office... This suite of applications for working with electronic documents is the best replacement for Microsoft products. The package contains similar applications (text editor, spreadsheet editor, program for working with presentations, etc.), in addition, Open Office is distributed completely free of charge. You can download it on the official website: www.openoffice.org
2. Libre Office... Another collection of office applications that has all the qualities of Open Office and Microsoft Office. Plus, it is available not only on Windows, but also on Linux and MacOS. Official site: libreoffice.org

The annual income is about a billion dollars. Today Microsoft Office in one form or another is taken for granted, but attempts at its total legalization continue to break down on the price barrier. Meanwhile, many developers are ready to offer real alternatives to this most popular set of programs for working with electronic documentation on more favorable terms.

1. Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013

As well as previous version 2010 is the most common office suite today (for both corporate and home users). Anyone who activated version 2010 before April 30, 2013 can upgrade before May 31, 2013.

The evaluation version is often preinstalled on new computers and laptops. The distribution contains the most a large number of applications for creating documents of various types, editing and collaborating - see the short presentation.

An extensive library of templates is available, and it is possible to download additional materials from the Microsoft website. The "90/10 Rule" is worth remembering here. According to one of his interpretations, 90 percent of users use 10 percent. functionality programs.

In fact, the office software package from Microsoft is a de facto standard, among the shortcomings of which one can indicate resource intensity and a high price. The professional version will cost more than 15,000 rubles.

Microsoft Office 2013 is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Both require Windows 7/8 installed and DirectX v.10 hardware support, so they won't work on older computers. The speed of the programs is relatively low due to the heavy interface and strong fragmentation of components (their total volume after installation takes about three gigabytes). Part of the speed problem is solved with SSD and / or large capacity random access memory... The x64 version requires at least 2 GB of RAM.

2. Microsoft Office 365

The product is similar in functionality, but different in the logic of its operation. If Microsoft Office up to version 2013 was distributed as classic boxed distributions for installation and local use then Office 365 is offered as a subscription and is a cloud-based solution.

Office 365 is more convenient for collaborating on projects. It is aimed at corporate users and laptop owners with a permanent Internet connection. In addition to the classic set of office programs, the cloud service offers a set of web-based planning tools, access to SkyDrive online storage, and a free regular backup on the company's servers.

3. LibreOffice v.4.0.x

Full featured free open source cross-platform office suite. Works on computers under Linux management, Windows 2000 SP4 and higher, runs even on ancient configurations with Pentium III and 256MB of RAM. Takes about one and a half gigabytes on disk (half as much as Microsoft Office 2013). Requires the installation of the free Java Runtime Environment component, which is usually found on most computers.

LibreOffice supports most common formats, including Office OpenXML (files with extensions .docx; .xlsx; .pptx and others). Due to the peculiarities of the implementation of this format, which is selected by default in Microsoft Office 2007 and newer versions, it is supported in any third-party programs significantly limited. Problems still arise when trying to edit complex formatted documents created in Microsoft Office and saved in the Office OpenXML format in LibreOffice.

The main document format used by LibreOffice itself is ODF (OpenDocument Format). It complies with GOST R ISO / IEC 26300-2010, which came into force on June 1, 2011. Support for it has been included in Microsoft Office since 2007 SP2. Actually, there is no reason to dwell on the Office OpenXML format other than the one offered by default in Microsoft products. There are half a dozen other equally convenient formats.

4. Apache OpenOffice v.3.4.x

In fact, it is the predecessor of LibreOffice, developing separately from it. In addition to all current Linux and Windows versions, Apache OpenOffice is supported by Mac OS X, OpenSolaris, and FreeBSD. There is even a portable version that does not require installation. OpenOffice with all personal settings and templates can be carried on a flash drive and run on almost any computer.

The commercial version of another package, InfraOffice.pro by Infra-Resource, is based on OpenOffice. It contains additional funds cryptography, original design and a set of various improvements. Also InfraOffice.pro can be used as a portable assembly on a flash drive. The current cost is 646 rubles. The version is especially relevant for commercial use, as it completely removes the specific problems of the software licensing process.

5. Corel Office

The distribution turned out to be extremely light, since it contains only a set of the most commonly used programs - a word processor, spreadsheets and an application for creating presentations.

The software package can work even on old computers with Windows XP operating system and screen resolution from 800 × 600. The single language version only takes up 125 MB after installation. Both early and recent Microsoft Office formats are supported. Integrated cloud support works through the Dropbox service.

Corel Office is optimal for netbooks and low-performance configurations. The current price of one license is 45 euros.

Corel WordPerfect Office X6 Advanced Distribution is available only on English language... It also contains Nuance PaperPort 12 SE Document Manager and PDF editing tools.

6. Ashampoo Office 2012

Like Corel Office, this distribution is limited to the three most current applications: TextMaker (similar to Word), PlanMaker (similar to Excel) and Presentations (replacement for PowerPoint).

Support for Microsoft Office formats includes latest versions... Save to PDF is also available. The cost of the license is 1200 rubles, and the update is 300 rubles.

This office suite can be installed on a flash drive and used as portable. During this installation, you will notice that the destination directory is named SoftMaker Office 2012. This is because the Ashampoo Office code is partially licensed from the German company SoftMaker Software - the authors of the next set of office programs in question.

7. SoftMaker Office 2012

A compact distribution of three basic applications, the main code of which was included in Ashampoo Office 2012. The professional version additionally includes a mail client with the functions of a task scheduler and contact library management.

SoftMaker Office 2012 is available in fourteen languages, including Russian. It supports ODF and all Microsoft Office formats. There are versions for Windows (starting from XP), Linux and Android (starting from v.2.2). The basic version for Windows is $ 80, and the professional version is $ 100.

8. Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012

This distribution was developed in China, but this fact is hardly a drawback. Most programs today are written by programmers from China or India.

Like many of the alternatives discussed above, Kingsoft Office includes three main programs: word document and spreadsheet editors and an application called Presentation.

Among distinctive features the latter - support for flash graphics (.swf) and the ability to output the presentation in different modes simultaneously on two monitors. To protect files, RC4 encryption with a key length of 128 bits is used.

The distribution kit is extremely lightweight (68 MB) and undemanding to resources. Minimum system requirements all-time lows: Pentium II and 128 MB of RAM.

So far, the program still has problems with Russification, but the purpose of most of the elements user interface understandable and without translation.

The main difference between Kingsoft Office is the ability to legally use it for free for home users and educational institutions. A commercial license will cost a little more than two thousand rubles (the actual price is tied to the Hong Kong dollar rate).

Nominally, almost all alternative developments now support Office OpenXML, but this office suite works with such files only for opening, saving them after editing in any other format.

9. SSuite Office

This unusual product is distinguished by an abundance of versions with interface optimization for different screen resolutions and system requirements. Personal Edition is a modern minimalistic distribution kit. It is great for very old computers (even works under Windows 95) and monitors with a resolution of 800x600 or higher. There is a separate version of the Excalibur Release, aimed primarily at owners of netbooks with a specific screen resolution of 1024 × 600. A FullHD version of OmegaOffice HD + is also available.

All distributions are as lightweight as possible (from 20 to 40 MB) and at the same time contain from six to eighteen programs, including the game "Tetris". All of them install without reboot, do not require Java or .NET. Personal and extended edition works in all Windows versions(from 95 to 8 inclusive). The Fifth Element release is intended for Windows users 95 - XP. Excalibur, Premium and Omega are designed for the Windows NT / 2000 / XP / Vista / 7/8 line.

10. Google Docs

This is a set of three main online services that replace the installation of any office suite on local computer... Only a free client is required to connect to them Google drive- watch the presentation video.

Versions for Windows XP, Vista and 7 are already ready. Work is underway on a client for Windows 8. Currently, MacOS (v.10.6 and higher), iOS and Android are also supported. You will be able to work with documents from your smartphone, without even copying them in advance. There is still no full-fledged local client for Linux users, but there are simple informal ways to use the service.

Documents, tables, presentations - everything can be viewed and edited right in the browser window, and it is allowed joint work... The only thing that is required is an internet connection (not necessarily high-speed). Officially Supported Chrome browsers, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer, but it usually works in others as well.

The available formats include all common ones, including OpenDocument and Office OpenXML. User files are stored on the company's servers with the ability to export to any local media. Backups are created automatically and are available for a month. Initially, 5 GB is provided free of charge cloud storage... Additional volume can be purchased according to the rates of the selected tariff plan.

It is not joke. The number of office suites on the market is beyond imagination. Another thing is that the bulk of users are not very interested in this issue and have only heard about Microsoft packages for Windows or, at best, about the developments of the free community. software for Linux like OpenOffice and LibreOffice.

In reality, there are many more such packages, and some of them have roots in their native Russian penates. A number of developments have been frozen for a long time, for example, a rather interesting package "Russian Office" from the company "Arsenal" and some others. The famous "Borland" company developed its software package.

Subsequently, this development was bought by Corel and still exists on the market today. It is enough to go to the product page http://www.wordperfect.com/en/product/corel-office-software/ to be convinced of this.

I must say that this package is quite rich in functionality and in full configuration is by no means cheap. In addition to the main components - a spreadsheet and a text editor, this product contains the wonderful Paradox database and many useful utilities that are not available in many other packages.

But it just so happened that CorelOffice (Office suite) did not take root on our land, which is due to the lack of a normally localized version and a well-written Russian-language help. The comparison between Paradox and Access is in favor of Paradox.

The original language ObjectPal built into the DBMS looks much nicer than VBA in Microsoft Office. It is a pleasure to create interactive applications with it. Moreover, in nature there is a translated book completely devoted to this process. Are there any other alternatives to these software monsters? Of course, yes. Of the lesser known products, the following offices can be noted:

• "SoftMaker" (page here: http://www.softmaker.com/en/softmaker-office-Windows). This system can be set to 7 and contains only a word processor and a spreadsheet, which is enough for most consumers.
• China is not lagging behind, whose developers have put up a package called "EIOffice" for the consumer's judgment. As always, there are some problems with Unicode support.
• The British also delighted the audience. Their product "Ability Office" has a long history. Beginning in the late 1980s, it now includes a word processor, spreadsheet, graphics and database management systems. In fact, it is a clone of a Microsoft product.
• 602PC Suite and EasyOffice are simpler products, but they are also quite useful. You can easily find them on the Internet.

What should you bet on the “seven”?

To answer this question, you need to define goals.

If you just need to type and edit the text in the editor, then there is no point in purchasing a bulky and "braking" system for good money.

Something very simple will do. The same SoftMaker or (not yet mentioned by us) the "Kingsoft Office Suite Free" package.

Using the latter, you can professionally format text while maintaining compatibility with Word, or work in an Excel-like spreadsheet. The product, by the way, is also Chinese. You can download it from the link http://www.kingsoftstore.com/kingsoft-office-freeware.html. Someone may need additional functionality for working with presentations - the program allows this as well.

If you need to work with local databases or connect to a server to process its data in a local DBMS, you cannot do without more advanced software. It remains only to decide for yourself: do you want to pay money for it? If so, please contact Microsoft for purchase. If not, it's better to grab the free LibreOffice for Windows.

However, there are alternatives to all this. We are talking about office suites posted directly on the network. JavaScript capabilities allow you to build some kind of such programs that process data stored in the so-called "Cloud". And although Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle), like Baba Yaga, is against:

This does not stop the producers in any way. Mine cloud office It has Google(http://docs.google.com). Microsoft ("360") is actively working on this front. And for exotic lovers, you can recommend Zoho (http://docs.zoho.com/). So, which office is better for Windows 7 is up to you.