Which One ??

[fbg40]

Evening all,
I currently use Libre Office on my home PC and have just seen in my Computeractive magazine, a relatively new "Office" type program being reviewed : https://www.freeoffice.com/en/freeoffice
I'm thinking of giving it a try but would appreciate input from anybody who already uses it. Many thanks
FBG40

[Buenchico]

That's a new one to me. (Actually, I think I might have encountered it before but then forgotten about it).

Looking at the images in your link, I see that it uses 'ribbons' which many people, including me, dislike. However this review, from PC World magazine, says that it offers a 'classic' mode as well (to keep people like me happy):
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3305332/freeoffice-2018-review.html

The software seems to be generally well-reviewed by both PC World and TechRadar:
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/softmaker-freeoffice

However I can't see anything which will make me rush to get away from the excellent OpenOffice (which is, by far, the most popular alternative to Microsoft Office):
https://www.openoffice.org/

It's worth remembering too that reviews in the technical press often rate WPS Office Free as good as, or better than, all of the above:
https://www.wps.com/office-free

[10ClarionSt]

Chris, I have been using MS Office Professional 2000 since it came out. I know it won't work with W10, as I've tried it on various laptops. I have lots and lots of files and folders created in MS Office Pro that I fear I may lose when MS withdraws support for W7 next January. Can you recommend an option that may allow me to use MS Office Pro after January 2020, or perhaps something that would give access to my files using W10? I already have Libre Office. This is going to be a big change for me as I hate W10 with a passion. Any ideas please Chris?

[Buenchico]

10CS:
Microsoft's 'withdrawal of support' for Windows 7 can largely be ignored. (I'm using W7 and I'm certainly not panicking!).

MS Office Professional 2000 will continue working on Windows 7 machines. There's no reason to switch to Windows 10 when support for Windows 7 ends but, when you finally have to buy a Window 10 computer, anything mentioned above is able to open, and work with, files created by MS Office Professional 2000.

I'm perfectly happy with OpenOffice but LibreOffice has plenty of fans on AB too. WPS Office Free is relatively unknown in the UK (although it's very popular in Australia, where it was developed) but consistently gets good reviews. FreeOffice seems to be getting good reviews too.

[10ClarionSt]

Thanks Chris. I do feel reassured with comments about W7, but what will change in January? When they withdrew support for XP, didn't lots of systems become vulnerable to hackers?

[Buenchico]

There'll be no more security updates for Windows 7 after next January but most security updates are for Windows features that 99% of users have never used, and never will use anyway. I've got a Windows 7 machine, in fairly regular use, that I disabled all updates for about a decade ago. It's still running without any problems!

[fbg40]

B
Many thanks for the info - I do like the look of WPS office so might give that a try. Thanks again.
FBG40

[10ClarionSt]

Thanks Chris. I wasn't aware of that.

Sorry fbg40. I'm using your thread to your exclusion!
Apologies!