OpenOffice or LibreOffice ... Preference ?

I know that both LibreOffice and OpenOffice are basically the same program give or take a handful of changes... But just more so out of curiosity do you guys have your own preference ?

As I recently switched from LO to OO because of lack of privlages for some reason... (win10 machine so I don't want to mess with things)

I thought about going to MO (Microsoft Office) but truthfully I don't like the $100 price tag .... As free is more in my budget...

 

I use Open Office and it does everything I need it to do. I have never used Libre Office so can't compare the two. If Microsoft Office was free I would use it. I would assume it is just a individual preference as to which one people like.

 

i use the free program called wps office 2014 which is like microsoft office. Give that one a try.

 

I have used OpenOffice (OO) and LibreOffice (LO), as well as MS Office (MSO). I switched from MSO to OO about 5 years ago, after I tired of the new "ribbon" interface in MSO (can't remember the version). Like many users, I was very productive with MSO's old interface, and their newer ribbon interface felt like change for the sake of change, with no other purpose than to sell a newer version of software.

At that time, LO was not available, but OO was similar enough to the older MSO interface that I felt productive again. Shortly thereafter, I switched from WinXP to Linux circa 2009 and OO was the default option on nearly every Linux distro back then, so it wasn't a problem. OO did everything I needed office software to do, and I was happy with it. Sometime in the past 3-4 years, Oracle purchased the Sun company (owner of OO, VirtualBox, and other "free" software titles) and there was a huge internal brouhaha during the transition, which caused numerous OO developers to leave the OO project, create The Document Foundation, and forking the OO project into LO. Initially, they were nearly identical, with LO just being a "sanitized" version of OO, with all references to OO removed. However, since then, LO has been rapidly evolving, adding new features, removing buggy features, and deleting deprecated code for performance. Although LO and OO are still very much visibly similar, LO represents a lot of changes "under the hood" for a leaner, meaner, faster version of office software. But they're still similar enough that nearly all "plugin" modules are compatible with both versions.

In my OPINION, MSO was a buggy pain-in-the-butt; OO was an improvement; and LO is perfect for me. I prefer LO because they seem more pro-active with development/bug triaging and seem much more interactive with their community of users regarding feedback, feature requests, etc...

But it's a matter of personal taste, IMO. I would be suspicious of Win10 moreso than LO, but if OO is working for you, I can't really say anything bad about it. If LO was suddenly unavailable to me, I'd absolutely switch to OO. So use whichever works for YOU!

If you're one of those rare birds who actually LIKED the MSO ribbon interface, then sexyandy has a good suggestion that I had forgotten about. There is an office suite on Android called KingSoft Office, which is developed by a Chinese firm. They have also developed a desktop suite that is nearly a dead ringer for MSO, called WPS Office Free (WPS - Writer, Presentation, Spreadsheet). It so resembles MSO that I would't be surprised if it's a pirated version of MSO that has removed all MS references. I also wouldn't be surprised if there are China-sponsored "back doors" in there somewhere, but maybe I'm just ultra paranoid?! If that doesn't concern you, you can check out WPS here:

http://www.kingsoftstore.com/software/kingsoft-office-freeware

Lastly, I don't know how you use your office suite software, but perhaps Google Docs is an option for you. If you're a power-user, it's probably insufficient, but if you're a typical everyday home user, it's certainly worth considering. Good luck!

 

kennie...

Maybe this will help:

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/whats-the-difference-between-libreoffice-and-openoffice/

My impression from using nearly the latest of both is that Apache/OO developers have done a nice job with the sidebar. It's nice having document properties there and being able to change them. Otherwise, it seems to me to be lighter than the version OO 3.X varieties I used which is great. I like the present OO GUI better slightly than the LO one and I think the overall project, too. LibreOffice has had so much work done on it, and it runs so light, etc., so that is good. I like where LO is overall, but the program does feel kind of stripped down at this point to me. They are working hard on compatibility with MS documents. I think that's a big key for that project. When the LO group really finally gets to the bottom of stripping out unnecessary code and get everything organized, maybe LO will really begin to live up to the program's seemingly almost developed core engine. The drawing and presentation programs could use some major improvements I think, and, overall the program doesn't have much of an identity to speak of are the only problems for me. This means there isn't much to point to say LO is better than anything else. Big advantage, however, for using LO long term...speed of development. Just hope the developers can come up with some really catchy ways to simplify the process of document creation and manipulation.

I still think MS Office has the big edge here, because of the options users have to automate features with macros. I like the ribbon, because it matches pretty well with my methodology for building documents, especially spreadsheets. I actually think that was a pretty clever breakthrough for MS, although it did take some getting used to for me. I would say within a week the changes the ribbon introduced can easily be mastered considering everything is still there.

 

I have given WPS Office a shot, I like it but the problem is my fiancee and I have this bad habit of using the default file extention to save stuff as not to mention the in-laws also have that bad habit and right now WPS doesn't open .odf files (sorry if that's not the default format for LO or OO i thought it was)

 

if wps office don't open the file extensions. This is the order of my preference of office free program.

1. WPS Office 2014
2. Openoffice
3. Libreoffice

 

You are correct. WPS does not cooperate with *.odf files. I didn't know this, but it is confirmed on the WPS forums. Furthermore, based on forum discussion, there are no plans to provide *.odf support in the forseeable future.

As I see it, you are stuck with the following options:
1. Reinstall the latest & greatest LibreOffice over your current LO; I would probably uninstall the current version, download the newest (4.3.3?), and install the newest. If this doesn't repair your permission issues, proceed to #2.

2. Install OpenOffice.

3. Install Calligra Office. This is a fully functional office suite that was initially developed for KDE users on Linux systems, but has been ported to Windows and Mac platforms. I've never used it, but I hear good things about it, and the price is right. Check it out here:
https://www.calligra.org/get-calligra/

4. If none of the above suit you, I think you'll have to convert existing *.odf docs to *.doc format, depending on how many files we're talking about here. This could be a catch-22 in that you need to find software that will work with *.odf docs in order to convert to another format. But if you can do that, you can just stick with LO or OO?

4a. Upload files to Google Docs, where Google will convert automatically to their preferred format; then you can use MSO or WPS Office to download from Google Docs and save in *.doc or *.docx format.

4b. If your docs are Word/Writer *.odf docs, you could use AbiWord. AbiWord is a lightweight word processor software that would serve most everyday users quite well, if only they knew about it. Like LO and OO, AbiWord is a FREE cross platform offering that can read/write in *.odt and *.doc formats (other formats too, such as *.txt and *.rtf, etc...) Even if it doesn't suit your needs, it would be a nice little "converter" software that can interface with multiple document formats, just like LO and OO. I'm not sure what alternatives might exist for Spreadsheets and Presentations, though. Check out AbiWord here:
http://www.abiword.org/

5. With existing docs converted to *.doc(x) formats, you can then use WPS Office if that's what you prefer.

But in my personal opinion, the *.odf format is gaining popularity as the "standard file format" of the future. As more governments, organizations, and users adopt and/or adhere to Open Document Standards, the *.doc(x), *.xls(x), and *.ppt(x) formats set forth by MSO will become less and less popular. But that's a long way off into the future. I prefer LO and OO (and AbiWord) because they have the ability to read/write multiple formats, while MSO and WPS software are pretty much limited to their own file formats. For that reason, I would stick with software that can read/write multiple document formats. In my OPINION, I would suggest in order:

1. LibreOffice - best all around full office suite, IMO, with the best "polish"
2. OpenOffice - right behind LO; If I was forced to use OO over LO, I wouldn't be upset
3. Calligra Office - no experience, but it's a full office suite that has multiple file format capability and is cross platform for Windows, Mac & Linux
4. Google Docs - cloud suite only; limited functionality compared to native desktop softwares; can read many formats, but will force save/write in Googles proprietary Google Docs formats, which are easily imported back into software of your choice, for saving into file format of your choice. Kind of tedious, IMO, but worthy of consideration. Another tool for your toolbox!
5. AbiWord - word processor only; if it had sister programs for spreadsheets & powerpoints, I'd rank it as #4 behind Calligra, but before Google Docs.
6. WPS Office - lack of options for file format looks like MSO lock-in to me; nearly a clone of MSO in appearance & function, but favorable price (free!) places it above MSO.
7. MS Office - good software, but very expensive for a program that has limited file format functionality. Unless you're a super-duper "power user" that requires special features/operations that only MSO offers, selections #1-#6 provide nearly everything that MSO does, but FREE. I hear folks say they prefer MSO because of some special or exotic feature that ONLY MSO provides. If that's the case, use MSO. But I've been a spreadsheet jockey and produce elaborate documents with charts, graphs, graphics, embedded spreadsheets, and special characters and functions, and there is nothing that I did in MSO that I haven't been able to duplicate in LO or OO.

I'm sure others would disagree with me, but that's because their criteria is probably different than mine. It doesn't make my opinion right, or their opinion wrong. It just means you have choices, and that is always a good thng! Check out my suggestions above and decide what works for YOU! Good luck!

 

Hedon James - it's a funny thing, for some reason I got LO installed on my main computer but now having the same security issues on the laptop I use... so I think I shall change up to OO.
I used OO in the past before LO came around so I have no issues going back to it but I noticed that it doesn't read LO documents in the .odf that well it always leaves what almost looks like a blank section where it's two pages in one ... but I'm sure with the few documents that I have in the .odf format I can simply cut/paste and fix the issue.

But seeing how this isn't the first time for me having this security issue I think I will change back to OO as it'll be less of a headache for myself on my computer my laptop and the few other computers that I keep things up to date on.

Thanks for your great post.

 

I hope that solves your issue. I'm still curious about your "permission" error, as that sounds like a Win10 error moreso than an application error. You didn't provide much info about that error, but a precursory google search for "libreoffice insufficient privileges" threw several links, most of which seem to revolve around this:

http://ask.libreoffice.org/en/quest...-installing-libreoffice-402-on-windows-8-pro/

Inasmuch as Win10 is based on Win8 codebase, I'm guessing it will inherit Win8 bugs, although this may or may not be your issue. If you have issues with OO, I'd look into this link, FYI... Good luck!

 

I find Libreoffice more intuitive. But yes, it'll boil down to user preference. If there can be a lighter alternative to these two, I'll try it. Hmm, I'll give WPS Office a try.

 

Saw this article recently and it seemed apropos to share with y'all. Sums it up nicely, including why I prefer LibreOffice over OpenOffice; and why I wouldn't be upset if I was forced to use my 2nd choice. Personal preference...

http://www.howtogeek.com/187663/ope...hats-the-difference-and-which-should-you-use/

I also keep an eye on several office suites that are cross platform, looking for a viable option for an Android suite that reads/writes/edits the Open Document Format (ODF). While AndrOpenOffice is available, it isn't very user-friendly on a touch device and it's kind of buggy. Here are some of the alternatives that I keep an eye on; in addition to LO and OO, perhaps the original poster would be happy with one of these:

Calligra:
https://www.calligra.org/

Softmaker: formerly Kingsoft Office(?), which is a Chinese clone of MSO...
http://freeoffice.com/