Office suites

Alternatives to Microsoft Office

Are you always rooting for the underdog? In the world of productivity suites, you don't need to pay a lot to get the basic tools for reading, writing and arithmetic. Read the reviews to find out what's in each bundle, from the freebies to the full-featured suites. By Elsa Wenzel (May 24, 2006; updated April 16, 2008)

It's no secret that Microsoft dominates the productivity suite market, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to go. Corel, Sun Microsystems, Apple, IBM, and others offer alternatives at a fraction of the price of Microsoft Office 2007. Corel WordPerfect Office X4 sports one-click PDF, HTML, and XML publishing, includes redaction and password-protection, and supports 60 file formats. The lesser-known StarOffice 8 provides basic productivity tools and throws in a couple of extras, such as a drawing program. OpenOffice 2 is Sun's free version of StarOffice. And IBM just rolled out a free test version of its Windows- and Linux-compatible Lotus Symphony suite. If you to take productivity tools wherever you go, then you can pick from online services including Google Docs & Spreadsheets--now with Presentations too--as well as from Zoho, or the ThinkFree blend of desktop and Web tools. And Corel's Lightning lets you save content to and from the Web. Compare alternatives For a side-by-side comparison chart of all alternatives to Microsoft Office, click below. While most of these tools let you save work in Microsoft's file formats, the introduction of new file types in Office 2007 complicated matters. Microsoft does not support the Open Document Format that the open-source community favors. However, Sun offers a free plug-in for Microsoft Office that enables you to save ODF files. The indie suites also provide unique benefits. For example, Corel WordPerfect is the tool of choice for writers and lawyers who need more control over long documents. ThinkFree 3 may be handy for business travelers who want to tweak a document using only a Java-enabled Web browser. Zoho is the only browser-based service that directly plugs into Microsoft Office apps to store work both on the user's hard drive and on Zoho's servers. Among the desktop programs, however, only iWork, Microsoft Office, ThinkFree, and OpenOffice work with Macs. So which to choose? To help get you started, check out this chart. Read the CNET editor's take Microsoft Office 2007 Corel WordPerfect X4 StarOffice 8 OpenOffice 2 Apple iWork '08 IBM Lotus Symphony (Windows) ThinkFree Office 3 Google Docs & Spreadsheets Zoho Office Suite beta

Microsoft Office 2007 Overall, Microsoft Office Standard 2007 is a worthy upgrade if you need to make sleeker-looking documents and presentations to share with others, and Outlook is better than ever, but you can stick to your current software if you don't feel that it lacks anything. 7.8 out of 10 CNET editor's take Check prices Corel WordPerfect X4 The Corel WordPerfect Office X4 suite best fits those who prefer traditional interfaces for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. We found the features rich, but the execution sometimes clumsy. 7.0 out of 10 CNET editor's take Check prices StarOffice 8 StarOffice 8 is an impressive upgrade of Sun Microsystems' bargain productivity suite. It's a good buy for small and large businesses, but users needing an e-mail program and a photo editor should consider Corel WordPerfect Office 12 Small Business Edition. 7.0 out of 10 CNET editor's take Check prices OpenOffice 2 OpenOffice 2, the freeware version of Sun Microsystems StarOffice 8, is a great deal for home and small-businesses users who don't mind browsing online forums for tech support. But enterprise users are better served by StarOffice 8. 6.0 out of 10 CNET editor's take Check prices Apple iWork '08 Although Microsoft Office 2007 offers deeper features, particularly for number crunchers, Apple iWork '08 is a strong Mac productivity package and a pleasure to use. 7.3 out of 10 CNET editor's take Check prices IBM Lotus Symphony (Windows) Although still in beta testing, IBM Lotus Symphony offers strong alternatives to Word, PowerPoint, and Excel with more features and nicer interfaces than most other free software. CNET editor's take Check prices ThinkFree Office 3 ThinkFree Office 3 for the desktop is a decent, low-cost alternative to Microsoft Office. Its free online component has more storage and a few more extra features than competing, browser-based services. 7.3 out of 10 CNET editor's take Check prices Google Docs & Spreadsheets Google Docs & Spreadsheets beta gracefully merges word processing, spreadsheets and basic presentations within an online service that lets you collaborate with other users. 7.3 out of 10 CNET editor's take Check prices Zoho Office Suite beta The Zoho Office Suite beta has strong potential, but it's not yet a final product. 6.7 out of 10 CNET editor's take Check prices