A few months after the release of the premium SoftMaker 2018 office suite, SoftMaker has just released the latest version of its free office suite, SoftMaker FreeOffice 2018.
SoftMaker is a premium productivity suite and one of the most viable alternatives to Microsoft Office. FreeOffice is a stripped down version of SoftMaker premium with fewer features than the premium version. You can read about the difference between the features of SoftMaker and FreeOffice here.
The FreeOffice is a good enough replacement office suite for those who have been looking for a free alternative to Microsoft Office on Linux and other platforms. Do note that neither FreeOffice nor SoftMaker is open source though.
FreeOffice 2018 features
FreeOffice comes with a word processor (TextMaker), a presentation program (Presentations) and a spreadsheet (PlanMaker) application for both home and business use. All applications are seamlessly compatible with those in Microsoft Office and support open file formats for Linux.
The previous version of FreeOffice could open DOCX, PPTX and XLSX, while FreeOffice 2018 can save as well as open these file formats. With it, you can share files directly with users of Microsoft Office without having to export them first. FreeOffice 2018 also supports the older formats, DOC, XLS and PPT files as well as ODF files that are used by OpenOffice and LibreOffice.
The user interface has been completely revised. Users can easily switch from the modern ribbons to the classic menus and toolbars. The new ribbon interface also makes available menus. There is also a quick access toolbar that lets the user get quick access to the most important functions.
For those who use touchscreen computers, it is now possible to switch to touch mode with increased spacing between the user interface elements and larger icons. The touch mode works with both the ribbons and classic menu interface.
The FreeOffice TextMaker word processor is used to create all types of documents from flyer designs, brochures to writing business letters and scientific papers. It contains numerous design options with its unique object mode that can be used to place pictures, text frames and drawings in your documents. FreeOffice TextMaker also supports Hunspell Dictionaries for spell-checks. This helps users to find typos in different languages.
FreeOffice PlanMaker is the FreeOffice spreadsheet application. It is used to create complex calculations, charts and worksheets. Pictures, text frames, 2D and 3D charts, and drawings can be inserted. It also has a catalog with attractive cell styles. Cell styles and conditional formatting like that in Microsoft Excel 2016 can be created.
FreeOffice Presentations could be used to create animations and slide transitions for presentations. Animations and slide shows use OpenGL graphics acceleration.
Download FreeOffice 2018
FreeOffice 2018 is available for free for home and business usage. You can download the FreeOffice 2018 from its download page.
Note that you have to provide an email address before you would see the download options of DEB and RPM packages. A product key will be mailed to this address and you have to use this product key on the first use of FreeOffice.
Have you ever tried SoftMaker FreeOffice before? Share your experience with us in the comment section below.
I have used earlier versions of Freeoffice and Softmaker Office in the past on both Windows and Linux systems and have always been impressed. This latest edition is equally impressive, has a good, clear and uncluttered user interface and works smoothly. The fact that it is compatible with the latest Microsoft Office formats is an obvious benefit but unfortunately Softmaker have marginally reduced the usefulness of the suite by limiting the range of file output options. While the older Microsoft Office formats such as *.doc and *.xls are supported in as much as they can be loaded, any editing of the document cannot be saved in the original Microsoft Office file format – if an MS format is required then it would have to be *.docx or *.xlsx for example. Obviously new documents cannot be saved in the older MS Office formats either. I believe this is a retrograde step as there can be times when the older format is essential. The free version of WPS, Open Office and Libre Office (and Ability Office which is sometimes available free via computer magazines) do not have this problem although, in my view, they are inferior in many respects to the Softmaker product. Some have a cluttered, messy interface, some are bulky with unnecessary extras and heavy on resources and some seem to have bugs which lock up the program unexpectedly. I have already stated I like the Freeoffice interface, the program is not over heavy on resources and I have not experienced the program unexpectedly locking up; if Softmaker would reinstate full compatibility with the older MS Office file formats (saving as well as loading/reading) then Freeoffice 2018 would be top class.
Good Morning, just one question, do you know if it opens MS Macros or do we not have that much compatibility, yet?
Still amazed that in 2018 some companies tries to beat #LibreOffice with non-opensource programms!
…and they do it quite well :)