Softmaker Office 2018 Linux released

[tlmiller]

http://www.softmaker.com/en/softmaker-office-linux

I've already upgraded 1/2 2016 licenses to 2018 Pro. With 2018 Pro, if you're purchasing for home use, a single license can be used on 5 pc's simultaneously. Only 1 for business use.

I kept my other license @2016...at least for now.

[crosscourt]

Ill have to give it a look but I prefer not to pay for an app if I can find one thats free with similar features and abilities.

[tlmiller]

I do like free, but given that this is, IMO, the best office suite for linux, I have been supporting them for quite a few years with my money to show that there is a reason to release it.

[crosscourt]

No problem, I support various projects as well, but overall with so many good Office choices that are free, Im not inclined to pay for it.

[tlmiller]

I actually would say with the possible exception of LibreOffice 6, if you REQUIRE interoperability with MS Office xml formats, there aren't many good choices. LO <6.0 had way too many issues, FreeOffice could open but not save MS xml, WPS office on Linux has essentially been abandoned since WPS bought out KingSoft, etc. OnlyOffice is very recent, and I'm quite happy with it, but SoftMaker has far more functionality (OnlyOffice is designed to be a webapp, so it's rather feature-light), so unless LO has finally gotten interoperability with MS formats down, SoftMaker is really the only full featured office software that can do it in linux.

[crosscourt]

Depends on how you use those office suites but so far my wife has used Free Office, WPS, LO 5.37/5.4.4 and hasnt had any issues working with MS Office users with her business. We'll see how that goes down the road. My use is limited so I can pretty much use whatever i want with no issues.

[tlmiller]

Yeah, for me, I haven't been able to use WPS for quite some time since it's been broken, LO I have had nothing but issues with interoperability with both spreadsheets and text docs. FreeOffice works, but is insufficient since I have to SEND MS xml docs, and it can't save as them.

[crosscourt]

xml is a pain in the butt as Microsoft decided to beat off odf by using it in 2007. My wife also uses MS Office 2007 for those rare instances when things dont work, no issues so far.

[tlmiller]

Yeah, I don't have the option of using MS Office since I hate trying to set up Wine, and I don't have anything else that can run it.

[crosscourt]

We still run Windows 7 so its not an issue but will definitely give Softmaker a look.