FreeOffice 2018 release has seamless compatibility with MSOffice

[crosscourt]

More here, https://itsfoss.com/freeoffice-2018/

[tlmiller]

I've downloaded this, but have yet to actually install it.

[crosscourt]

Going to try it today, but a buddy of mine is already using it and says its very compatible.

[tlmiller]

Should be great since FreeOffice is just SoftMaker office with some features removed, and I know SoftMaker 2018 has nearly flawless compatibility from what I've been able to test.

[crosscourt]

Thats what interested me, as i want a free office suite, unless I can gain some much needed features by purchasing Softmaker instead.

[tlmiller]

The MAJOR thing you gain with SoftMaker over FreeOffice is the ability to SAVE in MS xml formats. While FreeOffice can open MS xml formats, it can only save in the older MS binary formats (.doc, .xls, etc). There are a few other things, but the xml formats is the big one.

edit: They changed that in Freeoffice 2018. Now you CAN save in xml formats. So not sure what's missing from the full suite now.

[crosscourt]

I was just about to post to you that the saving issue has changed and is possible with this newer version. Its a win/win in my book and more than likely my wife will use this.

[tlmiller]

Yeah, I'm going to try this on a couple machines in place of onlyoffice.

[crosscourt]

Im going to install it on my Win7 pc and probably in Kubuntu to test it. Let me know how it goes for you.

[tlmiller]

I did install on Kubuntu without issues, although it's weird because first boot the toolbars were red (like shown) and every time after they're green.