PlusOne - Musings of a marketer

A viable alternative to MS Office hits the market

If you are like me, you have an out-dated version of Microsoft Office on your computer. It’s not that my computer is old, it’s just that at nearly A$1000, a new version of Office seems way too expensive and my current version does all I really ever need.

However I am starting to get documents sent to me in later versions of Word that I cannot open.

So I started looking for alternatives to the Microsoft Office suite and believe I have found what is a great alternative Microsoft Office for under $150. The really good part is that they can read all Microsoft Office documents and save as Microsoft Office documents as well., something free products like Open Office simply cannot do.

Called Compare Office, it is a bundle of applications that rivals and in many cases beats the Office 2000 that I have been using.

The applications consist of Write (the MS Word alternative), Spreadsheet (MS Excel alternative) Draw, (which leaves Windows Paint dead in its tracks), Infobase (MS Access alternative) and Present (MS Powerpoint alternative).

The look and feel of each of the programs is similar enough that you could be excused for thinking you were using one of the traditional applications with just a different set of icons. But how do they really compare?

Write - an alternative to MS Word
Performing all the same functions of Word, Write also has a few advanced features including a rapid and instant method of justifying the next paragraph. This is achieved easily by using the mouse to move the cursor down to a lower part of the page. Move it to the centre of the page and click and that paragraph will be centred. The same for right justify.

Another nifty aspect is the ability to perform mathematical additions in tables right in the document. This process differs from Word, where a linked spreadsheet needs to be embedded in the document. I like this idea because now additions can be done on the fly, without having to open a new program and perform the linking steps.

If you are used to editing shared documents using Track Changes, you will be pleased to know that there is direct cross compatibility with Word for this feature. However the Comments feature is not displayed in Write.

Worried about compatibility? Don’t be. Write, and in fact the whole Compare Office suite is compatible with MS Office and you can save documents in various MS format for easy sharing with those who use the MS Office suite.

Draw - an alternative to MS Paint
To compare Draw to MS Paint is well…. like comparing apples and oranges.

Draw brings you a full set of graphics tools like group/ungroup, edit grouped, render 3D, and render effects. It also includes a 3D controller mode and “smart connectors” that make diagramming a snap.

I was a bit concerned at the usefulness of this tool when saw there were only a couple of formats that your masterpiece could be saved in, but then I saw the export toll, which opens up the full range of graphic file formats. Again, MS Paint is left behind compared to Draw’s capabilities.

Simple to use, I think many will be impressed by the range of options and tools at your disposal.

Present - an alternative to MS PowerPoint
If you like MS Office’s PowerPoint, then you will be right at home with Compare Office’s Present.
There is such a degree of familiarity about it that you will be able to create presentations just as quickly as always. There is one slight drawback in that the range of templates in not as big as PowerPoint, but like all of the Compare Office applications, you can open up existing PowerPoint files with ease.

A plus that I found was the very good task pane on the right hand side. This allows easy access to many of the functions required to produce functional and attractive presentations.

Like Write’s ability to make use of some of the functionality of Spreadsheet, so the functionality of Draw and Spreadsheet can be used within Present.

Spreadsheet - an alternative to MS Excel
While not a power user of Excel, I can see that Spreadsheet offers all the same functionality, although sometimes the way to go about it is a bit different. Well that is how it seems to me.

Take for instance adding up a column or row of numbers. Traditionally I have highlighted the cells I want to total, then clicked the Sum icon. In Spreadsheet this does not work. All you need to do is click the empty cell at the end of the range to wish to Sum and then click the Sum icon. The nearest set of occupied cells are automatically selected and displayed for you to confirm. I tried this in Excel – it does the same things so I learned something there as well about Excel.

But Spreadsheets seems to do everything else including Pivot Tables (known in Spreadsheet as DataPilot). I’m not a power user, but everything I normally did in Excel I can do in Spreadsheet!!

Infobase - an alternative to MS Access

Not having used the comparable MS Access product, I cannot say how Infobase compares, except to say that it seems mighty comprehensive and looking at the capabilities of the other programs in the suite, i would not have any concerns about its capability!

An added bonus

One very useful tool in all the programs in Compare office is the button that allows instant saving as a simple PDF document. This saves having to purchase a separate program to undertake this function. Of course if you require advanced capability with PDF then a product like Nitro PDF is advised.

Where to buy Compare Office

Buy Compare Office here - worldwide shipping.

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