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Post by Lynnrose on Dec 17, 2009 17:52:42 GMT
I don't know anything about this software, so if any of you use it, feedback welcome.
"An office suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office, but also blazingly fast, reliable, and user-friendly?
Christmas is coming early this year...
Between today and December 31, SoftMaker gives away full versions of SoftMaker Office 2008 for Windows – permanently usable and upgradable to future versions.
But there is more: For every download on www.loadandhelp.com SoftMaker donates € 0.10 (ten Euro Cents) to charity and development projects worldwide on "
Softmaker
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Post by elvisuk on Dec 17, 2009 18:35:15 GMT
I have just downloaded it LynnRose  The Free bit court my eye ;D i will give it a go sum time 
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Post by merchant42 on Dec 17, 2009 19:53:52 GMT
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Post by Lynnrose on Dec 17, 2009 20:19:34 GMT
Thanks guys x
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Post by mikkh on Dec 18, 2009 1:05:30 GMT
Just downloaded it and was prepared to be underwhelmed
Surprise, surprise, it's actually pretty good - and fast as promised
Not impressed with 'smash' though - a resident quick starter tray app, but that was easy to disable and stop from running at startup.
On to the more pleasing aspects....
I got it to load an old powerpoint slideshow first and then ran it - perfect, much better than OpenOffice, which does a passable job, but doesn't do all the slide transitions correctly. 1 - 0 to 'softoffice'
I then loaded an old CV into 'textmaker' Very good, all formatting preserved from the original and I edited out my old mobile number to bring it up to date a bit. OpenOffice can also do that perfectly, but that still puts softoffice in the lead.
I didn't have any old spreadsheets to load into 'planmaker' but I should imagine it will cope with that easily too.
'Basicmaker' appears to be a programmers editor, which aint a lot of use to most people unless you code in C++ and similar languages. I suppose it could be adapted to an HTML editor if you feel notepad is a bit too limited.
So there's no database to complete the traditional office suite, but you can do basic databases in a spreadsheet anyway, so it's not a big loss.
It has a small utilty section which includes 'smash' if you turned it off (like me) and the ability to install the program on a USB stick - nice touch.
As for upgrading it, I was told I had the latest version already - which is obviously not true when there's a 2010 version available on their site (for a price)
Conclusions
Looks good, runs quickly and is more compatible with M$Office than OpenOffice is.
A bit disappointed to see the Linux version is not included in this offer, because I could be happy with it.
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Post by Lynnrose on Dec 18, 2009 9:13:22 GMT
Thanks for that Mikkh, overall seems like a great freebie x
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Post by ken on Dec 18, 2009 10:17:40 GMT
SoftMaker do turn out some good stuff, although I don't think there is anything that can compare to M$ Office. Its so large that nobody needs to install everything. In some ways I think it would be good if M$ put it online, so the public can rent it when they need it. The price they sell it for is horrendous. It good to know that there is a free alternative that works.
Not much good to me, as no one makes a Publisher that can compare to M$. Greenstreet Publisher is a good one, but only for personal use and can probably be obtained for free. Its not compatible with M$, thats where it fails. Just for making up stuff for printing, its easy to use and works well.
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Post by mikkh on Dec 18, 2009 10:23:29 GMT
Yup, it should be perfectly adequate for most people who only need occasional 'Office' compatibility They're barking up the wrong tree if they think it will induce people to buy the new version though - it's too expensive compared to student versions of the M$Office suite. Like this, which even has a 3 user license www.web-systems.co.uk/?page=Products&pid=3821 |
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Post by ken on Dec 18, 2009 14:19:32 GMT
There are some cheapies here too: www.software4students.co.uk/?gclid=CL-SjJ2T4J4CFaBb4wodsznuJgOK for anyone who is willing to pay something for a decent Office. I've got 2007 and 2010, but I stick with 2003. Its so much easier when you use what your used to. I must have a play with 2010, just to see if I can master it. I always do a custom install and put Word, Publisher and Powerpoint on. If it wasn't for printing envelopes, I wouldn't need Word. |
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Post by Angelstardust on Dec 23, 2009 21:04:27 GMT
Personally, I write most stuff in word, including letters, but I use Serif Pageplus for booklets and other similar DTP; Publisher tends to get used for compliments slips and the like. Each to it's own strength.
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Post by elvisuk on Dec 24, 2009 2:15:39 GMT
Well i try it uninstalled it think i will stick with Open office ;D
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Post by Lynnrose on Dec 24, 2009 10:21:01 GMT
Thanks for trying it out x
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The Free bit court my eye ;D i will give it a go sum time 
