Microsoft Office has gone up up 25%! What alternatives are there?

[LukKrueng]

17 hours ago, nglodnig said:

Office is about the one app software that I actually pay for for my Windows L:aptop. Now I am told the licence fee is going up a whopping 25%.

 

I googled alternatives and saw this on "nerdused.com" - LIFETIME licences of Office for a tenth of the price! how can this be kosher? "If it's too good to be true it probably isn't"

 

Really all I want is Excel and at a pinch Word. 

I got one of those very cheap office license some years ago and it worked fine. But when I bought a new computer and tried to install it MS didn't recognise the license and I couldn't get any response from the seller.

[Mutt Daeng]

Lazada: Office 2024 Pro Plus

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.ElK8n

 

Get for 707 baht with discounts etc.

 

[Aussie999]

Libre Office, docs etc can be saved in multiple formats, and is cross platform.

And is free.

[ujayujay]

Go to the next Computershop and ask for it: They will offer you the original expensiv Version or a Copy for 500 thb

[J Branche]

I use Libre Office, the spreadsheets and document parts the most.  For normal stuff it is great, no problems.  I know probably 4 or 5 years ago the spreadsheet part had a few bugs but they have been fixed for years.

 

Someone talked about the format saving as Libreoffice files.  Somewhere in the settings or properties you can change the default file save type/extension.

[jaywalker2]

16 hours ago, impulse said:

I keep seeing offers for legitimate lifetime licenses for ridiculously low prices.  On legitimate websites.

 

I'm an Office (365) subscriber, but I may go ahead and get one of them because I'm so disappointed with Teams displacing Skype.  They're definitely not equal.  And I no longer use Office for work so I really don't get the value for the annual subscription any more.  So I'm going to vote with my pennies...

Maybe someone else can chime in with a link.  I'm back in China and Googling is a PITA here.

 

 

 

You can always use this for permanent activation:

 

https://massgrave.dev/

[Digitalbanana]

MS Office LTSC versions are one time lifetime license and update with service patches as needed to always up to date. Very cheap to buy or free methods also available. Doesn't have all the functionality of MS Office 365 subscription service, but not everyone needs that.

[isaanistical]

15 hours ago, lungbing said:

The problem with that when you have to send a document to somebody who doesn't use Libre Office.

so save and send as .doc or .docx or whatever you would have sent in MS. Ditto in the spreadsheet.  have not had that problem in all the time with Libre. I've used the powerpoint clone too, no problems with compatibility.

 

As for setting up (mentioned above), what I did was copy an existing file as a template or master or something, and then work from that.

[RocketDog]

19 hours ago, nglodnig said:

Office is about the one app software that I actually pay for for my Windows L:aptop. Now I am told the licence fee is going up a whopping 25%.

 

I googled alternatives and saw this on "nerdused.com" - LIFETIME licences of Office for a tenth of the price! how can this be kosher? "If it's too good to be true it probably isn't"

 

Really all I want is Excel and at a pinch Word. 

StackSocial sells these lifetime licenses and they come as a download with a one time key. I bought Visio and it performs perfectly except:

1. The lifetime mentioned is that of the machine it is installed on. Cannot be transferred.

2. No online help available as it has been disabled for these discount versions.

3 templates are also not available from MS but many are available from third party sources 

 

I am quite pleased with the price  I paid and plan to buy office 365 when I buy a new computer. I think it's the office 2021 version, not the latest.

 

These prices are definitely for real. I did searched before buying too.

 

https://www.stacksocial.com/collections/apps-software/productivity

 

[RocketDog]

19 hours ago, isaanistical said:

I have used Libre Office (https://libreoffice.org/) for 10 years, used to use Open Office, both ok, both compatible with MS files, both open-source and legally free. Never quite saw the point of microsoft.....

If you are an excel hound like I am for engineering purposes you would see the point.  Libre calc is just no comparison. I tried it and kept it installed but seldom use it.

 

That said, if you're not a power user and it works for you that's great!

 

Full disclaimer: I hate MS with a passion and do all I can to avoid their products, especially the OS. However, the truth is that Visio and excel are indispensable to me and have no real competitors for power users. I stayed with Win7 until I had to buy a new laptop 9 years ago when win10 was forced on me. Now I'll have to swallow win11 until I finally make the break to Linux. 

[RocketDog]

3 hours ago, Davedub said:

I have been using Google Sheets, Google Docs and Open Office for many years now. I only really use Open Office Calc for quick calculations that I don't intend to keep - i.e. to avoid clogging up my Google Sheets folder.

 

I understand that Microsoft Excel might be the only solution for deep statisical analysis and other 'advanced' functionality - beyond that, I have no idea why anyone would ever pay for Microsoft Office.

Google cloud products are dangerous if you are processing proprietary data.  Read the EULA. They 'own' anything you upload.

 

Just as they own anything you send/receive on Gmail. I ditched that for ProtonMail years ago and now use Proton for my VPN, password manager, cloud storage, and calendar. The calendar sucks but the others work brilliantly.

 

When I was doing Intrinsic Safety certifications as a consultant I refused to use it and warned my clients that they were essentially giving away intellectual property. What Google may or may not do with that data is irrelevant to the issue.

[Red Phoenix]

2 hours ago, ujayujay said:

Go to the next Computershop and ask for it: They will offer you the original expensiv Version or a Copy for 500 thb

Yes, definitely possible to have a copy of the latest version of MS Office Pro installed on your PC/laptop for 500,- THB at a computershop that knows what they are doing and don't want to rip you off. 

= = =

Some 3-4 years ago I bought a new private laptop on-line.  As I have also a DELL work laptop, I opted for DELL for the private one, and which had a QUERTY keyboard without Thai characters. That private laptop was a Windows 10 one and came with MS Office installed, unfortunately that was the Thai MS Office version and although you could put the language on English, some functions were in Thai.  But all in all it worked fine. 

Approx 7 months ago, I had the dreaded Blue Screen on that private laptop, and there was no way I could get it working again. 

So I did some research on computershops in the neighbourhood (I live in the sticks) and found a 1 person shop at approx 20 km from where I live, that had rave-reviews from satisfied customers with his service.  

The data on the laptop were unrecoverable (luckily I had made a full back-up just 1 week before the crash), but the guy reinstalled Windows as well as Microsoft Office Pro (in English) and some other useful software.  I could pickup my laptop 2 days later and total cost was 500,- THB.  

Needless to say, that when I would run into laptop problems again that his would be the place to go.  

 

[Dexxter]

I use a slightly older version of Office which was a purchase and not a subscription. Works perfectly for me.

[Brock]

Quote

The problem with that when you have to send a document to somebody who doesn't use Libre Office.

Not really, I configure  Office to be in MS office format.. Its only if you use Access that its not compatible with Libre database

[Alexjkr]

On 4/21/2025 at 10:25 AM, ignis said:

have a look at https://www.wps.com/

 

years ago mid 1990s  changed to Kingsoft Office, was FREE, then the name changed in 2014 to WPS Office

has everything  = not likely to go back to W$$$ Office 

Still free but after a while it becomes read only unless you buy a package. But if you uninstall the programme then re-install it the free clock starts ticking again.

[ignis]

2 minutes ago, Alexjkr said:

Still free but after a while it becomes read only unless you buy a package. But if you uninstall the programme then re-install it the free clock starts ticking again.

Never bought a package, sure from time to time you get a pop up to buy a package/upgrade

 

Never  uninstall the programme or ever re-install, in over 30 years using Kingsoft/WPS never had read only mode ??

[Alexjkr]

3 minutes ago, ignis said:

Never bought a package, sure from time to time you get a pop up to buy a package/upgrade

 

Never  uninstall the programme or ever re-install, in over 30 years using Kingsoft/WPS never had read only mode ??

The trouble is it goes read only on my computer. So have to uninstall and down load again or buy a package.

[keithcresswell]

I'm planning to move to google docs when my 365 subscription expires. I will however lose the 1tb cloud storage that came with it. It seems I still have the 200THB subscription I bought from Lazada years ago. It works but doesn't have the storage.