Now don’t panic just yet; there are two solutions to this problem. You can use a software called Wine that can enable you to install MS Office on your Linux. This solution is not preferred as not all version of MS Office are supported, leaving you with a very little choice.
The second option is that you can use alternative MS Office suites that are available for Linux, which will be the topic of this article. Following is a list of the best Linux office suites.
LibreOffice
LibreOffice is the most popular alternative to Microsoft Office. As MS Office is not available on Linux, most Linux users use Libre Office instead. LibreOffice is a free & open-source software. It is available on all three major operating systems, i.e. Windows, Linux and macOS. LibreOffice has simple yet comprehensive UI than contains all the necessary functions. You can also add extensions to add functionalities. It contains all the applications for multiple purposes, just like Microsoft office.
In total, it has six different applications; LibreOffice Writer is for writing and editing word documents. LibreOffice Draw is a vector graphics editor. LibreOffice Impress is used to create and edit presentations. LibreOffice Calc is the spreadsheet application of the LibreOffice suite. App for managing and creating databases is LibreOffice Base. LibreOffice Math used to create & edit mathematical formulas. These formulas can then be inserted in your documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
WPS Office
WPS Office is a simple but fast office suite. It is free and open-source. WPS Office suite contains three applications; Writer for word documents, Presentation for presentations and Spreadsheets for managing spreadsheets. It provides a comprehensive set of tools.
One major problem that the users face is the advertisements. Advertisements in WPS Office can become quite annoying. These are placed at such a position that the user might accidentally click on them. Aside from this, it offers a slick modern look that resembles Microsoft Office.
GNOME Office
If your system is a little outdated, then GNOME office might be the perfect office suite for you. GNOME Office, like most of the Office Suites on this list, is free and open source. It is lightweight, has a simple interface and has a great import/export feature. It is a little outdated and has very few updates making it a perfect match for low-end systems. It offers a lot of applications like Gnu-cash for databases, AbiWord for word documents, Ease for presentations, Gnumeric for spreadsheets and much more.
Calligra Suite
Calligra id another Office Suite available for Linux. It is free and open-source. Originally it was designed for KDE. It also supports Windows and macOS. It contains nine different application that offers functionalities like Word-processing, Spreadsheet managing, Presentation software and much more. It has a relatively slow rate of development when compared to other Office suites. It also had an android version which was discontinued due to the bad response.
Google’s G Suite/Google Drive
Google’s G Suite is an online Office suite that provides a lot of features that most of the offline Office Suite provide. It has Google Doc for word processing, Google Sheets for spreadsheets and Google Slides for making and editing presentations. One of G Suite’s main feature is collaboration. Many people can work on the same file and update it, thus making collaboration very easy.
It is very well built for an online office suite. Another key feature is the accessibility. You can access your file anywhere and make necessary changes to it. It has a client for Windows, Android and macOS. Sadly, there is no official Google Drive Client for Linux however ODrive can be used to access Google Drive on Linux which is an unofficial Google Drive client for Linux.
One major issue that troubles a lot of users regardless of the platform they are using is that Google Drive is cloud-based, meaning Google has access to all your documents and files on Google Drive. Overall it is a pretty well-built office suite that provides a lot of user-friendly features, granted at the price of privacy.
Feng Office
Feng Office is another online office suite in this list. There is no client available for desktop; however, it can be deployed on a local server. Like most of the suites on this list Feng Office too is free and open source.
OnlyOffice
Only Office is another open source and free office suite on this list. It has a great clean and modern User Interface. Like Google’s G Suite, OnlyOffice is also a cloud-based office suite. It has three applications, Document for word documents, Spreadsheet to manage and create spreadsheets and Presentation for creating and editing presentations. It can be used to open complex word documents.
Conclusion
Although Microsoft Office is the most used and most known Office Suite, it is not the only one. There are a bunch of good Office Suites that are free and open source which provide you with a lot of features and are also light on your wallet. We mentioned list of best Office suites for Linux, where each have their own pros and cons. Choose the one that best matches your needs.
