Euro-Office and Friends – Open-Source Office Alternatives at a Glance

There's now a really good choice of open-source programs for texts, spreadsheets and presentations. Euro-Office is a new addition – a project several European companies are working on together. That's nice news for anyone looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office. Here's an overview of the options.

The candidates

LibreOffice

The classic for your computer. LibreOffice runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and is completely free. It can do a lot and is maintained by a large community. Ideal if you mostly work on documents on your own.

Collabora Online

Collabora brings LibreOffice to the browser. Several people can work on a document at the same time. It connects nicely with Nextcloud and is used in openDesk, for example.

ONLYOFFICE

ONLYOFFICE has an interface that feels familiar to many Microsoft Office users. It works with DOCX, XLSX and PPTX by default and can also be integrated into Nextcloud.

Euro-Office

Euro-Office is a new project being driven forward jointly by European open-source providers. The goal is a browser-based office suite that fits well into existing platforms like Nextcloud. It'll be exciting to see how the project develops.

Compared

Briefly explained: ODF and OOXML

Office documents can be saved in different formats. ODF (extensions like .odt, .ods) is an open standard and LibreOffice's home format. OOXML (extensions like .docx, .xlsx) is Microsoft Office's format and is also standardised. All the programs mentioned here can handle both. If you exchange a lot of files with people who use Microsoft Office, DOCX is usually the most convenient.

What suits whom?

• Individuals and families: LibreOffice on your computer is often all you need.
• Small teams: Collabora or ONLYOFFICE in your own Nextcloud – then you can work together in the browser.
• Law firms and practices: An online option on your own server, so confidential documents stay in-house.

To be honest

Very complex documents with macros or special layouts sometimes look a bit different in other programs. That's why a quick test with your own templates is worthwhile. For normal letters, spreadsheets and presentations, though, it works really well.

Tips for switching

• Templates first: Set up letterheads, invoice and quote templates properly in the new program once. It saves a lot of time later.
• Check fonts: If documents look different, it's often because of missing fonts. These can usually be installed easily.
• Agree on a default format: Decide together whether you'll use DOCX or ODF as your standard.
• PDF for sending: For documents that should look exactly the way you designed them, PDF is always a good choice.
• Keyboard shortcuts: Many shortcuts are the same as in Microsoft Office – which makes getting used to it easier.

An everyday example

A small engineering firm works with lots of quotes and spreadsheets. It first installs LibreOffice on all computers and uses it for new documents. At the same time, online office is set up in Nextcloud so colleagues can work on calculations together. After a few weeks, the most important templates have been converted. Old files simply stay as they are and can be opened when needed.

Conclusion

The choice of open-source office programs is big, and Euro-Office adds another project. With me, office documents run directly in your own cloud – more under Pricing. And you'll find more alternatives under Alternatives.

If you'd like to give it a try, I'm happy to help – just drop me a line.