LibreOffice vs OpenOffice

 

 For many college people, and also those who are just unfortunate enough to have misplaced a Microsoft Office disc, LibreOffice and OpenOffice offer you two great alternatives. The interfaces are very close to Microsoft Office but the best part is they are both free. And we like free things!

For years, I have been addicted to OpenOffice. The interface was simple enough for me, and as somebody who usually runs two operating systems, one Windows and one Linux, Microsoft was always there for me in the background but I didn't feel like restarting and switching to Windows just for that. Both OpenOffice and LibreOffice can do virtually the same thing Microsoft's does but without that hefty price tag.

LibreOffice on startup

OpenOffice on startup

Upon trying them both, you will notice will thing. They are pretty much the same thing. LibreOffice came from some of the original creators of OpenOffice. There is virtually no difference between the two except for the interface. Aside from the occasional bugs you may encounter which is extremely rare, they both do their jobs really well. And if you're confused or need a how to while using them, a quick visit to the respective forums and a simple post will give you a lot of answers from friendly users.

The bottom line is you will use whichever one you pick probably due to the interface. One may look better than the other and that does it for you. LibreOffice is seemingly more appealing to me visually on startup, but I have trouble doing things in Libre due to me being accustomed to OpenOffice. They both do the their job and their both free, which is all that matters in my book.