Microsoft Office and LibreOffice are office suites that are the operating system installed onto devices by the respective users. Both of them come along with many added features that could either be purchased or come along free with the suite.
Even though only one of them is commonly known and used, it doesn’t mean that the other has no presence among the people.
Key Takeaways
- Microsoft Office provides more advanced features and better integration with other Microsoft products than LibreOffice.
- LibreOffice is an open-source, free alternative to Microsoft Office, making it a more cost-effective choice.
- Microsoft Office has better customer support, whereas LibreOffice relies on community-based support.
Microsoft Office vs LibreOffice
Microsoft Office is a proprietary suite of software applications developed by Microsoft Corporation, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, among others. LibreOffice is a free and open-source software suite developed by The Document Foundation. It includes applications similar to Microsoft Office.
Microsoft Office is one of the most famous and user-preferred types of operating systems that comes along with great quality in the content that is provided along with the office suite.
It has many other added features that are used for different purposes from writing up forms to creating presentations which could be for anything from confidential purposes to a friendly gift.
LibreOffice is an office suite software that came about much later than most of the other suites which were dominating the market at the time of its development.
Though it has many limitations when put against much other similar software, it has many advantages too. One of the pros of LibreOffice is that it need not be purchased from the developers to install it into the system.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Microsoft Office | LibreOffice |
|---|---|---|
| Year of Release | 1989 | 2011 |
| Number of Languages Available In | 96 in an average | 113 approximately |
| Major Script Creation Language | Only one | Many |
| Import of Different Files Such as Graphic and Hybrid Files | Not possible | Can import |
| Cost Factor | Has to be purchased | Is free |
What is Microsoft Office?
Microsoft Office is one of the earliest Office suites to be introduced into the modern technological world.
It was developed by Microsoft mainly for Microsoft Windows and later on, it was made compatible with Apple operating systems too.
The creation of Microsoft Office was done much before it was released out to the public in August 1989.
People started realizing and recognizing its importance at least a year after the official release and by 1990, Microsoft Office became an established office suite.
It has no restriction as to which all devices it could be installed into.
As long as the device is of the operating system of either Microsoft Windows or Apple, Microsoft Office could be installed on perfectly and without much trouble.
Microsoft Office can’t be used for free as it has to be purchased from the developers that are Microsoft.
This might seem like a drawback, but that doesn’t stop people who intend to purchase high-quality and trustworthy suites for their devices.
Once purchased, it could be used on multiple devices that are in the same network such as through a LAN connection, although it isn’t advised.
Many other features such as MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, etc are available with Microsoft Office.
Each of them is used for many different purposes.
MS Word can be used for everything from creating an invitation for a party to writing up a highly confidential and important file.
MS Excel is a perfect place to creatively use spreadsheets and help in accounting and financial purposes as well as for a regular grocery list.
PowerPoint can be used for creating presentations with proper slides and pages that could be formatted according to the user’s likes and dislikes.
All these additional features like Word and Excel have got many formatting tools that could help make the documents visually appealing or attractive depending on the purpose.
What is LibreOffice?
LibreOffice is an office suite that was developed by Document Foundation in the year 2011.
The development of LibreOffice was completed and tested by the year 2010, but due to certain technical difficulties posed by the office suite, the release was delayed by a year.
When compared to most other similar office suites, LibreOffice is liked and preferred by many due to its greatest advantage.
This advantage is that LibreOffice office is a free office suite that need not be purchased from the developers.
Instead, for a user to install LibreOffice in their system, all they have to do is download the suite from the official website of Document Foundation.
This will eventually ensure that LibreOffice has been installed onto the system along with all the features offered by it.
The source code that was used for the building of LibreOffice was taken from that used for the creation of Microsoft Office.
But it hasn’t been subjected to copyright issues as the source code was then changed to create something new and different from that of Microsoft Office.
Before downloading LibreOffice from the website of Document Foundation, the user has to make sure that they have the software, Java Runtime Environment already installed in the required system.
This might be the only hurdle that the users might face in the installation process of LibreOffice as Java Runtime Environment might prove to be a bit tricky to install.
LibreOffice has many processors that the users might need such as LibreOffice Writer, Calc, Impress, Base, etc.
LibreOffice Writer is essential if the user needs to have a quick platform to write up and format a certain file or document.
Calc on the other hand is a spreadsheet program that helps in accurately documenting things.
LibreOffice Impress is a presentation creating a program that helps in creating slides and presentations on certain topics.
LibreOffice could be installed onto any device that has the operating systems of Windows, Apple, Linux, or another rarely known FreeBSD.
Main Differences Between Microsoft Office and LibreOffice
- Microsoft Office has to be purchased directly from the developer for it to be installed on a system whereas LibreOffice can always be downloaded directly from the official website of the developers for free.
- Microsoft Office can be shared by all the devices that are connected to a single network that covers a short area such as LAN but LibreOffice on the other hand can’t be shared by all devices within the same network.
- While the word processor in LibreOffice is Writer, which can’t have much formatting done, Microsoft Office has the word processor Word, which comes along with a wide variety of formatting tools.
- LibreOffice can be installed onto devices that have the OS of FreeBSD, Microsoft Office can’t be installed onto FreeBSD devices.
- Microsoft Office doesn’t require the device onto which it would be installed to have other programs as a prerequisite for the installment, but LibreOffice on the other hand requires Java Runtime Environment to be installed before the installation of LibreOffice.
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6WYV_ACVFuQC&oi=fnd&pg=PR17&dq=microsoft+office&ots=JqWL6okVwn&sig=UYzScBNxu7TUwrYbQsHccnKoejw
- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-33442-9_3
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
