SoftMaker FreeOffice 2012 SFS & PET

Word processors, spreadsheets, presentations, translation, etc.
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vicmz
Posts: 1262
Joined: Sun 15 Jan 2012, 22:47

SoftMaker FreeOffice 2012 SFS & PET

#1 Post by vicmz »

Shared with permission of SoftMaker Software GmbH
martin-k@freeoffice-forum wrote:This is OK as long as you ask for permission and point people to the FreeOffice registration page.
_________________
Martin Kotulla
SoftMaker Software GmbH
Download from:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qtdcfn63u8dj7 ... e-2012.sfs (SFS, 64 Mb with all available languages built in)

http://www1.datafilehost.com/d/4e081ee1 (PET, 64 Mb with all available languages built in)

Get the free serial number by registering here (choose Download SoftMaker FreeOffice for Linux):

http://www.freeoffice.com/en/download

More info:

http://www.freeoffice.com/en/features

A free font each month (as in free beer):

http://www.freefont.de

Free (as in freedom) font collection PET:

http://smokey01.com/saluki/pet_packages ... ts-1.0.pet
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planmaker.jpg
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Last edited by vicmz on Thu 10 Apr 2014, 00:50, edited 11 times in total.
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rameshiyer

Softmake

#2 Post by rameshiyer »

Whether it will handle/open XML document which was saved in Microsoft Office 2007

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vicmz
Posts: 1262
Joined: Sun 15 Jan 2012, 22:47

Re: Softmake

#3 Post by vicmz »

rameshiyer wrote:Whether it will handle/open XML document which was saved in Microsoft Office 2007
SoftMaker FreeOffice Site wrote:Opens DOCX files of Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010 faithfully, including those with password protection
It doesn't save to DOCX.
SoftMaker FreeOffice Site wrote:Opens and saves OpenDocument and OpenOffice.org documents
I haven't tested this further but it says we can.
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don570
Posts: 5528
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Location: Ontario

#4 Post by don570 »

To vicmz..

I think you are mixed up because the Softmaker web site for the
free version is totally separate from the commercial version.
It's called 'FreeOffice' now. The free version only opens docx documents.


FreeOffice TextMaker: Features
Easy data exchange

Direct document exchange with TextMaker 2012, 2010, 2008, and 2006 on all operating systems
Opens and saves DOC files of Microsoft Word 6.0 to 2010 faithfully, including those with password protection
Opens DOCX files of Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010 faithfully, including those with password protection
Opens and saves OpenDocument and OpenOffice.org documents
Opens and saves RTF, HTML, Pocket Word, and plain-text files
Wizard for importing and exporting plain-text files
Create PDF files (even PDF forms) directly from TextMaker
Windows only: Print 2, 4, 8, or 16 pages on one sheet of paper
_____________________________________________

Bananarama

Much better than LibreOffice!

#5 Post by Bananarama »

I need to exchange a lot of files with people using Microsoft Office. LibreOffice and OpenOffice used to mess up 90% ogf Word, excel, and PowerPoint. FreeOffice was the very best free office suite I ever used, because of it's great interoperability with MSO, it's speed, good UI etc.

Now I bought the commercial version SoftMaker Office for Linux, because I wanted to have the option also to SAVE in docx, plus several new features. I spent $69 for three licenses, and I find it amazing, it opens many new options FreeOffice doesn't have. Everyone who likes freeOffice as much as I did should think about spending these few bucks for an upgrade to SoftMaker Office, it's definitely worth it.

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don570
Posts: 5528
Joined: Wed 10 Mar 2010, 19:58
Location: Ontario

#6 Post by don570 »

SoftMaker Office Standard 2012 offers many improvements over FreeOffice. Here are the 10 most important reasons to switch:

Seamless import and export of the modern Microsoft formats DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX

Spell checking using high-quality commercial dictionaries

Synonym dictionaries (thesauri) in eight languages

Documents are presented in tabs, just like in a web browser.

The extended sidebar gives you a bird's eye view over your document and its stylesheets.

An equation editor for mathematical formulas

Expanded graphics effects such as soft shadows and glow and mirror effects

PlanMaker: Formula auditing, watch window, data consolidation, scenarios, text to columns and more

SoftMaker Presentations: Breathtaking DirectX-based animations and slide transitions

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vicmz
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Joined: Sun 15 Jan 2012, 22:47

Re: Much better than LibreOffice!

#7 Post by vicmz »

Bananarama wrote:LibreOffice and OpenOffice used to mess up 90% ogf Word, excel, and PowerPoint.
I agree, but:
Bananarama wrote:Much better than LibreOffice!
Unless you really have a necessity to operate with DOCX files, use macros and edit/save changes in more than one computer, this statement is overreacted. Then there's the personal feel: I always use both LibreOffice and FreeOffice, but I use LibreOffice the most, simply because its GUI is more comfortable and customizable to me. I use FreeOffice to edit difficult DOCX files and for presentations that should be opened in a Windows computer.

That said, we all must have freedom to access to our favourite software, even buy it if we wish, that's why I shared this package.
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vicmz
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Joined: Sun 15 Jan 2012, 22:47

#8 Post by vicmz »

PET version added, see 1st post

Bananarama

@vicmz

#9 Post by Bananarama »

"That said, we all must have freedom to access to our favourite software, even buy it if we wish, that's why I shared this package."

Of course you are right.

I don't find the GUI of LibreOffice comfortable, you do, that's ok.
But we both seem to agree that the interoperability of FreeOffice <-> Microsoft Office is much better than LO <-> MSO.

This was the main reason for me to quit working with LibreOffice, a seamless data exchange is possible with FreeOffice, but truly annoying with LO. Plus, FreeOffice only needs a fraction of LO's resources, and is much faster. I recommend FreeOffice to everyone, but each to his own.

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vicmz
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Re: @vicmz

#10 Post by vicmz »

Bananarama wrote:we both seem to agree that the interoperability of FreeOffice <-> Microsoft Office is much better than LO <-> MSO.
Bananarama wrote:Plus, FreeOffice only needs a fraction of LO's resources, and is much faster.
Yes. These are the main advantages of SoftMaker Office, both free and paid. It's ideal for old computers and low-resource machines. Even if your computer is actually powerful, it's still perfect for quick access and for working through many computers with different operative systems.
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cimarron
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#11 Post by cimarron »

Wow, FreeOffice is impressive. It handled my wife's 236-page book manuscript easily, even displaying the MS Word tracked changes properly. And docx displays perfectly. So much faster and lighter than LibreOffice.

The sfs ran great on my Lupu 5.1, with 256M RAM. Thanks for this!

kros54
Posts: 96
Joined: Sun 17 May 2009, 08:43
Location: member of Hungarian Puppy Linux Community
Contact:

#12 Post by kros54 »

Indeed, SoftMaker Office/ FreeOffice great alternative.
Better than Abiword/Gnumeric, and much less than the LibreOffice program.
Hungarian packages are also available.
Only Hungarian, SoftmakerOffice2008: f[url]tp://puppylinux.hu/puppylinux/office/SoftMakerOffice2008_hu.pet[/url] (only 11 MB!)
Free Office: ftp://puppylinux.hu/puppylinux/office/s ... n_mini.pet (25 MB)
(Made by hungarian forum member, Zsola)

Pelo

Don't overdo things

#13 Post by Pelo »

in my opinion, using Puppy with so big suites as Libre office is contradictory with the domestic use spirit.
SFS Koffice is lighter 79MB and include other tools.
For my own, i got big office suites intalled on... my windows 7. When (rarely) needed, I go there. Windows has to be used fom time to time. No need to install JRE within Puppy, which keeps lightness and speed.
Nevertheless, Freeoffice can open very complicated microsoft Word documents (with macros) and 79MB (or less) is not much.
Puppy must be used as a pocket knife, and if you withdraw the word 'pocket', then Puppy is not Puppy.
My free office doesn't start ? would you know why (too light ?) .
PS : i have loaded yr version, suscribed, everything works well.
Merci.

gampr01
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun 03 Nov 2013, 10:38

Re: SoftMaker FreeOffice 2012 SFS & PET

#14 Post by gampr01 »

A great office suite, worked on my Wary 5.5 on ancient P3-500 256 RAM with very acceptable speed, loads 5 times quicker than Open Office 4 on same machine! Thanks!

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vicmz
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#15 Post by vicmz »

This week I shared a presentation made in FreeOffice with a colleague who doesn't use Linux. She could flawlessly open, edit and save it to send it back. Then we shared it with everyone and they had no problems either. It's not like I didn't know, but this is the first time I share documents with a bigger group of people. And to think that they're likely to have diverse system versions and settings. It's worth to buy the commercial versions if you're able to.

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Puppus Dogfellow
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Location: nyc

#16 Post by Puppus Dogfellow »

i've had freeoffice crash on me at least twice--still more reliable than abiword.


libreofffice keeps touting improved interoperability with msoffice, but i can't vouch for that or for it being inept in that regard--it definitely can manipulate odf text better than docx text, though.

anyway, in my experience libreoffice is the most stable of the four and start up takes under twenty seconds. (subsequent files open instantly unless very large or heavily loaded). the "bloat" doesn't affect me--my systems (3 from 1 gig of ram to 6) run pretty much the same whether the program is open or not. compared to a browser, the word processor is nothing, maybe a tenth of the usage (firefox can get up to almost 2gigs of ram usage on my 6 gig machine). puppy apparently scales rss and vm--different machines read different values for the same workload, but i've never seen much more than 100 mb/vm and 250/rss from libre. (whereas FF is reading 1.3/1.8 gig at the moment.)

still, freeoffice starts faster and is a third the size. also, i seem to be the only one who's suffered crashes with it (as opposed to abiword...). i had a paid copy when i used windows. it read almost everything, i remember. pwd and some other files word (at least at the time) couldn't open, it was able to. not sure if that's still a viable commendation.

nothing seems to be developing at a faster pace than LO, and i'd like to see odt become the dominant document format, but i'd rather be realistic than a rooter. and since i've pretty much abandoned using doc/docx (except in documents to go on my phone), take my recommendation as not necessarily taking your needs into account.


vic, how badly did the most modern LOs mangle your doc file? how well does word read odt?

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vicmz
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#17 Post by vicmz »

Puppus Dogfellow wrote: vic, how badly did the most modern LOs mangle your doc file? how well does word read odt?
Yeah, I wish there was one for all, too. At times some people manage to bridge the gap between wish and fact, but people in general don't think it to be that important. Alternatives like this one are actually necessary because they're made for special purposes.

The truth is that when I have to share a file, I'm obliged to ensure that others are able to just read it, and read it with the software already installed. To better understand this, I remember there was an Internet café here that had OpenOffice installed in absence of MS Office in all its WinXP computers, customers used it simply because it was the default program and did the job, yet the only two LibreOffice users I met in my town were one of my friends and a little girl who used StarOffice until she learned that LibreOffice was a more updated derivative.

LibreOffice is really good and I do use it regularly, it's just that I can't tell other people what to use in their own computers. Imagine sharing my documents with a brochure of how to install and learn to use LibreOffice from the beginning or how to set MS Office to read odt by default, I'd instantly get an answer like "stop messing about and do it at once!" Same thing in the opposite direction, if I receive a document and LibreOffice doesn't open it "as is" I have to spend some time tidying things before printing (till now I had to do it with FreeOffice only once), and sending it back after adapting it to LibreOffice's way of interpreting documents would make them spend some time re-adapting, too.

Finally, if I recommend something I think there's no point in being rigid. I'm not a "use this and only this" guy, I'm an "if this is your case then this may well suit your needs" guy.

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Puppus Dogfellow
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Location: nyc

#18 Post by Puppus Dogfellow »

vicmz wrote:
Puppus Dogfellow wrote: vic, how badly did the most modern LOs mangle your doc file? how well does word read odt?
Yeah, I wish there was one for all, too. At times some people manage to bridge the gap between wish and fact, but people in general don't think it to be that important. Alternatives like this one are actually necessary because they're made for special purposes.

The truth is that when I have to share a file, I'm obliged to ensure that others are able to just read it, and read it with the software already installed. To better understand this, I remember there was an Internet café here that had OpenOffice installed in absence of MS Office in all its WinXP computers, customers used it simply because it was the default program and did the job, yet the only two LibreOffice users I met in my town were one of my friends and a little girl who used StarOffice until she learned that LibreOffice was a more updated derivative.

LibreOffice is really good and I do use it regularly, it's just that I can't tell other people what to use in their own computers. Imagine sharing my documents with a brochure of how to install and learn to use LibreOffice from the beginning or how to set MS Office to read odt by default, I'd instantly get an answer like "stop messing about and do it at once!" Same thing in the opposite direction, if I receive a document and LibreOffice doesn't open it "as is" I have to spend some time tidying things before printing (till now I had to do it with FreeOffice only once), and sending it back after adapting it to LibreOffice's way of interpreting documents would make them spend some time re-adapting, too.

Finally, if I recommend something I think there's no point in being rigid. I'm not a "use this and only this" guy, I'm an "if this is your case then this may well suit your needs" guy.

a document's formatting should be consistent no matter what is opening it, at least in terms of spacing and font size, links and layout, etc--the machines should all be able to read the same instructions in the same way. This Is What You Do With This Text doesn't seem like a big deal for things that can set the spark and calibrate air fuel ratios in combustion engines, etc. they should all be reading it and handling it the same. pity that's not the case. anyway, if i write something, i don't see what puts microsoft automatically in the equation (beyond their strategy and greed), and quite frankly, i find the whole thing more than a little cheesy.

anyway, good on the UK for the ODT decision.

and yes, of course use what you like.

Tombombadil
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FreeOffice - unrivaled compatibility with MS Office

#19 Post by Tombombadil »

@vicmz:

"This week I shared a presentation made in FreeOffice with a colleague who doesn't use Linux. She could flawlessly open, edit and save it to send it back. Then we shared it with everyone and they had no problems either."

I made similar experiences - I created lots of sheets in FreeOffice PlanMaker, and documents in FreeOffice TextMaker, saved them as Microsoft Office formats, and my collegues used them faithfully with Microsoft Office. And vice versa. I can strongly recommend it.

I used LibreOffice before, but no chance, it screws up formatting in almost every file.

"It's worth to buy the commercial versions if you're able to" - that's exactly what I'll do next: buy SoftMaker Office for Linux. As I'm very happy with FreeOffice, I'll spend a reasonable sum now, and get several more functionalities, templates, an extended ui, and free technical support.

slavvo67
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Location: The other Mr. 305

#20 Post by slavvo67 »

I just switched from ABI to Libre Office and the difference is night and day. I may try this Free Office thing over the weekend. I do a ton of document creating and editing (hundreds of pages), so I'll be able to give it a good run.

I'm not sure if it's the right approach having a purchase option. Everybody want to make money but when competing against free, you're probably better off providing the full version for free and offering templates or other usable add-ons at a cost. Maybe pay for a dictionary add-on or something. If it's truly a superior product, people will buy the add-ons.

I'll have to double-check but Libre's conversions to / from doc, docx and abw seem spot on and work very nicely right through the terminal. It just doesn't seem to convert to pdf but there are plenty of options out there for that including ... back to ABI.

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