“From my position as a Mac user and Apple watcher for more than 20 years, it seems to me that there are three kinds of Mac users,” Bambi Brannan writes for Mac 360. “Those who need and use Microsoft Office. Those who do not need Microsoft Office and have moved on. Those who are afraid not to use Office but are willing to try an alternative.”
“A few years ago I managed to kick the Office habit because my workflow had changed sufficiently that complete and total file compatibility with Office documents was no longer an overriding issue,” Brannan writes. “If you’re a small office, or a home office with multiple users, LibreOffice gives much of the same functionality as Office and the whole kit and caboodle is free. Most of the time, files you send to or receive from Microsoft Office users are still compatible and often require little if any tweaking… Or, if file compatibility is becoming less of an issue each year, you can take a different route and use Apple’s iWork– Pages, Numbers, Keynote. Also free.”
Read more in the full article here.
There are so many great choices out there. Office has out lived its power. OpenOffice and its derivatives provide more tools for Mac users than Office. Neooffice is my favorite, it integrates with OS X much better than the others. Google docs is also a solid tool. As much as I love Apple and iWork, collaboration on Google is superior.
I reserve my highest praise for iWork. The suite of tools is the best for both iOS and OS X. Keynote is the Gold standard for presentations. Apple is innovative and fixes things before they are broken.
I see little need for Office other than compatibility with old systems and close minded IT departments and developers.
I think Office is an excellent product and still use it. However, I don’t require this style of writing that much now. I tend to write in Markdown primarily and then other tools. However, as soon as I need this kind of functionality, I fire up Office 2011. It’s fast and complete and it has everything I need. I have used it for a long time and expect I will continue using it.