I'm liking LibreOffice on XP. Fast download, fast install*, no DRM BS, seems to work well.




*I only installed the wp.

Does it handle .docx and .xlsx and .pptx files well?

It can open them but it's not 100% with formatting and stuff.

No excuse for not using .odt these days though. Office can save those now, right?

I've been able to open docx without apparent problems. We get docs from a range of MSOffice versions (97 - 2010, Win/Mac), with fair to poor cross-compatibility in terms of preserving formatting (or even being able to open). Libre does it just as well, maybe even better IME, especially with the newer MSO versions.

Haven't tried spreadsheets, nor heard good things about the ppt thing in terms of compatability with MS originals.

Yep, seems my Office 2010 can handle .odt and I agree everyone using an open standard would be great. Never gonna happen though in the short term.

In the OP, for "I need to get a 'proper' office suite. iWork won't cut it, and like it or not, pretty much the whole industry uses MS Office", please read:
"I need to get MS Office. iWork/OpenOffice/LibreOffice/NeoOffice/WhateverthefuckOffice won't cut it."

Hmmm. Thought it'd pretty much happened. On the rare occasions I get such things from clients they tend to be in the open thngies these days.

From what I've seen animations get totally fucked when using ppt/pptx with the major free office packages. Shame really. Wish I could move away from MS Office. Thankfully it runs nicely with Wine on ubuntu 12.04.

Hmm, only seen one .odt (or the spreadsheet version) ever.

Everything I get is either .doc/.docx or PDF. Since most people use Office and .doc/.docx is the default file type to save so that's what gets churned out.

Everything made with ppt is fucked.

Might be because I tend to deal with a lot of filthy mac users. I've heard compatibility between MS Office on mac and windows is about as good as Libre Office/MS Office.

Another satisfied MS customer...

Weirdly, I've found Office Mac 2003 is better at opening Office Win <2010 than Office Win 2010.

Doesn't exist. Either Office 2003 or Office Mac 2004.

more than the usual amount of bastards in this thread...

2 now you're here ;-)

God, I'm just imagining trying to explain to people at the NHS what a .odt file is, and then trying to explain why they should use it. Even though I work for an NHS IT agency, 90% of them just wouldn't get it.

Exactly. Most people I came across were baffled by the .doc/.docx difference.

There shouldn't be any Office Mac, ever.

To be honest, I don't mind the ribbon in Office 2010 and Office 2007, I got used to it without any real problems.

I hate Office 2013 not because of the ribbon, but because they've purged all colour and shading from it in order to turn it into a sea of definition-less black and white. After using at work for a few hours on my test rig, I felt like my brain was boiling as it just required so much more effort to be able to use.

So there we are.