Created on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 | Edited on Monday, May 5, 2025
Office is an office suite developed by Microsoft®. The vast majority of home computers have the Windows® operating system installed by default. Therefore, Microsoft® does its best to sell its own office software for its Windows® users.
The core applications Word, Excel and Powerpoint were included in Microsoft Office Standard Edition 95, 97, 2000, XP (2002) and 2003. Those applications were also included in Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and in Microsoft Office Home 2024.
Microsoft Office XP (2002) was the first version to require Microsoft Product Activation worldwide and in all editions.
The problem is that once a Microsoft Office user has generated documents and saved them in Microsoft’s proprietary format, he or she believes that they can only use that software specifically to open them. So he or she goes to a trusted computer technician to see if he or she can “get Office.”
Even though it may not be needed initially, a license must be purchased to activate Office. It must be purchased from a store that sells genuine licenses, or from the Microsoft Office website.
In March of 2025:
Microsoft Office Home (one-time purchase for 1 computer) costs $149.99.
Office 365 Personal (annual subscription for 1 user) costs $99.99 per year.
Office 365 Family (annual subscription for 6 users) costs $129.99 per year.
Section 2c(ii) of the Microsoft Software License Terms for Office Home 2024 prohibits publishing, copying, renting, leasing, or lending the software. Microsoft doesn’t want its proprietary software to be shared.
2. Installation and Use Rights.
c. Restrictions. The device manufacturer or installer and Microsoft reserve all rights (such as rights under intellectual property laws) not expressly granted in this agreement and no other rights are licensed to you. For example, this license does not give you any right to, and you may not (and you may not permit any other person or entity to):
(i) use or virtualize features of the software separately;
(ii) publish, copy (other than the permitted backup copy), rent, lease, or lend the software;
(iii) transfer the software (except as permitted by this agreement);
(iv) work around any technical restrictions or limitations in the software;
(v) use the software as server software or to operate the device as a server; use the
software to offer commercial hosting services; make the software available for
simultaneous use by more than one user over a network, except as permitted under
Section 2(d)(v) below; install the software on a server for remote access or use over a
network; or install the software on a device for use only by remote users;(vi) reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the software, or attempt to do so, except and only to the extent that the foregoing restriction is (a) permitted by
applicable law; (b) permitted by licensing terms governing the use of open-source
components that may be included with the software; or (c) required to debug changes
to any libraries licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License that are included with and linked to by the software; and(vii) when using Internet-based features, use those features in any way that could
interfere with anyone else’s use of them, or to try to gain access to or use any service, data, account, or network, in an unauthorized manner.
Instead use LibreOffice, a free alternative that can open Office documents that have their formats published.
LibreOffice includes Writer (an equivalent to Word), Calc (an equivalent to Excel) and Impress (an equivalent to PowerPoint).
Various modifications can be made so that documents created by other people in Microsoft Office look similar in LibreOffice, and vice versa. Other changes can also be made so that the buttons on the toolbar appear similar to the “ribbon” in Microsoft Office.
According to The Document Foundation’s Blog Post on March 27, 2025:
What makes LibreOffice unique is the LibreOffice Technology Platform, the only one on the market that allows the consistent development of desktop, mobile and cloud versions – including those provided by companies in the ecosystem – capable of producing identical and fully interoperable documents based on the two available ISO standards: the open ODF or Open Document Format (ODT, ODS and ODP) and the proprietary Microsoft OOXML (DOCX, XLSX and PPTX). The latter hides a huge number of artificial (and unnecessary) lock-in complexities that create problems for users convinced they are using a standard format. Products based on LibreOffice Technology are available for all major desktop operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS), mobile platforms (Android and iOS) and the cloud.
[…]
LibreOffice is the only office suite designed to meet the actual needs of the user – not just their eyes. It offers a range of interface options to suit different user habits, from traditional to modern, and makes the most of different screen sizes, optimising the space available to put the maximum number of features just a click or two away. It is also the only software for creating documents (that may contain personal or confidential information) that respects the user’s privacy, ensuring that the user can decide if and with whom to share the content they create, thanks to the standard and open format that is not used as a lock-in tool, forcing periodic software updates. All this with a feature set that is comparable to the leading software on the market and far superior to that of any competitor.
Italo Vignoli
The Document Foundation Blog
March 27, 2025
According to an article titled “LibreOffice improves Microsoft compatibility with version 7.4“, written by Richard Speed on Friday, August 19, 2022, at The Register:
File compatibility has long been a significant roadblock for users and organizations seeking an alternative to Microsoft’s ubiquitous productivity suite.
“Microsoft files are still based on the proprietary format deprecated by ISO in 2008, and not on the ISO approved standard, so they hide a large amount of artificial complexity,” sniffed the LibreOffice crew. “This causes handling issues with LibreOffice, which defaults to a true open standard format (the OpenDocument Format).”
According to an article titled “Make LibreOffice compatible with MS Office“, written by Aadesh on Sunday, February 12, 2023, at LinuxForDevices:
The file formats used by LibreOffice (ODT for text, ODP for presentations, etc.) are not compatible with Microsoft Office, making it difficult to share important documents with people who use Windows or MS Office. But this issue is caused by Microsoft not supporting the standard OpenDocument Format, not by the LibreOffice developers.
Download LibreOffice today. It costs no money and guarantees you the four essential freedoms of Free / Libre Open Source Software.
Most importantly, LibreOffice never needs to be activated.
If you ever need support for LibreOffice, use the following links:
Celebrating 20 Years of the OASIS Open Document Format (ODF) Standard
On May 1, 2025, The Document Foundation joined the open source software and open standards community in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the ratification of the Open Document Format (ODF) as an OASIS standard. Two decades after its approval in 2005, ODF is the only open standard for office documents, promoting digital independence, interoperability and content transparency worldwide.
“ODF is much more than a technical specification: it is a symbol of freedom of choice, support for interoperability and protection of users from the commercial strategies of Big Tech,” said Eliane Domingos, Chairwoman of the Document Foundation. “In a world increasingly dominated by proprietary ecosystems, ODF guarantees users complete control over their content, free from restrictions.”
ODF is the native file format of LibreOffice, the most widely used and well-known open source office suite, and is supported by a wide range of other applications. Its relevance – twenty years after its creation – is a testament to the foresight of its creators and the open source community’s commitment to openness and collaboration.
ODF has been adopted as an official standard by ISO (as ISO/IEC 26300) and by many governments on all continents to support digital sovereignty strategies and public procurement policies to ensure persistent and transparent access to content.
Taken from the LibreOffice Blog
By: Italo Vignoli
Libre Software | GNU+Linux 