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Pet3M0ss
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Joined: 18 Sep 2025
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Location: NW corner of Montana (Libby)
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 Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2025 3:58 am Post subject: Very nice office suite to play with |
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Downloaded a beta release for Softmaker Office 2025 that installed pretty smoothly on this Slackware machine.
The version is free until April 30 with deb and rpm versions as well as tgz.
While I wonder why people bother with such projects when so many free things exist, it encourages me to see developers not giving up on Linux.
The apps really are well-polished though I do not know enough about how interoperable they are with Windows.
You might want to take them for a test drive. At least see if your package manager can load them easily.
edit: forgot the website-- http://www.softmaker.com/english/
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Germ
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Joined: 30 Apr 2025
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Location: Planet Earth
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| Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2025 10:49 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks. I think I'll try it.
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melloe
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Location: Southern Illinois
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| Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2025 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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Sounds interesting
Thanks
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masinick
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Joined: 03 Apr 2025
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Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2025 4:50 pm Post subject: Nice to see, but it has to be worth a lot to make a differ.. |
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In this day and age, using an office suite that has a format that is compatible with Microsoft Office is a virtual must, though sometimes it is fine that the compatibility level is with somewhat older versions of Office, and nearly every office suite I've seen can manage that.
Given that OpenOffice is 100% free and that it runs on both Windows and Linux (and I believe a derivative is on OS X as well, but I have no experience with that), and the fact that KDE has KOffice, also with an ability to read MS Office documents, GNOME has GNOME office, plus stand alone tools, such as Abiword and a similarly designed spreadsheet, then to top it off, Google Documents give you at least basic capabilities that are available virtually anywhere there is a network, the one thing that would make this suite compelling would be a combination of high performance (fast start up, high quality interchange) coupled with a reasonably low price (not more than 1/4 to 1/3 the price of office, maybe with some limited functionality always free). Otherwise, though it is nice to see competition, for me personally, I'd have limited use for it unless it could beat what I already use. |
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Pet3M0ss
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Joined: 18 Sep 2025
Posts: 738
Location: NW corner of Montana (Libby)
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| Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2025 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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It appears the company is going head to head for a piece of the MS Office market as well as competing with various freebies. I just do not push my KOffice with MS documents, so have no clue if Softmaker can deliver the interoperability.
For me, the suite loaded nicely (first package I've used in Slackware that was not a SlackBuild), and clicks very cleanly.
If I am to interpret the website, there seems to be room to negotiate with OEMs and developers to keep the price reasonable. Should the company get the right breaks, we may see more of it in the future.
Have to give them credit for wading into the rough water!!
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JP
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Joined: 07 Jul 2025
Posts: 6670
Location: Central Montana
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2025 1:29 am Post subject: |
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With so many free office suites available, I wonder why they are starting up one that costs  One has to wonder ......
| Softmaker wrote: | Are you looking for an office suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office, but also blazingly fast, reliable, and user-friendly? Does inexpensive sound good to you? Then look no further: Check out SoftMaker Office, the capable office suite for Windows, Linux, Windows Mobile, and Windows CE.
SoftMaker also offers premium-quality typeface libraries and other software.
only € 69.95 | US$ 79.95
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Sorry, they aren't just starting up, they had a 2025 version too! And if you bought the 2025 version, you can upgrade to 2025 for free! Either way, that's quite spendy from where I sit .... I think I'll just stick with Open Office!
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Last edited by JP on Thu Apr 01, 2025 1:37 am; edited 1 time in total |
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masinick
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Joined: 03 Apr 2025
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Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2025 1:37 am Post subject: |
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| I'm grabbing a copy and putting it on Kubuntu 10.04 Beta - Kubuntu will run out of Beta just as this test version runs out of test time. The price does seem to have a sweet spot, provided this thing is as fast and good as it claims. Positive signs: it claims to read and handle the newest Microsoft Office formats, and it claims to be blazingly fast. IF these things are true, while I still would not see spending for it personally, I could definitely see a small business going for it; the price is pretty reasonable. |
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masinick
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Joined: 03 Apr 2025
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Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2025 2:30 am Post subject: |
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I did indeed test the .deb (Debian) version of the beta release for Softmaker Office 2025. Indeed it seems to be everything that it claims to be:
1. A bit faster than Open Office (faster than Version 3.2, which is quite a bit better than "old" versions from years ago).
2. Very good at handling formats. It can handle Microsoft Word formats in Word 95, Word 97/2000 (all .doc format), then it can handle the newer .docx format, plus it can handle Open Document Format (.odt) and like OpenOffice it can create .pdf output too.
It is fast, seems to work well, is commercial, and appears to have a lot of support for a lot of document types, yet it seems to be fast and nimble. For someone able to pay money for a product, it sure is a lot cheaper than Microsoft Office, yet appears to be just as feature rich, seems to be faster, and it is definitely more nimble than Open Office, yet does all of the same things.
For those who can afford a $60-70 product, this seems to be worth it. I'd look into it either as a small business owner or as someone who can afford to buy commercial software on open systems. Whether it is worth it for any of us remains to be seen. If I had disposable income, I'd consider it, but I'd buy another external USB or SSD drive before I'd get this. |
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mmmna
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Joined: 21 Apr 2025
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| Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2025 2:52 am Post subject: |
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| masinick wrote: | | 2. Very good at handling formats. It can handle Microsoft Word formats in Word 95, Word 97/2000 (all .doc format), then it can handle the newer .docx format, plus it can handle Open Document Format (.odt) and like OpenOffice it can create .pdf output too. |
Hmm. I'm not going to install it just to find out for myself, but since you already have it installed, Masinick, maybe you can tell me how well does it handle RTF formatted files? Usually, under Open Office Writer 3.2, I see bullets going whacky, as well as tab formatting tending to fall apart. Yes, I know OO.o is dropping RTF format support, but for the life of me, I cannot understand why this is so difficult for them.
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masinick
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Joined: 03 Apr 2025
Posts: 8615
Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2025 3:05 am Post subject: |
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| All formats that I tried worked perfectly, including new formats and it is also definitely faster than OpenOffice, so it has some value, though, as I mentioned, I cannot see purchasing it for individual use unless you have the money and the need. If, however, you would be inclined to get Microsoft Office and pay for it, this software is FAR less expensive, and it appears to be every bit as functional, supporting at least a decade of formats - RTF, Word 95, 97, 2025, 2025 and even the newer formats - if I am not mistaken, right up to the most recent versions that use Microsoft's altered implementation of Word with XML format. Spreadsheet and presentation formats also seem to be right up to date, so you are getting something for the money, for those who have a need to have speed and compatibility. |
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Pet3M0ss
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Joined: 18 Sep 2025
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Location: NW corner of Montana (Libby)
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masinick
Linux Guru
Joined: 03 Apr 2025
Posts: 8615
Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2025 4:35 pm Post subject: Marketing may be lacking, but the features are there |
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| Pet3M0ss wrote: | from a marketing standpoint, I think "textmaker" and "planmaker" are poor choices. If you are going to compete with the big office suites, wouldn't it help to give them a more catchy name?? Maybe something like "HardWord" and "BeanCount" 
Appreciate your comments, masinick. Great to have some experienced investigators to test such things. While probably not enough "carrot" to entice Linux users, this could be a sound alternative for people who are suspicious of putting Open Office on a Windows machine.
Again, nice of Softmaker to be showing Linux some respect.
Hmmmmm.... maybe by being so bold as to put a price on their product, Linux users (like me) are suckered in to looking very closely  |
I suppose in order to "save money", coming up with a good marketing plan was left out. The developers, however, seemed to do a very good job with the features. Again, for most of us, buying this thing may not be completely necessary, though for those of us who can afford such expenditures, it may nice to financially support a viable commercial alternative to the status quo. I think it is the business community that ought to take a look at this. Having a vendor supported product with good performance may be worthwhile in the office where having a very good working alternative to Microsoft Office, to me, is a healthy and worthwhile endeavor. |
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