Alternatives to Microsoft Document Management Software for Students and Learners

Many universities and companies funnel their students and employees into various software suites. If you’re taking a course, pursuing a degree, or participating in professional training, you might be asked to use software that you simply want to avoid, for a range of different reasons. For those looking to get away from Microsoft Office, many free programs will fully replace the usual office suite. Besides, almost all of them are compatible with Windows. Read on for a selection of free office suites that are downloadable on your PC and browser.

How to Work with Documents via Other Suitable PC Applications

Microsoft’s famous Office suite has been considered the benchmark among office and institutional applications for more than fifteen years. Unfortunately, each year, the pricing policy does not always favor users. Others might find their signature applications like Word and PowerPoint clunky and look for better alternatives.

WPS Office Free

This free office suite works for Windows, Linux, and Android.

The Main Advantages:

· Supports Microsoft file formats
· Cross-platform

WPS Office Free is a smaller version of the premium office suite, but its impact on most hard drives is negligible. Each of the three programs of the package is as intuitive as the latest versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and is equipped with the same number of functions.

It supports a vast number of file formats, including those developed by Microsoft. The package does not have database software, but there is a great free PDF reader. The minus of the package is it displays a certain number of advertisements. They do not interfere with work and are a small fee for a completely free office software package. There are versions of WPS Office Free for Windows and Linux systems, as well as applications for Android devices.

Polaris Office

This application is a cross-platform office suite that stores your files in the cloud.

The Main Advantages:

· Available for desktops and mobile devices
· Includes 1 GB of cloud storage

To start working with the package programs, you need to log in using Facebook or Google or create an account. This is necessary because the Polaris Office is a cloud service. Your free Polaris account comes with 60 MB of monthly data transfer, 1 GB of cloud storage and can be used on up to three devices (one desktop PC and two mobile devices).

If you use a smartphone, you may be familiar with the mobile version of Polaris Office. This cross-platform free office software is available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS and comes with some smartphones. It is compatible with all Microsoft document formats and offers a simple interface with some basic settings. Recently, this application acquired a reputation for being one of the best word alternative programs among users. If this is not enough, you can connect Polaris Office to Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, Microsoft OneDrive and Amazon Cloud Drive, or save the work locally on your device.

SoftMaker FreeOffice

The free version contains almost all the tools of the premium version.

The Main Advantages:

· Supports Microsoft formats
· Includes PDF reader

Like WPS Office Free, SoftMaker FreeOffice provides analogs for Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (TextMaker, PlanMaker, and Presentations, respectively). The package includes support for Microsoft formats, and also offers an easy conversion to PDF and Epub. FreeOffice has a somewhat old-fashioned navigation mode, significantly different from the already simple navigation of the latest Microsoft packages.

Open365

This well-made application is more than just an online office suite. Read and discover more useful information about applications on RocketFiles.com if you like various software.

The Main Advantages:

· Complete open-source solution

Open365 is a fully-featured cloud desktop package. It includes the critical components of the LibreOffice suite (Writer, Calc, and Impress), as well as the Photoshop-esque GIMP image editor, Kontact Linux email package, and Seafile cloud storage. This suite is one of the applications that allow users to work with documents efficiently.

While you work with a file transfer and create a cloud storage mirror, there is a local client on your hard drive, although you still need to run the software itself in a browser. Being a full featured software, the package is quite heavy both in terms of download time and the load it exerts on your PC system.

Featured Image: Christian Wiediger, Unsplash.