Ditch Redmond With These Microsoft Office Alternatives for Mac

When I made the move from Windows to OS X (now macOS) back in 2007, I wanted to leave Microsoft behind entirely. It’s easy to leave Windows behind, once you get used to the Mac way. Microsoft Office is a different beast altogether, since it’s so engrained in our connected society. I quickly learned, and you will too, that there are several great Microsoft Office alternatives for Mac users.

On your gorgeous Mac, do you really want Microsoft Office? (Image Credit FirmBee)

Why Do We Need Microsoft Office Alternatives?

If you work in a traditional office environment, you’re probably well versed in Excel, Word, and even PowerPoint. Chances are, you have to use them on an almost daily basis. When you want to ditch Microsoft altogether, you need to be able to continue doing your job. That’s where Microsoft Office alternatives come in. You could purchase MS Office for your Mac, but you don’t have to. It’s definitely possible to create and send those Office documents without putting more money in Redmond’s pocket.

Apple’s Offerings

If you purchased your Mac recently, you have three options that you can download for free. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are great alternatives to Microsoft Office. The interfaces are gorgeous, and the apps are powerful enough to create some pretty impressive documents and slideshows. You can even do some basic collaboration, but that doesn’t always work so well with Office users. On the other hand, if you can convince your office to use either the Mac versions of these apps or their free iCloud counterparts, collaboration is a breeze.

Pages is gorgeous, but not without its limitations

Files import fairly well into Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, but there are exceptions. I’ve found that MS Word documents with lots of formatting don’t work so well, but many of the features of Apple’s apps makes up for that. You can truly create some stunning documents, spreadsheets, and presentations using the iCloud suite, as it’s now called. There are plenty of templates to get you started, but the software doesn’t accept any extensions or add-ons.

The Good

* Made by Apple, so it’s designed to go well with your Mac

* Beautiful interface with plenty of power

* Easy to use, with gorgeous templates

The Bad

* No real collaboration, except with other iCloud users

* Imports from Microsoft sometimes don’t go well

Next: Google Suite, LibreOffice, and Markdown

Page 2 – Google Suite, LibreOffice, and Markdown

 

From One Giant to Another – Google Suite

If you don’t mind putting your eggs (and your data) in Google’s basket, the search giant has an amazing set of Office tools available for free. It integrates with any Google account, whether you have a Gmail address or your organization uses Google Apps. You can add and open office documents straight from the Gmail interface with just the press of a button.

Google Docs is a great alternative, if you don’t mind giving Google your data.

When you receive Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint files, they’re easy to import. Google has equivalent apps for each – Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The most common fonts and formatting choices are there. You also get an extensive add-on gallery with templates and other tools to make it even easier to create professional documents. The only “gotcha” here is that you have to be online to make the most of Google’s office suite.

The Good

* Fully compatible with Microsoft Office

* Creates gorgeous documents

* Easy collaboration

* Extensive add-on gallery

The Bad

* You’re potentially sacrificing your privacy to Google

* Most features rely on Internet connectivity

Stick With Open-Source and Use LibreOffice

If you’re used to Microsoft Office before the ribbon came about, you’ll feel right at home with LibreOffice. This software is a bit cumbersome at times, but once you get used to it, everything you need is right there. When you download LibreOffice, you get a full-featured offline suite of office applications. It’s compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and even Publisher.

LibreOffice is a pleasant throwback to Microsoft Office before the infamous Ribbon

The apps within LibreOffice will open and edit any of Microsoft’s files, and you will have full control over your font and formatting choices. Even more features and document templates are available through LibreOffice’s dedicated websites.

The Good

* Fully compatible with MS Office

* Offline apps have full functionality

* Extensions and templates readily available

The Bad

* No collaboration with MS Office users

* All of the apps launch from one big bundle

* Complicated interface

Go Barebones and Learn Markdown

Here’s a crazy thought, but if all you do is create text documents, Markdown might be the way to go. Markdown isn’t an app, it’s a syntax. You can quickly apply formatting to your documents just by putting hash marks (#) or other symbols in front or around them. The primary benefit to Markdown is that you can create a document fully formatted, without ever lifting your fingers from the keyboard. It exports cleanly to HTML, and you can even create rich-text documents or PDFs from it, depending on the Markdown client you’re using. My personal preference, by the way, is Byword. With Byword, a free app with in-app purchases for more features, you can even export to Microsoft Word.

For simplicity, try learning Markdown

The Good

* Simple, but powerful

* Creates clean HTML and rich-text documents

* Formatting without lifting your fingers from the keyboard

The Bad

* Changing fonts within a document is difficult

* Requires learning the Markdown syntax

* Not as full-featured as other options

Can You Put Microsoft Behind You?

With these alternatives (and there are plenty more), do you think you could put Microsoft behind you? The most common Microsoft tools are easily replaced with free options. You might think that free would mean limited usability, but we’ve seen that most of the alternatives available actually have more features than MS Office. Yes, you really can put Microsoft behind you and never look back.

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