Even Lesser Known Office Suite Options
Crystal, Celframe, Coral, Calligra & KOffice (and a few more)
It's difficult to find a way to put all these software players into a single literary, movie, or operatic reference (as we've tried to do, with varying success, in earlier parts of this series). So let's just imagine them as potential characters in the upcoming movie of The Hobbit. Crystal would obviously be a reference to one of the magical communication orbs the wizards sometimes use. Celframe nicely describes the architecture of a room in a Hobbit's underground home, or a minor monster in a Dwarvish mine. Coral and Calligra are obviously Elvish characters, and KOffice sounds vaguely Orc-ish to me. Trying to meld all these characters into a single scene or plot would take many pages – and would certainly exceed the patience of this blog's readers. So let's talk about the software, instead:
Crystal Office has some nice “Lite” office programs for Windows which have good functionality, but won't win any competitions based on features:
- NotePro is a Rich Text Format-based word processor, which is more advanced than WordPad and includes spell checking, a calculator, tables, and bookmarking. The RTF format is an older, basic formatting specification that should make it easy to import or paste into almost any other program.
- DayMate is a schedule organizer which allows you to schedule reminders, start applications, shut down your computer, dial phone numbers, send messages and open web sites.
- CellPro is a speadsheet application and ChartPro is a charting program.
The entire suite is $31.95 (more for a backup disk), or you can buy the individual programs separately. If you like simplicity, ease of use, and quick loading software, these are worth a try. If you live by the calendar and appointments, DayMate sounds particularly intriguing.
Also of note are a few extra programs available on the Crystal site:
- ClipPlus is a clipboard manager that collects text and graphics clips.
- Maple and Maple Professional are outline managers that allow you to collect text, graphics and files, all in a hierarchical outline structure. If you do research or collect lots of data, but find that notebook applications, such as OneNote and Evernote, don't have the organizational structure you want, the Maples definitely are worth a look.
The site is currently advertising a Winter sale of 20% off if you enter the code (located on the banner of the home page).
If you are interested just in simple word processing, Jarte (Windows only) may be similar to Crystal's NotePro. Adding to the features already found in Microsoft’s free WordPad software, it adds things like spell-check, headers/footers, tables and more, and it’s free.
If you need a full-featured word processor without the rest of an office suite, you can also look at the open source, free AbiWord. It is a stand-alone word processor which functions similar to Libre/OpenOffice's Writer or Word 2003. Its small size and modest system requirements make it perfect for older Windows computers and for new netbooks, too, as well as Mac OS X and Linux machines. It can also be run from a USB memory stick. Despite its small size, it is a full-featured word processor that has gathered a loyal following. It's well worth the download to try it. It's part of the GNOME project by GNU, which someday may be an entirely different blog post.
Headquartered in New York City, Celframe may be the largest U.S. producer of office software that most people have never heard of. Celframe offers application suites that appear to be popular with large corporations, governments, and schools. Its Celframe Office 2008 includes a full suite of applications including: Write, Spreadsheet, Power Presentation, Draw, Data Access, Studio (a graphics program), Photoalbum, Mail, Backup, Note Maker, Publisher, PDF Maker, and XML Maker. Celframe offers four different suites, ranging from Celframe Office Home for $62, to Celframe Office Pro for $170. (The suites are all different, depending on the intended audience. You need to see the website to compare.)
Celframe doesn't directly import newer Microsoft XML formats. It does offer, a free converter called, unsurprisingly, Celframe Converter. Otherwise the suites will open earlier Microsoft files plus OpenOffice formats, too. (It's graphics programs support Adobe Photoshop, Flash and CorelDraw formats.) Its interface is similar to Office 2003.
The suite can be run from a USB flash drive. You can download a trial version for 30 days. Reviews say that the programs are fairly light in functionality.
Upon a query, a Celframe spokesperson did say that they are planning to update its software in 2012, including cloud apps. This makes sense since other vendors (including Google and Zoho) are making large inroads in the corporate, government and education markets which appear to be the bread and butter of Celframe. Beta testing is expected in the middle of 2012.
Unless you have a need for the complete suite of packages and need to run it from a USB flash drive, it's hard to imagine a scenario where this would be the most economical or most powerful suite one could get for the money. If, however, you run an international conglomerate, this might be a nice, economical package for a few thousand employees.
If you are a Linux/Unix user, you should take a look at the free KOffice which is an open source suite of office and graphics applications. A “stable” version, KOffice 2.3.3 was released last March. Versions may also eventually be made for Windows and Mac OS X.
Of note, KWord is a frame-based word processor which might be excellent for desktop publishing and page layout, with master pages, graphic frames and other features. Other programs include KCells (spreadsheet) and Showcase (presentations). Other related open source software programs include Karbon (vector drawing), Krita (bitmap graphics), KPlato (project management), Kexi (data management), and Kivio (diagramming). The graphics programs, Krita and Karbon, are both considered stable and ready for "real" work. Interestingly, this project was boosted in 2010 by the support of Nokia.
Just as the OpenOffice community has split into groups, the KOffice community has an offshoot called Calligra which is creating versions of the KOffice suite with different names. So far, the software is still in beta testing. For Windows users, this could be the better bet for the future, but the software is currently only available for Linux. Watch http://www.calligra-suite.org/ for announcements for Windows and Mac versions as well as smartphone capability. The Calligra suite uses the same file formats as Libre/Open Office, which might be good for interoperability, eventually. This is also an open source project, so the applications are free.
Coral WordPerfect Office Professional is another office suite that is often loaded on personal computers as a trial product. It includes a word processor, Quattro spreadsheet, Paradox database, slideshow and presentation units, data analysis, a digital notebook, a sticky note app, and a light email client. You can buy versions of the suite from the Coral website, but you might do better shopping other online retailers for a better price.
WordPerfect, at one time, was one of Microsoft Word's best competitors and it's a shame it wasn't able to survive Microsoft's marketing onslaught. (I think the same of Lotus 1-2-3 which was, in its heyday, much better than Excel.) Coral, known for its graphics programs, later bought up the rights and today lots of people do good work with this suite. Although a bit pricy, the software has stood the test of time and claims to have good interoperability with Microsoft products.
Coming next: Zenware
Tags: AbiWord, Crystal, Celframe, WordPerfect, Coral, KOffice, Calligra, Jarte, Maple, software, SOHO, office
Part 5: Two Chinese options: Kingsoft and Yozo
We continue our musical presentations of Microsoft Office competitors with our two very distinct Chinese software companies. One can almost sympathize with these companies because they have internal and external pressure to quickly bring Western-style software and interfaces, in many languages, to both the children of the Cultural Revolution as well as children of the Social Media revolution. With the Chinese reputation for wide-scale, unabashed copyright infringement and interface robbery, it makes sense, then, that our subjects for the day are performing in the veddy, veddy British Gilbert and Sullivan comedy, Pirates of Penzance.
We cast Kingsoft Software (although we could probably go either way) as Frederic, the not-so-bright 21-year-old who has just finished his enforced apprenticeship to the pirates, only to discover he was born on February 29th and therefore has another 63 years until his 21st birthday and the end of his apprenticeship. We cast Yozo as Frederic's romantic interest, the not-so-pretty Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley.
We could have just as easily cast our friends into the roles of the Pirate King (which they might find insulting) and the General, except asking any native Chinese speaker to sing the rapid-paced, tongue-twisting patter song "I am the very model of a modern Major-General," would be just a little bit cruel. FWIW, by the end of Pirates of Penzance the pirates discover themselves to be loyal subjects of Queen Victoria and the girls (including our heroine, Mabel) all end up happily married. Ah, if only software company relationships were so easily resolved.
So, now that we are thoroughly entertained with Victorian comedy, we return to our software reviews, since these have as many twists and turns as a Gilbert & Sullivan plot.
Hong Kong-based Kingsoft Software now offers a free Kingsoft Office 2012 and Kingsoft Office Pro 2012, available on http://www.kingsoftstore.com/index.html. Both offer three modules: Writer, Spreadsheet and Presentation. Most of the interesting new features are in the Pro version:
- Kingsoft appears to be the first company to successfully rip-off, er, emulate the new Microsoft ribbon interface. From the few small screen shots on their website (and a few reviews), you have to look hard to see a difference. However, they also added the ability to switch between their menu interface (similar to MS Office 2003) and their ribbon interface. This is something that many, if not most users wished had been included when Microsoft released Office 2007.
- Kingsoft Office Pro also advertises “Section tabs,” which are what we would probably call “Document tabs,” another feature some people wish was in Microsoft's programs.
- It has a Visual Basic Editor
- A “Paragraph Adjustment Tool” which offers mouse-controlled paragraph formatting
- Macro creation tools
- File encryption tools
- New table styles and table expansion tools
- Cover page templates
- The ability to save in PDF format and also open and edit PDF files
- The suites continue to advertise the ability to open all Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (including 2007 and 2010) and save in Microsoft 2003 formats, so you can open Kingsoft files directly in Microsoft products without translation.
- All this is in a small, downloadable file which, after installation, reportedly runs briskly
- The Pro version costs $69.95
Neither the free nor the pro versions offer a grammar checker, which is a shame because one occasionally runs into language on the Kingsoft website that is incomprehensible in English.
Although Kingsoft seems to be aiming both barrels at Microsoft with their triple hitter (how's that for mixing metaphors?), they also seem to be aiming at both Microsoft and OpenOffice (and a lot of other folks, including South Korea's Thinkfree Office) with their free version. (All their feature comparison charts freely ignore the fact that both OpenOffice and Microsoft offer other programs in their suites.)
Kingsoft's free version is a more limited package, which is no surprise. What it does NOT include are the switchable interface, the ribbon interface, the paragraph adjustment tool, “section” tabs, Writer cover templates, or Presentation templates—in other words, most of the new stuff.
Some reviewers have noted that the free version is quite small, starts up very quickly, and has more versatility than most free software, offering WordPad speed with advanced functionality. Being a free version, it is available for download from a number of sources, including cnet.com.
The older Kingsoft Office 2010 advertised that it was usable in English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese. The website for the new version does not give any information about which languages are supported. (It seems unlikely that they would have removed any of the Asian languages.) However, the new website offers options to click on flags for the U.S., Germany, France, China and Japan. One might infer that French and German could now be supported, too, but je ne c'est pas.
It is not clear whether the Pro version allows a trial period before purchasing, although some web sites appear to offer one. All customer support is online or by email.
Kingsoft also offers a new, free Kingsoft Office Suite for Android, for use on Android phones and tablets. It allows you to open, edit and create Writer and Spreadsheets and open, edit, but not create presentations. Curiously, they just announced yesterday (on December 14, 2011) that the software is now free and people who purchased it earlier can apply for a refund. The Android software appears to be available in the Android marketplace in English, Japanese and Chinese.
In conclusion, Kingsoft is aggressively marketing its new software with a free version as well as reasonably low pricing in its Pro version. If they can survive the barrage of infringement lawsuits likely from Microsoft (and Chinese courts might make that possible), it sounds like an interesting product. There are surprisingly few reviews on the web from reputable journalists, so far, and no real in-depth reviews.
If you are not bothered by the Chinese propensity to steal intellectual property (and other geopolitical issues), you probably should take a look at the free version of the software. If you have an Android tablet, you'd be silly not to try their Android app. (I still wonder about the true functionality of office software on Android phones.) People using older computers or netbooks might be pleased with the small file sizes and requirements to run this suite.
Those who rarely use any software other than word processing, spreadsheets and presentations and, thus, don't need easy compatibility with other programs (say, database, page layout, or email hosting), could possibly find much of what they need in these tidy little packages.
Yozo Office 2010 (formerly EIOfiice 2009) is marketed by a Chinese software company named EIOffice (a.k.a. Evermore Integrated Office) that claims to be the largest seller of software to the Chinese government. The suite, available in Chinese, Japanese, French and English, was created as a Chinese competitor to Microsoft Office.
The 2009 version of the software was available for $14.95. The 2010 version, now available from http://www.yozooffice.com/products/yozo-office-2010/, shoots the price up to $41.95 for a single license. Yozo Office is available for Windows, Linux, Meego and Android.
Yozo Office offers word processing, spreadsheet and presentation capabilities in a unified program (not separate modules). A screenshot shows an impressive-looking "Integrated Science Editor" for biology, chemistry, physics, math, geography and flowcharts. It imports Office 2010 and earlier files and OpenOffice formats and appears to export to new Microsoft Office formats. It does offer PDF creation in addition to its proprietary formats, and includes a "binder" to bring documents, spreadsheets and presentations together in a single file. Befitting the pirate reputation of Chinese software companies, its features list includes "boarders" (although they probably mean "borders").
This is a Java-based program that runs on top of Windows (or Linux, Android or Symbian), so the big question is whether it runs visibly slower on Windows or not. (You should also check to see if it has the same font display problems of the Korean ThinkFree suite.) You can download a trial version for 15 days before paying for a license to continue using the program. A downloadable user manual, templates, tutorials and sample documents are available only with a paid license.
Yozo Office has expanded their Chinese-only cloud-computing platform to other languages (including, apparently, English). It would be interesting to compare their cloud application offerings with that of much larger Google and Zoho.com. Check out http://www.yozooffice.com/products/yozo-web-office/ for more information.
Probably the biggest negative to trusting your information to a Chinese online firm is the country's reputation for pirating software, technology and intellectual property. One wonders how safe sensitive information would be government or private hackers. (To be fair, if I was a Chinese businessman using Google, I might also wonder how safe my information was from intrusion from U.S. Homeland Security and the NSA, too.)
Tags: Yozo, Kingsoft, software, SOHO, office, webapps
Part 4: Thinkfree Office, the South Korean option
In our current theatrical production of alternatives to Microsoft office, we travel around the globe to South Korea, to take a quick look at ThinkFree Office. Unfortunately, with some visual display problems in my Windows version, I can only cast ThinkFree in the role of Helen Keller, in The Miracle Worker . With the patient tutorage of Anne Sullivan, our deaf/blind Helen learns sign language, and overcomes all obstacles to become an international software distributor and Cloud office application provider.
Seoul-based ThinkFree Office 4 emphasizes file compatibility with Word, Excel and PowerPoint (2003, 2007, 2010), with its three programs (Write, Calc and Show) plus a ThinkFree Manager for coordinating your files online (ThinkFree Online) and off. You can download the software (free for 30-days) or use the online version. The free online registration gives you online storage (up to 1 GB) plus online file-format translation, sharing and web embedding tools. Software is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. There are also versions for Android phones, Netbooks, Mobile Internet Devices, Servers (Standard and Enterprise), API apps, and conversion software. After 30 days, the cost is $49.95 for the basic suite (with different prices for other versions).
The program opens all Office Word, Excel and Powerpoint formats for 2003 and 2007/2010 Office suites, including templates (.dot), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and text (.txt). ThinkFree appears to use the same file formats as Microsoft for saving its files to preserve compatibility, and also saves PDF files. It is not compatible with Libre/OpenOffice formats.
The interface is similar to Office 2003. When using the font dialogue box, you have a choice of Asian as well as Latin fonts. Unfortunately, when testing on my PC, the font rendering on screen was terrible, even using larger sizes. Since displaying text and numbers legibly is a basic function of word processing or a spreadsheet, this is a severe limitation (at least in the Windows version). The fonts did print properly. (An email request asking for a solution went unanswered.)
Word files with graphics and text wrapping generally opened properly in Office 4 with only minor tweaks needed to adjust formatting (possibly because of the bad font rendering). To edit online, you need to download extra Java compatibility software. You can use your installed fonts even when online, but the fonts have the same display problems and the program feels a bit sluggish.
ThinkFree also offers a suite of server options from web-based file sharing and collaboration to full enterprise solutions.
If you use Asian languages (especially Korean), or you want to change file formats back and forth from Microsoft Office or create PDFs from another program, try it. (It might be interesting to compare features between the online ThinkFree Office and Microsoft’s Office online apps on their sites alongside Google Apps and Zoho.com.) If ThinkFree can solve their font display problems, this could be an interesting and frugal alternative to Office online.
Tags: ThinkFree, software, SOHO, office, webapps, HelenKeller, MiracleWorker
Part 3: Ability Office
In Act 3 of our extended international software drama we present London's Ability Office in a re-creation of the role of John Steed in The Avengers TV series. In today's episode, Steed is posing as a British international businessman, appropriately dressed in derby hat and bespoke suite, accessorized with the Londoner's ever-present bumbershoot. Using amazing tools from his extended collection of software, including accounting, human resources, appointments and, of course, security, he smoothly discovers and captures the enemy (in an acerbically British version of Getting Things Done) with the able assistance of Mrs. Peel, all in time for cocktails and dinner, of course.
London-based Ability (www.ability.com/) has a very reasonably-priced alternative to Microsoft Office and WordPerfect Office called Ability Office for Windows. Version 5, released in 2008 offers a suite of programs. The Home version Includes: Write, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Photopaint (a bit-map graphics editor), Draw (vector graphics) and Photoalbum. You can download the US versions from http://www.asiability.us/ and try free for 30 days. The Home Edition costs $34.99. The Business Edition adds an Access-compatible relational Database and costs $44.99. (That's not a typo – that's a relational database for just $10 extra!) Each purchase offers two licenses.
Ability Office can import and export Microsoft Office 2007/2010 XML files, but not OpenOffice files. It also opens Office 2003 and earlier files plus, curiously, AmiPro files. (Anybody remember AmiPro?)
Ability's Write module will save in every Microsoft Word format from Office 2010 on backwards to Word 3.0 (which even Microsoft no longer supports), Ami Pro, text, Windows Write, HTML, plus it's own formats, and creates PDFs. Ability's Write does have a grammar checker and a form editor (which Libre/OpenOffice's Writer lacks). Otherwise, during a very brief tryout, the feature set appeared to be quite similar to OpenOffice's. The graphics programs, however, are light alternatives to PhotoShop and Illustrator which you can buy in a Graphics Photos and Presentations suite (combined with Presentation and Photoalbum) for $24.99, a good frugal price.
Ability also offers other software for businesses, including packages for security, accounting, appointments, business planning, and HR/staff files. If you need any of those packages for your business, adding Ability Office might create a very nice and frugal unified interface.
All in all, Ability Office is a nice commercial alternative to Microsoft Office and Open/LibreOffice for not a lot of money. It adds three graphics modules (to OpenOffice's 1 and Microsoft's 0). In a trial run of the software, my biggest issue was slightly straining my older eyes with the smaller menus and icons. Like all the alternatives to Microsoft, Ability uses the menu and toolbar interface, not the ribbon interface which is strictly protected by Microsoft.
By office software standards, 2008 is only beginning to get long in the tooth. It will be interesting to see when Ability projects their next version's availability.
Tags: Ability, software, SOHO, office, Avengers, Steed
thanks for visiting Frugal Guidance. This article has been rewritten and posted on our new website, Frugal Guidance 2 You can read it at http://andybrandt531.com/2012/12/640/
Part 1: LibreOffice and OpenOffice.org
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'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed
To turn, turn will be our delight
'Till by turning, turning we come round right.
-- From "Simple Gifts" by Aaron Copland, based on a traditional Shaker tune.
Whether you are frugal due to circumstance (unemployed), by nature (we won't say "cheap"), or by training, there are ways to find gifts for your family that may cost little or nothing. We also mention cheaper alternatives to more expensive gifts, and some creative tools for you and your family.
Let's get down to specific gifts:
For your job-hunting or just frugal significant other:
Need a new planner, organizer, calendar for the New Year to organize that job search or work? Productive Flourishing www.productiveflourishing.com/free-planners/ offers PDF pages for Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly and Annual planning guides. (Subscribe to the free newsletter to get access to all of them.) You can purchase a 12-month supply of guides for $12. Print them out and put them in a nice loose-leaf binder. You can also try it out yourself. Note, all the PDFs are for 8.5x11 inch sheets.
Another top-notch site for free PDF's of planner pages (in many sizes) is the D*I*Y Planner website www.diyplanner.com/templates/official. Even if your partner has a planner, you'll find many special pages you can add to it.
Need paper for a “classic” 5.5”x8.5” planner binder? Buy a ream of good quality printer paper and have the office store's copy shop cut the pages in half. (They usually charge $1-2 for the cut.)Want to use that paper with the common seven-ring binder? Go to the Franklin-Covey shop and buy an all-metal, polished 7-hole puncher for $25. franklinplanner.com/
Buying a computer for that job hunt (or upgrading an old one, or just need some software)? If you don't already own Microsoft Office, download and take the free LibreOffice suite for a test drive www.libreoffice.org/download/ (or the almost identical OpenOffice.org www.openoffice.org/ ).
Don't need an entire office suite, just a word processor? Try AbiWord www.abisource.com/. It's lightweight and will work on your college-student's netbook and Grandma's old PC, too.
Is Auntie Janie known for her organizing or creative writing? Freemind freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page is a free mindmapping software program for brainstorming, organizing, outlining, and thinking.
Your daughter Susan is into journals/diaries and Uncle Ulysses likes fine pens? Rather than spend $550 on a good Mont Blanc, give a hard-bound notebook with good quality paper. The Moleskine notebooks www.moleskine.com/ are popular for writing, journaling, organizing and sketching and are available with lined, graph, dotted or blank pages in several sizes. If Ulysses writes with fountain pens or Suze is into painting, try the Moleskine with watercolor paper that doesn't bleed through; good for sketching, painting, and travel and artist journals. In spite of the marketing hype, the Moleskines are actually pretty good notebooks and have an entire Internet sub-culture devoted to using them for writing, getting things done, artwork, travel, making lists, meeting notes and much more.
Are the Moleskines too pricy? Check your office supply, art or book store for some of the other quality notebook options. Staples often offers a pocket-sized Moleskine-like notebook on sale for $3, about a quarter of the original's price. Some other quality notebook makers -- all available online, some in stores -- are: Rhodia, Clairfontaine, Ecosystem Life, Black n' Red, Exacompta, Global Art Handbook Journals, Piccadilly Journals, and Derwent.
Add a three-pack of Pentel EnerGel pens (I like the 0.5 mm tip) or some Pilot G-2 pens for economical and smooth writing.
Has Aunt Gertrude been bragging about her upcoming European excursion? Check out the Moleskine City Guides (for major European and a few American cities) which are practical and a lot cheaper than a set of matched luggage (www.moleskine.com/moleskinecity/).
Is your nephew Bruce learning digital photography? Get some free high-quality photo editing software. Paint.net (Windows only) www.getpaint.net/ is a high-end photo editor and paint program. The GNU Image Manipulation Program, www.gimp.org/, with the marketing-challenged acronym GIMP, is actually a terrific, if complex, photo editing program (with lots of add-ons available), also free.
Alternatively, printer ink cartridges and good photo paper are always appreciated by the photographer.
Cute little Timothy is grown and now texting on his Android phone or iPhone? A $25 gift card or check gets him some great software or games on the Android or Apple Marketplace.
And that computer geek in the household (you know who you are) will always appreciate a 16- or 32-Gigabyte USB flash drive (or a camera memory chip), usually reasonably priced and frequently on sale. Load it with free portable Windows software at pendriveapps.com/ or portableapps.com/ and techsupportalert.com/best-free-portable-programs.
And, for all my frugal friends, please accept these gift ideas as my holiday present with wishes for a happy and frugal holiday season and for a great job (or continued success) in the New Year!
