I don’t really need an office suite that often, but when I do, I know Linux (and other OSes) have plenty of non-MS-Office alternatives. Microsoft Office might be ubiquitous, but it has challenges that make it useless to me: primarily that there is essentially zero native Linux support. Sure, there is a web version, but I find it difficult to use. Plus, there’s the whole “vendor lock-in” thing. Libre Office solves these issues for me.

So I can only conclude that when Linux is your primary OS, Microsoft Office is not the best choice. Actually, my friends who use Macs tell me that MS Office stinks on Macs as well. Libre Office is the default office suite for Linux Mint, and has decent compatibility with Microsoft Office native files. It’s by no means perfect, but for the few times I need it (keeping my personal checkbook register in a spreadsheet, for instance) it’s there and works great.

I don’t process many words

Incidentally, I do a lot of writing, but rarely use a full on word processor. I like to take a lighter approach with Markdown and a text editor. But if you need a good office suite no matter your desktop operating system of choice, you can’t go wrong with Libre Office.

• Official Web Site: https://www.libreoffice.org/