LibreOffice free productivity suite with six apps for document production and data processing


LibreOffice is a free productivity suite containing six applications for document production and data processing: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math and Base. Support and documentation is free and comes from a community of users, contributors and developers. LibreOffice is a decent productivity suite, not as feature rich and shining as MS Office, but it is free. The program is compatible with all major competitors’ file formats, so that you can import files from Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and many other formats, and can save to Microsoft Office and other formats when needed.

Writer is the word processor of LibreOffice, useful for dashing off a quick letter to producing a book with tables of contents, embedded illustrations, bibliographies and diagrams. Auto-completion, auto-formatting and automatic spelling checking.

Calc will let you analyze your data and use it to present your final output. Charts and analysis tools help bring transparency to your conclusions. A fully-integrated help system makes easier work of entering complex formulas. Add data from external databases such as SQL or Oracle, then sort and filter them to produce statistical analyses. Use the graphing functions to display large number of 2D and 3D graphics from 13 categories, including line, area, bar, pie, X-Y, and net – with the dozens of variations available, you’re sure to find one that suits your project.

Impress is a way to create multimedia presentations. Animation and special effects help convince your audience.

Draw lets you build diagrams and sketches from scratch, even 3D illustrations and special effects.

Base is the database front-end of the LibreOffice suite. With Base, you can integrate your existing database structures into the other components of LibreOffice, or create an interface to use and administer your data as a stand-alone application. You can use imported and linked tables and queries from MySQL, PostgreSQL or Microsoft Access and many other data sources, or design your own with Base, to build powerful front-ends with sophisticated forms, reports and views. Support is built-in or addable for a very wide range of database products, notably the standardly-provided HSQL, MySQL, Adabas D, Microsoft Access and PostgreSQL.

Math is a simple equation editor that lets you lay-out and display your mathematical, chemical, electrical or scientific equations in standard written notation. Even the most-complex calculations can be understandable when displayed correctly.