IBM has publicly dropped Microsoft Office in favour of Lotus Symphony, but it's hard to see others doing the same with the small troubles Symphony still has especially with around.
It also renders text strange, making it seem bold as you type, before settling down to how it should be. It also does weird things to the text when you're typing, auto-suggesting words and underlining spelling mistakes before you even finish typing the word.
These intuitive software tools, which support Windows and Linux desktops, are designed to handle the majority of office productivity tasks that workers typically perform. It also has a built-in web browser, which seems a bit strange when you're used to working with a separate one.Īs far as user interface goes, it's a bit old school, lacking any slick UI treatment. Lotus Symphony is comprised of three applications - Lotus Symphony Documents, Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets and Lotus Symphony Presentations. Click 'new' to open a spreadsheet and it stays in the same window in a separate tab, which should come in handy when you're moving between different document types. It also features spreadsheet and presentation applications, but unlike others they're all in the same place. Based on an earlier version of the code, Lotus Symphony's document editor will seem very familiar to Word users with many of the same shortcuts, too. Launched back in 2007, IBM's Lotus Symphony is another option if you're looking for a Microsoft-like, desktop-based solution. Even if you prefer to use an OS-based office suite for your documents and files, the free software on offer by Zoho is worth a look. Those extra business tools make Zoho a solid choice for small businesses looking to make use of business intelligence and other systems without forking out a lot of cash. It also offers more business-friendly applications, including CRM, invoicing, reporting and more although these are only free for a limited number of users. Aside from presentation and spreadsheet tools, it includes email, document management, chat, and a sharing repository.