The software sector dedicated to office automation is full of all kinds of programs and solutions to meet the needs of the majority. If we focus on text editing, there are two proposals that stand out from the rest, LibreOffice Writer and Office Word .
The program that Microsoft offers us in this sense could be considered as one of the benchmarks in the sector. It is a solution that has been with us for many years and has not stopped growing and evolving over time. In fact, its developer has improved it along with the rest of the applications that are part of the aforementioned suite.
However, if we have to look for a powerful free alternative to use instead of Word , that text editor is Writer. It is part of the LibreOffice open source suite that is getting closer to the one mentioned above from Microsoft. In fact, we are reaching a point where many users are wondering what the real differences are between the two solutions. At this point, we could assure you that the free version surpasses the paid version in many respects.
But at the same time there are other functionalities in which Word is above, while the vast majority share them, as it is easy to imagine.
LibreOffice Writer features that Word lacks
To give us a rough idea of the main differences between both office solutions, first of all, we will talk about some functions that exist in the free mode and that we cannot find in Word . In this case we want to focus on important features, not on small details that are inconsequential for most. As an example, Writer allows us to add subtitles to graphics or text boxes, or to add styles for individual elements.
We also have an autocomplete function for previously used words, directly use mathematical calculations in the tables, or export to XHTML . Speaking of exporting files, here we can also do it to EPUB or directly to a photographic file. In turn, this proposal supports the use of master documents and master document templates. There are other advantages offered by the LibreOffice proposal, but these could be considered the most important at the moment.
Advantages of the Microsoft text editor
We have already mentioned before that, how could it be otherwise, both proposals share a good number of functions. However, there are also some that are above the proposal offered by Office. An example is the extended document reading mode that Word offers us and that we cannot find in Writer. Similarly, it is worth noting that here we can use LaTeX syntax natively for the formulas that we add to our documents.
Another advantage offered by the Microsoft alternative is especially useful when we work in collaborative groups . And it is that this text editor offers us an instant messaging function while we collaborate on a document that will be very helpful in this type of environment.
