WPS Office
WPS Office is an office suite software developed by Kingsoft, a Chinese developer. It has actually been on the market for a long time, having first debuted in 1988.
- The program is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Android OS and Linux.
- It offers a free version and several subscription versions that contain premium features.
- This is a cloud-enabled software that allows document sharing among users.
- Both free and paid versions come with 1GB of cloud storage.
- The look and feel is extremely similar to Microsoft Office.
- WPS Office looks and functions almost identically to Microsoft Office, which makes it easy for people who have been using Microsoft Office for a long time to make the switch.
- WPS Office is much cheaper than Microsoft Office.
- It is fully compatible with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- The interface is highly customizable. For users who do not like the look of the modern Microsoft Office (namely the ribbon), it's easy to change back to a more Office 2003 look. Each program's interface is changed separately so you can work with the ones you like.
- The free version has ads. Other free office suites, such as OpenOffice and LibreOffice, are entirely free, open source programs with no ads.
- The free version restricts access to features such as printing and exporting to .pdf.
- There is no real-time co-authoring.
- It does not have the ability to check grammar.
- It does not offer versions of Outlook, Publisher or any other program in Microsoft's suite that isn't Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
- GB of cloud storage isn't much.
WPS Office has, in recent years, established itself as a serious alternative to Microsoft Office, which largely dominates as the most popular office suite. WPS Office offers many of the same features, as well as some unique ones. The software has released many versions over its history. The most recent was released in 2016, making WPS Office 2016 the most recent, up-to-date version. It has a sleek interface that looks and behaves very similarly to Microsoft's suite. This is beneficial to users already familiar with Microsoft Office and makes switching very easy. WPS Office is highly and seamlessly compatible with Microsoft Office, especially Presentation and PowerPoint. It can work in the file formats .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, HTML, RTF, XML and PDF. WPS Office contains most of the features Microsoft Office does. Unique features include tabbed documents in each program, meaning users do not have to switch between documents open in different windows. There is also a Paragraph Layout tool in WPS Writer that allows users to change a paragraph's indentation and spacing with a simple drag-and-drop tool. WPS Office boasts hundreds of templates across all three programs for nearly every purpose imaginable. WPS Office offers several versions. There is WPS Office Free, WPS Office Premium, WPS Office Professional and WPS Office for Education, which is a discounted version for teachers and students. WPS Office Premium and WPS Office Professional have most of the same features but Premium is a subscription-based program while Professional is labeled for commercial use and has a one-time purchase option. Premium is generously priced, at $30 a year. The Professional version is $49.99 per year or $79.99 for a lifetime, one-time purchase. An option to be able to convert .pdf files into .docx files is also available for an additional $29.99 for the free version and included in the Premium version. Both free and paid versions include 1GB of cloud storage.
We bought the Premium version and it has been undependable. Immediately after renewing the yearly license, it stopped functioning. Customer service is terrible. Time to look for another alternative to Microsoft Office.