Customers might rethink abandoning Microsoft 365 with LibreOffice upgrade

The developer of the open-source software package highlighted why it has been so challenging to include Office compatibility in a blog post revealing the update.

According to the blog post, "Microsoft files still use the proprietary format that ISO deprecated in 2008, not the ISO approved standard; therefore they contain a substantial amount of artificial complexity."

This results in handling problems with LibreOffice, which by default uses the OpenDocument Format, a real open standard.

Considering the widespread use of Microsoft Office and the massive volume of documents, LibreOffice must offer complete compatibility to attract users away from Microsoft. With this objective in mind, the team says consumers may expect to get numerous updates in quick succession.

Multiple changes

For those who don't know, LibreOffice is a compilation of office programs designed to perform all the same functions as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

LibreOffice offers "a alternative suite of office software that's just as great, adaptable, and functionality at no cost to its customers," in the words of our reviewer.

The open-source suite may be an excellent choice for anyone trying to avoid paying a subscription fee given the rising cost of living, especially now that improved Office compatibility is available.

According to the blog post, users should frequently check for new LibreOffice releases since "each new version improves considerably over the previous one" due to the frequent release of compatibility updates.

This change in LibreOffice 7.4 is not the only one, although it is undoubtedly the greatest. The most recent version of the productivity suite has a number of changes, like Calc, the spreadsheet application, now enabling 16,374 columns, and the whole suite getting assistance for dark mode in Windows 10 and 11.

The team has also enhanced performance for scenarios including PDF export, document loading, and more.