nsane.forums Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 About a week ago I featured Kingsoft Office Suite Professional 2012 in a bonus deal. Since then I've been test-driving the software on an old laptop. And you know what? I like it!I mention this because although the Kingsoft Professional giveaway is over, you can still get Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012 for, well, free.Until last week, I'd never heard of Kingsoft or this product. I had, however, tried all the usual freebie Microsoft Office alternatives: OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Lotus Symphony, Google Docs, and so on.They're all OK--good enough, certainly, for most users--but I'll admit I've become spoiled by Microsoft's Ribbon interface, which made its debut in Office 2007 and carried over to Office 2010. The famed freebies mostly resemble Office 2003--if not an even earlier version.Kingsoft Office looks a lot like Office 2010, and consequently I feel right at home in it. (Update: Only the Pro version gives you the option of an Office 2010-style interface. My apologies for the error.) A few commenters last week accused it of being a "Chinese rip-off," but last time I checked, software created in China wasn't inherently bad. (By the way, Kingsoft is actually based in Hong Kong.)What's more, the developers may have borrowed heavily from Microsoft's user interface, but so did the developers of OpenOffice and similar suites; they just borrowed from an older Microsoft UI.Maybe I'm over-rationalizing, but the fact is that I like the look of Kingsoft Office Suite 2012, and I like the price even more. The free version is extremely capable, offering robust counterparts to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint--and file compatibility with all three. It doesn't support Visual Basic or macros, however, so if you're a power user, you might want to consider the $69.95 Pro version, which adds those features (among others).Also, you don't have to take my word for it; find out why CNET staffers rated Kingsoft Office 2012 4.5 stars out of 5.Another reason I'm jazzed about this suite is that I'm increasingly dissatisfied with Microsoft Office--and not just the ridiculous price tag. On my Core i7 system, Office 2010 takes forever to load. And don't get me started on Outlook.Thus, I'm shopping for replacements, and Kingsoft Office Suite 2012 has emerged as one of my top picks for taking over Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It's compact, fast, attractive, and, from what I've seen so far, totally file-compatible. Also, it's free. What have you got to lose by giving it a try? View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwa Piva Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Nice article, thank you.BUT even in the PRO version I don't see an option to RECORD a macro.You have to write them yourself in Visual Basic and if you don't knowhow to do that you better stick to Excel or OpenOffice, etc.I hope I am mistaken, since it is indeed a nice program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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