Why pay a month-to-month subscription for Office software? SoftMaker FreeOffice 2018 has been released, promising full compatibility in the latest Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats and debuting another optional ribbon interface for everyone switching from Office 2007 or later.

FreeOffice comprises word processor TextMaker 2018, spreadsheets package PlanMaker 2018 and presentation tool Presentations 2018.

There's a couple of headline features using this type of latest release, each will appeal individuals tired of paying out for Office 365 or expecting to move on from a more mature, non-subscription version of Office.

You're the promise of seamless compatibility with your newer Microsoft Office formats for Word (DOCX), Excel (XLSX) and PowerPoint (PPTX). Previously, users could open however it is not save into your newer formats; the ins and outs can save "without any compromises", based on press release.

The second major change relates to the implementation of the ribbon interface to mirror later versions of Office and Windows. Can be a optional change -- users are provided with the choice amongst the ribbon and then the traditional classic menu and toolbar interface the moment they first run this diet regime, while there's also support for touch screens making use of a setting to give larger icons and menu entries for touchscreen use.

After enabling the ribbon interface, users could access the original drop-down menus via ≡ button with the ribbon. They'll also obtain a button to put toggling touch mode don and doff. To switch between ribbon and classic interface, navigate to Tools > Options > Appearance (click the User interface button).

As with other ribbon interfaces, FreeOffice uses its new UI generate key features more accessible, for instance numbered lists, headers and footers in TextMaker. The release is actually accompanied by new template catalogues to assistance with document creation.

While separate 32-bit and 64-bit builds are around for Linux users, only one 32-bit version emerges for Windows -- that is compatible with 64-bit machines, but doesn't make full use of 64-bit technology like support for upwards of 3-4GB of RAM.

SoftMaker Free Office 2018 is readily available now just like a freeware -- for business and private use -- download for PCs running Windows 7 or later or multiple flavors of Linux, with RPM and DEB builds available. A physical product key is should activate the software -- will probably be obtained by registering your email address contact info.