Ashampoo Office FREE 12.0.2521

Offimatic programs have become essential for any computer user, since most of the job, school and other documents are made with them. Nevertheless, many office suites are expensive and/or subscription-based.

Ashampoo Office Free is, as its name implies, a free alternative to those high-priced suites. It features the three most used offimatic programs, namely, a text processor (TextMaker), a spreadsheet program (PlanMaker), and a slideshow creator (Presentations).

All these programs are fully functional and offer almost the same functionalities of non-free office suites. One exception is Presentations, which lacks the Insert clipart function that is present on other suites. Other than that and some other minor differences, the program feels very similar to MS Office, that is the gold standard in which most of the offimatic suites are measured.

Besides being absolutely free, the suite has other advantages. For example, it is fully compatible with all MS Office formats, newer and older. Also, it features a "Tip of the Day" section every time it opens.

On the other hand, its interface looks somewhat old-fashioned and reminds an earlier MS Office version. Also, you need to create an account to get an activation code and agree to receive e-mails from the company. Finally, it only has three programs; no e-mail, database or image editor here. Also, the programs lack some basic functions, such as capitalizing words after a period.

Anyway, if you are looking for a free alternative to MS Office, you may want to try this suite.