SoftMaker Office
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SoftMaker Office is an office suite for Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, developed since 1989 by the German company SoftMaker Software GmbH (Nuremberg). The proprietary suite includes:
- TextMaker (word processor)
- PlanMaker (spreadsheet)
There is also a professional version in German which additionally includes:
- DataMaker (database manager)
- BasicMaker (VBA-like programming tool)
- Editor for mathematical formula
The standard package is also available for Pocket PCs, Handheld PCs and Sharp Zaurus. Currently SoftMaker Office anywhere is released, an all-in-one version for local, mobile and online use.
SoftMaker Office counts with many functions of the correspondent programs from MS Office, OpenOffice.org or WordPerfect Office, but lacks a presentation program, a communication program, and a graphics program. It uses its own native formats and is highly compatible with Microsoft Office file formats. In comparison, it starts and runs much faster, needs less memory and processes also very large files without any problem. It can read and write Microsoft Office file formats as well as RTF and HTML. However, up to now, the Open Document Format can only be read. SoftMaker is working on adding OpenDocument export to its word processor. Multi-language spell-checking, hyphenation and thesaurus is supported; furthermore an integrated five-language translation dictionary (English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish). The user interface is based on Microsoft Office' look and feel; so it is easy to switch over but, on the other hand, the somewhat illogical user guidance of Microsoft Office persists. Noteworthy is the inexpensive academic pricing (for schools, universities, teachers, and students).
