Advantages and disadvantages of the Microsoft Office Suite

With so many office suites available for Windows; knowing the advantages and disadvantages of Microsoft Office can help us significantly to choose with which products to perform our student and professional tasks; since we will always need a word processor or a spreadsheet.

It would be obvious that if you use Microsoft Windows, we should lean towards using your own office suite; however, it doesn’t have to be this way; it is much better if we have a clear comparison of Office against its most serious competitors; and what better way than we can expect, if you know the advantages and disadvantages of this product.

The advantages and disadvantages of Microsoft Office, reveals the potentialities and limitations of the most popular office suite in the world; that in each new version, it improves the previous and reduces errors; incorporating even new features, suggested by the user community.

Advantages of Microsoft Office

1. The installation process is extremely simple, with the help of a wizard, which in the most recent versions, is fast and hassle-free.
2. It is available for all languages, through its multi-language function.
3. The taskbar is very intuitive, so any user, even if they are a beginner, can manage the program quickly.
4. Microsoft Office documents can be easily read from other office suites and even from online platforms such as Google Docs; incorporating most of the native functions.
5. The number of manuals and video tutorials available on the web is very extensive, to learn about advanced functions and tricks in Microsoft Office; unlike other suites.
6. If you have the Office 365 version, you have the integration with the cloud, so you can store and synchronize your documents in the cloud and open and modify them wherever and whenever you want.
7. When you purchase the Office 365 license, you receive the right to use 1Tb of storage space on OneDrive. With the Office 2013 version, you can use the Microsoft suite on mobile devices and not just on PCs and laptops.
8. In the event that you are using the 2016 version, you can have a valuable Store or Store; where you can download add-ons and other useful little tools.
9. The basic layout process is better in Office than in other office suite platforms.

Disadvantages of Microsoft Office

1. Although you can crack the program, in reality, Microsoft Office is a licensed product; and this license has a cost, which the user must pay to access all the benefits; among them, some tools and support.
2. Without the original license, you do not have the rights to receive “security updates” for the product.
3. It is not available directly for other operating system platforms, open source. Without third-party programs, you won’t be able to install it on Linux distributions, for example.
4. Newer versions of Microsoft Office, starting with version 2016, do not run on low-end computers and versions of Windows lower than Windows Seven.
5. As for reading file extensions; recent versions can read old extensions, but older versions cannot read extensions from recent versions, for example. Docx
6. If you have versions lower than Microsoft Office 2010, you won’t be able to read files from other office suites, such as OpenOffice or LibreOffice.
7. Because it is proprietary software, it is not possible to access the source code, as can be done with other open source suites; you can’t modify the code and adapt it.
8. Versions running at 64bits often have compatibility issues with “ActiveX controls” and other components.
9. From Microsoft Office 365, it gives rise with great success, to “collaborative” work; useful for group work.
10. For the Office 365 version, the Internet connection becomes a prerequisite; unlike fully installable versions like Office 2010

Conclusion

When weighing the advantages and disadvantages of Microsoft Office, we realize that it is a highly robust suite with few limitations; that is why, it is usually the preferred suite within the community of users who use Microsoft Windows 11, even for users who use free platforms, who manage through third-party applications, to install the suite outside of Windows. The most recommended is to have the latest versions of the product installed; to enjoy its latest updates; especially in terms of security and stability.