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I use Word 2016 on my PC, word 2013 at college and Libre Office on my main machine.

I can use Libre Office to save as a .doc or .docx file, but that often messes with the formatting:

Saved as Docx

Saved as ODT:

And with marks for the mistakes:

These are both pretty bad - not something I want to produce.

Yes, I can send it as a PDF but that's harder to edit and another step in the process.

Please read all answers before posting your own - to ensure we don't get 8 "export as PDF convert to word" answers.

What is the most ms Word-compatible word processor available? is not a duplicate because that is asking for a) alternative programs exclusivley and this just wants a nice product, b) It's old and the answers are either "use Kingston Office" or "Libre office is good" (or another paid app that runs in WINE), and c) It's limited to handing in as a thesis. I'd like to be able to do a lot that converts well.

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Tim
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  • Which version of libreoffice are you using? I don't really work with docx, but the times I work with docx, the latest LibreOffice, manages to work 99% of the time. ALso, might be an idea to use doc instead. – blade19899 Jan 14 '16 at 20:20
  • As long as ms is not respecting universal formatting standards, probably not in a 100% way. – Jacob Vlijm Jan 14 '16 at 20:22
  • @blade19899 5.0.4.2 on 14.04. And Doc came out better but not perfect (and I'd prefer to use the latest if possible). However, using .doc may be an answer there. – Tim Jan 14 '16 at 20:23
  • @JacobVlijm I wondered if there might be programs that use Word's standards, not universal ones? – Tim Jan 14 '16 at 20:23
  • The problrm is that ms won't allow a look in the kitchen, and is mostly compatible with its own products. – Jacob Vlijm Jan 14 '16 at 20:25
  • Another question would be: as of 2016, is there a simple way to produce good looking OpenDocument documents ? Word is very bad at that, and is probably not a tool I would want to use to produce document that respects that open standard... – alci Jan 14 '16 at 20:28
  • hmm me too(5.0.4.2), never needed to use docx. I think doc is your best bet. You will never get 100% compatibility between Office Suits. FOr reasons @JacobVlijm mentioned. – blade19899 Jan 14 '16 at 20:28
  • @JacobVlijm ahh. I thought they followed an ISO standard that was just different. Didn't realise that those differences were secret. Hurumph. – Tim Jan 14 '16 at 20:29
  • @alci And the answer is simple - Install Libre Office on your computer. It is avaliable as an app, on Windows, Ubuntu, OS X etc. This question is different because Word isn't avaliable for Ubuntu, and is Garbage under WINE. – Tim Jan 14 '16 at 20:30
  • Ser also http://askubuntu.com/a/630850/16395 – Rmano Jan 14 '16 at 21:14
  • Basically, the answer is that being MS docx a proprietary format, the only way to have correct docx is buying MS Office. Version 2010 works quite well under Codeweaver crossover for me. – Rmano Jan 14 '16 at 21:21
  • @Rmano: OOXML is standardized and its specification is publicly available. I wouldn't call such a format "proprietary". The problem seems to be, that 1) the standard is complex, ambiguous and difficult to interpret and implement even for experienced engineers and 2) Microsoft doesn't adhere to their own standard in many instances. – David Foerster Jan 18 '16 at 01:21

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WPS Office is currently the best. It will open Doc and Docx accurately with few mistakes, and will save in them as well.

It is available as an App and for the 3 main desktop operating systems.

It looks very much like Word, with the ribbon and the same shortcuts.

This is currently what I use if I need to write in Word on Ubuntu.

Tim
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