Ashampoo Office 2008
A cheap alternative to Microsoft Office
Pros
- Lightweight, cheap
Cons
- Doesn't have all the bells and whistles, faces competition from cheaper alternatives
Bottom Line
For light users with even a passing knowledge of Microsoft Office, Ashampoo Office 2008 will be a decent buy that's familiar and easy to use (just as well, given the lack of documentation). In our tests we encountered no compatibility issues. But although $103 is a lot less than MS Office 2007's retail price of $690, similar products such as Star Office 8.0 ($69.95) are much less still. And if you're in the market for an inexpensive, stripped down productivity suite, OpenOffice.org and Google Docs, Spreadsheets and Presentations are so cheap they're, well, free.
-
Price
$ 59.99 (AUD)
Ashampoo Office 2008 comprises word processor TextMaker, spreadsheet app PlanMaker and a brand new program — Presentations, which is designed to give Microsoft's PowerPoint a run for its money.
As well as that new program, upgrades to this most recent iteration of Ashampoo's Office productivity suite include export to PDF, and the ability to carry about your office software on a USB memory stick.
Indeed, lightness of touch is Ashampoo Office 2008's greatest calling card — full installation requires only 50MB. In the ultraportable era where users eschew bloatware, this can be no bad thing.
For home use, Ashampoo TextMaker 2008 will be a more than adequate replacement for Microsoft Word. Indeed, its user interface closely resembles that of Microsoft's word processor — albeit Word prior to Office 2007 and its ribbon interface. There are a variety of useful templates for such projects as business cards, faxes and letters, and TextMaker is compatible with a plethora of file formats: most importantly .DOC and .RTF.
Ashampoo TextMaker 2008 enjoys a decent number of formatting options, and useful tools such as a synonym button, as well as the usual suspects: tabs and spellcheck included. Import from and export to Microsoft Word and OpenDocument files is pain free.
For basic spreadsheets Ashampoo PlanMaker 2008 is a perfectly respectable alternative to Microsoft Excel. We were able to import and expert MS spreadsheets with no problems, and continue using what Ashampoo describes as 'countless formulae' (there certainly is a lot). Producing attractive-looking 2D and 3D diagrams is a cinch, too.
Ashampoo Presentations isn't going to give Microsoft PowerPoint any sleepless nights, but if sophisticated presentations aren't central to your working life, it might represent a useful addition to your software arsenal. Simple to use, and with all the basics covered, Presentations suffers greatly by comparison to Microsoft PowerPoint. It can't compete in terms of bells and whistles, but then it costs a lot less.
Brand Post
Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Dell U3223QE review: A winning debut for an IPS Black monitor
- 2 HP Spectre x360 16 review: The right 2-in-1 at the wrong time
- 3 Acer K242HYL review: An affordable monitor for any occasion
- 4 GeForce Now review: You bring the games, Nvidia streams the hardware
- 5 Asus ProArt PA279CV monitor review: The go-to for content creators on a budget
Latest News Articles
- Microsoft’s universal ‘One Outlook’ client just leaked out
- Microsoft reveals a new Windows Game Bar built for controllers
- Microsoft tests a limited VPN for Microsoft Edge
- Audacity developer puts the ‘proper’ version on the Microsoft Store
- How to pin an extension to Chrome’s toolbar
Resources
Macworld
What's new, plus best mac-related tips
and tricks
Business Centre
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers
Videos
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world
Guides
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles
PCW Evaluation Team
Pedro Peixoto
Aruba Instant On AP11D
Set up is effortless.
Cate Bacon
Aruba Instant On AP11D
The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.
Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti
Aruba Instant On AP11D
Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.
Tom Pope
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G
Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
Tom Sellers
MSI P65
This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
Lolita Wang
MSI GT76
It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
Featured Content
- Which Lenovo Laptop Should I Buy?
- Every TV in Samsung's 2022 line-up: OLED, Neo QLED and more!
- Top 10 best Android and Apple phones for under $600
- Everything you need to know about Smart TVs
- What's the difference between an Intel Core i3, i5 and i7?
- Laser vs. inkjet printers: which is better?