Advice Request WPS Office question.

[Morro]

Okay, I have used LibreOffice as my office program, but I never liked how slow it was. Now last Wednesday I was talking to a friend on the phone and he mentioned that I should try WPS Office. So I checked it out online and this morning I downloaded and installed it. It looks really nice and it even has a PDF part so besides LibreOffice I could also remove Adobe Acrobat Reader.

But MBAM WFC shows 6 out going processes for WPS Office, and after checking in Task Manager and Process Explorer it was clear to me that those processes are not always working. But is it normal that a Office program has 6 out going processes ... can I ignore them? ( Or not. )

 

[Divine_Barakah]

I have ditched Microsoft Office and now I am using Libreoffice and I am really enjoying it. I am using it to do research and right academic papers (sometime 60 pages with references) and I am using Mendeley with it and never faces any issues nor slowdowns.

I have never tried WPS office for it does not work for reference managers such as Zotero and Mendeley. I see that you liked its interface, right? Regarding the PDF part, you can grab one year free for SoftMaker office and purchase their FlexiPDF (about $8 lifetime) and you are good to go.

 

[Morro]

I have ditched Microsoft Office and now I am using Libreoffice and I am really enjoying it. I am using it to do research and right academic papers (sometime 60 pages with references) and I am using Mendeley with it and never faces any issues nor slowdowns.

I have never tried WPS office for it does not work for reference managers such as Zotero and Mendeley. I see that you liked its interface, right? Regarding the PDF part, you can grab one year free for SoftMaker office and purchase their FlexiPDF (about $8 lifetime) and you are good to go.

I will try out WPS Office for a while, but I might check out Softmaker office in the near future.

 

[Ink]

I could also remove Adobe Acrobat Reader.

You removed Adobe Reader DC or Acrobat DC?

 

[Morro]

You removed Adobe Reader DC or Acrobat DC?

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.

 

[jackuars]

I have used simplewall to block WPS office access to internet. Apart from downloading templates I don't need it to access the internet.

By the way, WPS is a really great office suite. Awesome compatibility, tab handling documents of various formats, and look and feel is most closest to MS Office. It also doesn't have the bloated functionality that's included in Office which is rarely used. At the same time it has all the required functionalities arranged neatly in a splendid UI and available in a few hundred MB's as compared to 3GB+ in MS Office.

 

[Morro]

I have used simplewall to block WPS office access to internet. Apart from downloading templates I don't need it to access the internet.

By the way, WPS is a really great office suite. Awesome compatibility, tab handling documents of various formats, and look and feel is most closest to MS Office. It also doesn't have the bloated functionality that's included in Office which is rarely used. At the same time it has all the required functionalities arranged neatly in a splendid UI and available in a few hundred MB's as compared to 3GB+ in MS Office.

So it only needs access for the Templates, well I more then likely will never use them myself as well so I will block those processes, thank you jackuars. And from what I have seen so far it is indeed great.

 

[TairikuOkami]

But is it normal that a Office program has 6 out going processes ... can I ignore them? ( Or not. )

One of the reasons I gave up on it, the number of downloaded ADs in the free version went nuts. Besides FreeOffice has an official portable version, so I can use it, when I am out.

 

[JasonUK]

One of the reasons I gave up on it, the number of downloaded ADs in the free version went nuts. Besides FreeOffice has an official portable version, so I can use it, when I am out.

I've used the free version for a couple of years and can honestly say I've rarely seen any ADs!

 

[Back3]

I use FreeOffice. I disabled auto-update with Autoruns, so when I don't use it, no process runs on my PC. Every 3 months or so, I install a new version over it to get the latest patches. It's a one-minute job. That's all.

 

[RoboMan]

I don't like WPS. I have found the perfect replacement for MS Office to be FreeOffice, it's almost identical and fully compatible with all MS documents, even those with MS-only characteristics.

 

[Morro]

@TairikuOkami, @JasonUK, @Back3, @RoboMan,

Thank you for mentioning FreeOffice, I have bookmarked the site so that like Softmaker Office I can try it out in the near Future.

EDIT: Oh wait FreeOffice is Softmaker I see?

 

[Divine_Barakah]

@TairikuOkami, @JasonUK, @Back3, @RoboMan,

Thank you for mentioning FreeOffice, I have bookmarked the site so that like Softmaker Office I can try it out in the near Future.

EDIT: Oh wait FreeOffice is Softmaker I see?

Yes it is the free version by SoftMaker. Softmaker has two other offerings (aside from the one-payments versions). The Home NX ($1.5/month) and the Universal versions ($2.5)/month.

 

[Chuck57]

I use WPS free and love it. Had MS Office 2007 since it came out, but finally retired it awhile back after checking out WPS office.
WPS has everything I need, including letting me edit PDFs - change a word, add a word, add a sentence, etc. I don't think I can do that with Softmaker's Freeoffice
. Other than the need for full PDF capability, I could easily use either Softmaker free or WPS. Both are superb office products.

 

[shmu26]

Okay, I have used LibreOffice as my office program, but I never liked how slow it was. Now last Wednesday I was talking to a friend on the phone and he mentioned that I should try WPS Office. So I checked it out online and this morning I downloaded and installed it. It looks really nice and it even has a PDF part so besides LibreOffice I could also remove Adobe Acrobat Reader.

But MBAM WFC shows 6 out going processes for WPS Office, and after checking in Task Manager and Process Explorer it was clear to me that those processes are not always working. But is it normal that a Office program has 6 out going processes ... can I ignore them? ( Or not. )

AFAIK the free version of WPS Office displays ads. It needs network connections to serve you ads, and to monitor your subscription status or lack thereof. There are probably some network-dependent features, too, like in MS Office, which offers you additional templates and other goodies if you have an internet connection.

 

[imuade]

WPS Office is the typical Chinese SW that first is being offered for free without ads, then it starts getting ads, more and more annoying to push you in purchasing the paid version (it sound similar to what happened with Qihoo 360, isn't it?)
With the last update LibreOffice portable won't start on my pc because it can't find java... the same happens with OpenOffice portable.
The 3 best free alternatives I found are the already mentioned Softmaker FreeOffice, Ashampoo Office Free (based on an older paid version made free, very light) and ONLYOFFICE (quite new contender, open source).

Ashampoo® Office Free

Are you looking for a free MS Word alternative? We've got you covered!

www.ashampoo.com

Online Office Applications for business

ONLYOFFICE offers a secure online office suite highly compatible with MS Office formats. Connect it to your web platform for document editing and collaboration or use as a part of ONLYOFFICE Workspace.

www.onlyoffice.com

 

[Morro]

WPS Office is the typical Chinese SW that first is being offered for free without ads, then it starts getting ads, more and more annoying to push you in purchasing the paid version (it sound similar to what happened with Qihoo 360, isn't it?)
With the last update LibreOffice portable won't start on my pc because it can't find java... the same happens with OpenOffice portable.
The 3 best free alternatives I found are the already mentioned Softmaker FreeOffice, Ashampoo Office Free (based on an older paid version made free, very light) and ONLYOFFICE (quite new contender, open source).

Ashampoo® Office Free

Are you looking for a free MS Word alternative? We've got you covered!

www.ashampoo.com

Online Office Applications for business

ONLYOFFICE offers a secure online office suite highly compatible with MS Office formats. Connect it to your web platform for document editing and collaboration or use as a part of ONLYOFFICE Workspace.

www.onlyoffice.com

Well so far WPS Free is not showing any ads, that might be because I am blocking those 6 processes I talked about in my OP. ( And the program seems to function properly otherwise as far as I can tell so far. ) But should it start showing ads any way after a while and if it starts to get annoying around that time, then that wil be the time I will try out Softmaker FreeOffice.

 

[shmu26]

Well so far WPS Free is not showing any ads, that might be because I am blocking those 6 processes I talked about in my OP. ( And the program seems to function properly otherwise as far as I can tell so far. ) But should it start showing ads any way after a while and if it starts to get annoying around that time, then that wil be the time I will try out Softmaker FreeOffice.

If you keep blocking all the network connections, I think you will continue to have an ad-free experience.

 

[Cortex]

Used Softmaker / FreeOffice for some years & extremely pleased, It's German so can be trusted - I actually have a I think a 6? 365 licence that my other half uses but really dislike MS Office so it's never been on this PC

 

[Ink]

The WPS software looks great... However it's a subsidiary of Kingsoft who also run the controversial Cheetah Mobile apps.

Spoiler: Associated controversies

2014 - Clean Master (CM) used deceptive ads
2014 - CM promoted users to uninstall Chrome
2018 - Implications with a click-fraud scheme
2020 - Google removed all their apps (now banned)

You can block all WPS processes, but it's not a software I recommend.