Advice Request WPS Office question.

[Morro]

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.

Thank you for the warning, I will take that into account, I will also install FreeOffice and compare the 2 office programs to one another. Then after comparing them for a few days I will decide on which I keep using.

 

[Chuck57]

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.

In a couple of months of using WPS office every day, I have yet to see any ads, and I'm not blocking anything. I show 2 processes calling out. One is their cloud storage (1G free), the other something to do with their desktop or whatever you call it. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it, but if it starts becoming a nuisance at some point with ads, I have no qualms about dumping it for FreeOffice. Combine that with Ashampoo's free PDF (flexipdf) and I'd be good.

 

[Mountainking]

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.

This. It is like a 100 MB dl I think and the best part is I can use the free version. The paid package is cheap also.

 

[Chuck57]

This. It is like a 100 MB dl I think and the best part is I can use the free version. The paid package is cheap also.

WPS office is definitely great. I have to send my files in DOCX, the latest and 'greatest.' Those receiving them use MS Word. I have never had a single complaint about formatting problems since I began using WPS. Where or who makes it is irrelevant to me. It works well.

 

[Mountainking]

You can safely delete the cloud process/uninstall it. I did and there is no background processes running when I'm not using WPS. I think the other has something to do with auto updating...

 

[Chuck57]

Didn't think about auto updating being one of the processes. The other, their gigabyte of cloud storage, I'll likely leave alone. I might even use it someday. Considering an average novel of mine runs 350K to 400K size, I'd never fill up a gigabyte.

 

[Chuck57]

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

Kind of old, but I'll dredge it up anyway. I've had wps office for the past couple of versions, well over a year. No ads at all, and as I said in the old post above I'm not blocking any processes, unless Comodo FW is doing it on its own. I haven' t checked. Still just as happy with it as when I started.

 

[Morro]

LoL did not expect that this thread would pop up.

But it gives me the chance to let every one know, that after testing a few office programs I ended up using Softmaker FreeOffice. When I tried out WPS Office for a month or two, I never got ads.

 

[Chuck57]

LoL did not expect that this thread would pop up.

But it gives me the chance to let every one know, that after testing a few office programs I ended up using Softmaker FreeOffice. When I tried out WPS Office for a month or two, I never got ads.

FreeOffice is a good program. I actually don't need a full office program. I only need the word processor and a PDF capability. I've used Softmaker and wouldn't feel under gunned with it.

 

[Chuck57]

I tried them all, but WPS was the most compatible with native Microsoft Office docs.

Yet, since you can get a valid Office 2019 Student license for only 29 Euros, why bother with anything other than Office?

Except for the operating system, nothing ms on this laptop. In my case, I prefer not to feed the monster.

 

[The_King]

I received a "legit" link to install WPS office in an email.

VirusTotal

VirusTotal

www.virustotal.com

If you open the email link in Edge. Edge auto downloads a .exe file without any confirmation. Ok it didn't run said file, but still I don't like that.

I opened the same email link in FireFox, it asked whether I wanted to save the file or not. So no auto downloading took place.

I ran the exe file through VT it only has 1 detection which maybe a FP.

VirusTotal

VirusTotal

www.virustotal.com

I found the issue with Edge which is set by default to not always ask!

Spoiler: Ask me what to do with each download

I deleted all downloded files and IMHO would not use Kingsoft software or WPS office.

 

[Captain Holly]

I used WPS/King Soft for a while and never really had any trouble with it. Then about 3 weeks ago I had a MS update that ran and the update removed WPS and all of its saved documents I had on my drive. It was no real problem, there was not much there to begin with and I keep all of my important documents on a flash drive anyway.

I tried several times to download WPS again and either MS or Defender flagged it as malware or a pup, I don't remember which. Whatever it was, I could no longer run WPS on either one of my laptops. I then went to Libre Office, it worked fine but I wound up removing Libre and adding myself to my wife's Office 365 account. Libre works very well but she only trusts MS branded apps and I figure I might as well use the real deal too if we are paying for it anyway.

C.H.

 

[Mystic]

If you are going to pay, pay only for MS office, or just use the free Libreoffice.

 

[n8chavez]

If you are going to pay, pay only for MS office, or just use the free Libreoffice.

I would add Ashampoo Office as well; perfect compatibility and very cheap. Plus, WPS Office was banned by the US government.

 

[Freki123]

Libre office or "FreeOffice" never created headlines line WPS

A million-word novel got censored before it was even shared. Now Chinese users want answers.

After a writer was locked out of her novel for including illegal content, Chinese web users are asking questions about just how far the state’s censorship reaches.

www.technologyreview.com

 

[Virtuoso]

I am using OnlyOffice, free, open source and very good compatibility with MS Office:

Free office suite for Windows, Linux and macOS

Work offline on documents stored on your PC with ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors

www.onlyoffice.com