Can Microsoft Office open Libre Office files?

Question

I need to do my homework on some sort of text editing program

I’m thinking of using Libre Office but I'm not sure if Microsoft Office can open it since my school use Microsoft Office (they use windows 7, I use Ubuntu 14.04)

If not are there any other free programs like Libre Office, I really don’t want to buy Microsoft Office

Thanks!

Solution

Yes Microsoft Word can open LibreOffice Writer documents in the odt format, unless it's a very old version your school has. You can also open Microsoft Word (doc, docx) files in LibreOffice Writer.

You can choose whether you save the files you create in LibreOffice Writer, as Microsoft Word files, doc or docx, or save them in the native odt format of LibreOffice. Beware though, that some of the formatting may not be preserved, when saving LibreOffice Writer files as Microsoft Word files, and vice versa.

I have often worked with the same documents in both Microsoft Word and LibreOffice LibreOffice, and don't recall running into any problems, moving between the applications.

What I have said also applies to spreadsheet documents, in Excel and Calc, as far as I can remember.

Comments

[muru]

You can run LibreOffice on Windows.

[Isaac]

@muru do you have to install it?

[muru]

There are portable versions which you don't need to install: libreoffice.org/download/portable-versions In any case, just save the document in the Microsoft 97-2003 format. That should work reliably on both LO and whatever version of Office your school uses.

[It's Willem]

You can run LibreOffice on Windows and yes, Microsoft Office is compatible with the ODT format.

[theodorn]

This question is not off-topic. As it says in the help center: "Questions that you may ask: Running third-party applications on Ubuntu." The OP clearly states he is running Ubuntu 14.04. LibreOffice is a third-party application on Ubuntu.