<h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px;">What is included in SoftMaker Office 2021?</h2>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><strong>Three core apps</strong> – TextMaker, PlanMaker and Presentations for daily work.<br /><strong>Microsoft formats native</strong> – Opens and saves DOCX, XLSX and PPTX directly.<br /><strong>Cross-platform license</strong> – One purchase covers Windows, Mac and Linux.<br /><strong>PDF and PDF/A</strong> – Export print-ready and archival documents directly.<br /><strong>Performance Metric</strong> – PlanMaker handles up to one million rows.<br /><strong>Important</strong> – No bundled email client or database program.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">What are the main benefits of SoftMaker Office 2021?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">SoftMaker Office 2021 is a one-time-purchase office suite for Windows, Mac and Linux that uses Microsoft's DOCX, XLSX and PPTX formats by default. It covers word processing, spreadsheets and presentations without any subscription.<br /><br /><strong>No subscription</strong> – Pay once and keep using it.<br /><strong>Microsoft compatibility</strong> – Exchange DOCX, XLSX and PPTX with colleagues.<br /><strong>Runs everywhere</strong> – Same suite on Windows, Mac and Linux.<br /><strong>Familiar interface</strong> – Switch between modern ribbons and classic menus.<br /><strong>Version safety</strong> – Restore earlier document states from automatic backups.<br /><strong>Commercial use</strong> – Licensed for business machines, one per key.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">What does SoftMaker Office 2021 do?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">SoftMaker Office 2021 is a desktop office suite that bundles the word processor TextMaker, the spreadsheet program PlanMaker and the slide tool Presentations, with the BasicMaker scripting environment added on Windows. It uses Microsoft's DOCX, XLSX and PPTX as its default file formats, so you can edit and return Word, Excel and PowerPoint files without a separate import or export step. The suite also opens older DOC, XLS and PPT files and can save to RTF, HTML and plain text. This makes it a practical fit for someone who receives Microsoft Office attachments every day but does not want a Microsoft 365 subscription. Everything runs offline from a single perpetual purchase.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Can SoftMaker Office 2021 open and save Microsoft Office files?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Yes. All three programs read and write the current Microsoft formats DOCX, XLSX and PPTX natively, and PlanMaker opens Excel files up to Excel 365 including password-protected workbooks. Because these formats are the default, documents stay in Word or Excel format with no conversion step, which keeps round-trip editing with colleagues simple. The main limitation to expect is fidelity on heavily formatted files: reviewers report that complex DOCX layouts and elaborate presentations can shift slightly compared with Microsoft's own apps. For print-critical brochures or fixed-layout slide decks, it is worth checking the final file in the target program before sending.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Which operating systems does SoftMaker Office 2021 support?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">SoftMaker Office 2021 installs on Windows, macOS and Linux from one perpetual license. On Linux it is officially packaged for distributions including Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, openSUSE and Manjaro, which is uncommon for a commercial office suite and a frequent reason Linux users choose it over Microsoft Office. A few Windows-only extras, such as the BasicMaker macro tool and OLE server embedding, are not available on Mac or Linux. For a mixed-OS household or team, the same document files open identically across all three systems, so one license can cover a person who moves between a Windows desktop and a Linux or Mac laptop.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">What is the difference between SoftMaker Office Standard 2021 and Professional 2021?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Both editions contain the same three core programs and the same Microsoft format compatibility, so everyday word processing and spreadsheet work is identical. Professional 2021 adds five extras aimed at writers, academics and administrators: EPUB e-book export, an online research function across professional dictionaries, integration with the Zotero reference manager, the German Duden Korrektor spell and grammar checker, and management through more than 240 Windows group-policy objects. If you write academic papers with citations or publish e-books, Professional is the edition to choose. If you mainly edit Office documents and build slides, Standard already covers that. The table below shows where the two editions differ.</p>
<table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #efefef; margin-top: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.35;">
<tbody>
<tr><th style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 9px 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; background-color: #dedede;">Feature</th><th style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 9px 8px; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; background-color: #dedede;">Standard 2021</th><th style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 9px 8px; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; background-color: #dedede;">Professional 2021</th></tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Core programs</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Microsoft formats</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">PDF / PDF/A</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">EPUB export</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #d9534f; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✕</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Research tool</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #d9534f; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✕</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Zotero support</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #d9534f; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✕</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Duden checker</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #d9534f; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✕</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Group Policy</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #d9534f; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✕</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">What are the main limitations of SoftMaker Office 2021 before buying?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The main point before buying is what the suite leaves out: there is no email or calendar client like Outlook, and no standalone database application like Access. PlanMaker does include a lightweight database module for mail merge that reads SQLite, dBASE, CSV and XLSX sources, but it is not a full relational database. Commercial use is allowed, though the terms differ from private use: a private household may use one license across several personal computers, while a commercial license applies to a single computer. Formatting fidelity on very complex Microsoft documents can also shift slightly, so print-critical files should be verified in the target app. Anyone replacing a complete Microsoft Office setup should confirm these gaps fit how they actually work.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Frequently asked questions about SoftMaker Office 2021</h3>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Can SoftMaker Office 2021 run from a USB stick?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Yes. The complete suite can be installed on a USB flash drive and run on a PC without a local installation. This helps support technicians or students who need TextMaker and PlanMaker on borrowed or locked-down machines where installing software is not possible.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Is there a free version of SoftMaker Office 2021?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Yes. FreeOffice 2021 is a free edition with the same three programs and Microsoft DOCX, XLSX and PPTX support. The paid SoftMaker Office 2021 adds version management with automatic backups plus photo frames and AutoShape templates, and the Professional edition adds the research, Zotero and Duden tools. If you need document version history or the Professional writing tools, the paid suite is required.</p>