A new version to the free (but not open-source) WPS Office is available for Linux.
It’s been an age since I last mentioned WPS Office on this blog. The main reason for this is I don’t use office software (and if I even need to, LibreOffice suffices). But I am not everyone; WPS Office has its fans – so this post for is for them, and for those interested in alternative Linux office suites.
But before I run through “what’s new” in the latest WPS Office Linux release I should recap what WPS Office actually is. That way those who haven’t heard of it have a bit more context on which to proceed.
Get ready for a shock.
WPS Office for Linux
WPS Office is …an office suite composed of 3 core apps: Writer, Spreadsheet, and Presentation. These can open, edit, and save to common document formats including those made (in)famous by Microsoft Office. A PDF tool is also included.
The look of WPS Office is heavily inspired by Microsoft Office. It’s tempting to sneer at the facsimile but, for those new to Linux, it may provide enough functional familiarity to make living without Microsoft Office a manageable affair — so y’know, it’s fine in the grand scheme.
That’s basically all there is to know. It’s not open-source (which may or may not bother you) but it is free to download and use subject to an EULA. The suite as a whole is developed by Kingsoft Office Software who are based in China (and you’ll often encounter UI dialogs untranslated from Chinese).
WPS Office for Linux: What’s New?
The latest version of WPS Office for Linux is v11.1.0.11701 (at the time I write this). The suite as a whole remains based on WPS Office 2019 (same for Windows and Mac builds).
Kingsoft say “users will have a new visual experience” with this update. Icons have been updated, apps use different coloured backgrounds, and a ton of in-app wording/labels have been revised or rewritten. In some ways, the UI has been modified to look less like a pixel-perfect clone of Microsoft Office…
Other changes that affects all apps:
- New Save As… dialog
- Undo image cropping
- Transparent image supported
- Support for gradient fills in SVGs
- Press
ctrlto display ‘Paste option button’ - Right-click menu has been optimised
- Set custom window colour/image
- Uses standardised file paths
- Assign/customize keyboard shortcuts to toolbar items
- Works on Ubuntu 22.04
There are also a wealth of changes specific to Writer, including improved print preview, a multi-page chapter navigation pane, improved style pane, and the ability to select text with similar formats.
Spreadsheet now supports the SEQUENCE, RANDARRAY, FILTER, UNIQUE, SORT, SORTBY, XMATCH, and XLOOKUP functions; gains a Create Copy feature; improves merging cells; and supports inserting rows and columns at the lower right side.
Meanwhile, Presentation adds laser pointer, magnifier, and spotlight presentation modes; supports dragging in audio and video files (including WEBM); lets you ‘reuse’ a slide; and supports applying a background colour to text within slides.
Getting WPS Office for Linux
Hit up the WPS Office for Linux webpage to grab a 64-bit DEB installer, learn more about the suite’s features, and stare at attractive people in stock imagery pretending to be hard at work on computers that, if we’re honest, probably weren’t even turned on…
