The key difference between WPS office and Microsoft office is that Microsoft office is feature packed while WPS office comes with limited features. WPS office is able to support many platforms including mobile while Microsoft office is limited in this regard. However, Microsoft is more popular among users. Let us take a closer look at both the office suites and see what they have to offer.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is WPS Office
3. What is Microsoft Office
4. Side by Side Comparison – WPS Office vs Microsoft Office in Tabular Form
6. Summary
WPS Office – Features and Requirements
WPS is an acronym for Writer, presentation, and spreadsheets. This office package was known previously as Kingsoft Office. The office suite supports Microsoft Office, IOS, Android OS and Linux. It has been developed by Zhuhai based Chinese software developer. WPS office suite is made up of three primary components: WPS Writer, WPS Spread Sheet and WPS Presentation.
The basic version can be used for free. A full featured professional version is also available for subscription. This product has been successful in China. It has also seen development under the name of WPS, and WPS Office.
Kingsoft was branded as KS office for a time in an attempt to gain international market. Since the launch of Office 2005, the user interface is very much similar to WPS Office. The office suite supports native Kingsoft formats in addition to Microsoft Office formats.
WPS office has a high performance and is a cheaper alternative to Microsoft Office. WPS office also comes with most features that a user needs to accomplish his work. It also has features like, save to pdf, mail merge and track changes.
Figure 01: WPS Word Logo
WPS Office also supports a cloud element and has 1 GB free storage, which will help in auto syncing your files to online storage. It can be useful to save small text documents. These features give WPS office an edge over other free office suites.
WPS Office only requires minimal system configuration, which means it can support even the oldest versions of Windows PC.
Although WPS Office comes with all these great features, the amount of cloud storage has yet to be defined. Another issue is the pricing model of the WPS Office suit.
Microsoft Office – Features and Requirements
Microsoft office was developed by Microsoft as applications and services. It was first announced in 1988 by Bill Gates. The first version of office came with Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel. Over the years, it has developed to include many applications. It also comes powered with features like spell checker, visual basic for application scripting and OLE data. Under the Office business application brands, Microsoft has created an office development platform for business. In 2012, Softpedia reported that Microsoft Office is being used by over a billion users all over the world.
Figure 02: Microsoft Office Logo
Microsoft comes in different versions and targets different end users. It is also capable of working in different computing environments. It’s mostly used version of Microsoft office is the desktop version. It is available for PCs that run Windows and the MacOS operating system.
What is the Difference Between WPS Office and Microsoft Office?
WPS Office vs Microsoft Office |
|
| A product of Kingsoft | A product of Microsoft |
| Release | |
| 1990 (Mac) & 1992 (Windows) | 1988 |
| Latest Version | |
| 2015 | 2016 (16.0) (Windows)
2016 (15.4.0) (MacOS) |
| OS | |
| Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS | Windows and MacOS |
| XML Support | |
| Import support | Yes |
| Open Doc | |
| No | Windows and Office 365 |
| MacOS | |
| No | Partial |
| Word Processor | |
| WP Writer | Microsoft Word |
| Spreadsheet | |
| WPS Spreadsheet | Microsoft Excel |
| Presentation | |
| WPS Presentation | Microsoft PowerPoint |
| Note Taking Software | |
| No | Microsoft One Note |
| Email Client | |
| No | Microsoft Outlook |
| HTML Editor | |
| No | Microsoft SharePoint |
| Collaborative Software | |
| No | Microsoft SharePoint |
| Online Editing | |
| No | Office offline |
Summary – WPS Office vs Microsoft Office
WPS Office comprises of word processor, presentation, and spreadsheet modules. These bear a striking resemblance to Microsoft office applications. WPS office also comes with a cloud based integration similar to One Drive. The main difference between WPS Office and Microsoft Office is that Microsoft Office has more applications and features than WPS Office and is more popular among users.
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Image Courtesy:
1. “Antu application-wps-office.doc” By Fabián Alexis – (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Microsoft Office 2013 logo and wordmark” By Original work: Microsoft CorporationThis SVG version: AxG at English Wikipedia – This SVG version: Own work )Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia