SoftMaker says: Education software should be free

Thu, 4th Feb 2016

FYI, this story is more than a year old

A global provider of office software says schools and teachers shouldn't spend money on software, they should get it for free.

As a result, it has announced it is offering its office suite SoftMaker Office 2016 for Windows and Linux available for free.

SoftMaker says as part of its education drive, it is upping its support for educational institutions worldwide by providing its software free of charge to schools, teachers, colleges and universities.

As of today, a site licence of SoftMaker Office is available for free, and teachers in active service can also request a copy.

In addition, students can get the package for their own use for NZ$15, as opposed to NZ$105.

Martin Kotulla, SoftMaker CEO, says, "Office packages represent an indispensable part of teaching and learning, and are used on a daily basis for written work, calculations and presentations.

"Until now, purchasing these suites has been a significant investment for any educational institution. By offering it free of charge, SoftMaker is helping educational institutions cut these costs and invest the money elsewhere."

"Good education is essential for a good future, and we want to contribute to investing in the future of our youth," she says.

SoftMaker Office 2016 for Windows and Linux consists of the word processor TextMaker 2016, the spreadsheet application PlanMaker 2016, the presentation programme Presentations 2016 and an improved version of the popular e-mail client Thunderbird.

All programmes are compatible with current Microsoft Office file types DOCX, XLSX and PPTX, as well as older Microsoft Office formats (DOC, XLS, PPT), all of which can be opened, edited and stored without any loss of content.

SoftMaker Office 2016 provides functions such as an integrated addressbook for mailmerges and single letters, direct EPUB export for the production of e-books, a flexible PDF export feature and comprehensive graphics-editing functions.

SoftMaker Office 2016 can be used on all versions of Windows, from Windows XP to Windows 10.

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