LibreOffice and AI-driven projects offer alternatives to Microsoft Office

Following Microsoft's discontinuation of its Publisher desktop publishing program, The Document Foundation has highlighted that LibreOffice Draw can open, display, and edit .pub files. Using the libmspub library, which utilizes reverse engineering, LibreOffice allows users to convert these files into the OpenDocument Format (ODF) or other common formats. This provides a solution for users whose files can no longer be managed via Microsoft 365, as Microsoft has ceased support for Publisher 2021 and Office LTSC 2021.

In a separate development, developer Brandon Thomas has released a suite of free, open-source clones of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint titled WordCraft, GridCraft, and DeckCraft. Developed with the assistance of the AI Claude, these tools are part of the ArtCraft project on GitHub. The initiative serves as a protest against expensive software subscription models, though the applications are currently in early development stages and may lack the complexity required for professional daily workflows.