Brandon Thomas Unveils 3 Open-Source Alternatives to Microsoft Office

    ArtCraft creator Brandon Thomas has announced that he has developed open-source alternatives to the main programs in the Microsoft Office suite. He unveiled the GridCraft, DeckCraft and WordCraft applications to replace Excel, PowerPoint and Word. He used the Claude artificial intelligence model to develop the programs.    Thomas is a software engineer with 15 years of experience. He previously created the ArtCraft suite of tools as a free alternative to Adobe programs. After the project gained popularity, it was criticized over claims that the programs had been poorly developed using artificial intelligence. The developer said that he knows how to write code and that artificial intelligence models help him do the work of an entire company by himself.    The new applications are an open-source alternative to Microsoft Office's subscription model. Google Sheets, Google Docs and Google Slides are free to use in a browser, but they can only be accessed online. As a result, users have limited control over the software. With open-source software, the code is available to everyone, and users do not have to worry about the service becoming paid in the future.    One of the project's main advantages is that it works across different operating systems. Adobe programs run on Windows and macOS. Using them on Linux requires additional compatibility tools and programs that emulate Windows. ArtCraft tools are being developed to work on all 3 systems and offer a similar-looking interface.    ArtCraft's rapidly growing community is also making suggestions for new programs. Users interested in 3D printing and engineering want a tool called CADcraft to be developed as an alternative to Autodesk products. However, most of the current applications still lag far behind the professional software they aim to replace.