Three months after its introduction in browsers, Euro-Office, an open-source suite of applications serving as an alternative to Microsoft Office, will receive a dedicated desktop application. This announcement was made by Nextcloud, one of the project's participating organizations, this Wednesday, September 16th.
The new program will be integrated with Nextcloud's collaboration features, allowing users to work on the same documents both through the installed desktop application and via the web interface. This new version is expected to be available in the coming weeks.
The application retains all the essential capabilities of Euro-Office already available for browsers, ensuring that file opening and editing occur without interrupting synchronization with other collaborators. This allows individuals working on the same material to use different platforms, similar to what happens with Microsoft solutions.
Nextcloud also took this update to implement software improvements. According to the company, Euro-Office has become more agile in processing commands and has received new folder filtering systems. Furthermore, document previews have been enhanced to facilitate file identification.
However, the foundation of Euro-Office is under controversy. Maintainers of OnlyOffice allege that the fork created by the European coalition violates the terms of the AGPLv3 license and intellectual property standards, including the removal of legal notices from the original code. Nextcloud refutes these accusations.
The official launch of Euro-Office occurred on June 9, 2026, resulting from a coalition composed of Nextcloud, Proton, IONOS, XWiki, and Office.EU. This suite offers tools for creating and editing texts, spreadsheets, and presentations.
Supported formats include DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, and PDF, in addition to ODT, ODS, and ODP, which follow the open OpenDocument standard. This initiative aligns with the efforts of European governmental entities aiming to expand the use of open technologies. For example, in Germany, the ODF format is being implemented in public sector digitization projects, while France has promoted the migration of part of its government equipment to the Linux system.