The New Collabora Office for Desktop • Hacker News Board

Re: The New Collabora Office for Desktop

#111

Post by 1718627440 » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 9:36 AM UTC

ack_complete wrote: post #96

1718627440 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It also has a basic mistake in text editor UX: the caret blinks independently of caret movement. This means that the caret is invisible half of the time while trying to navigate text. Most text editors avoid this by restarting the blink cycle to force the caret visible on each movement. It doesn't do that on my computer. LibreOffice 7.0.4.2 shipped with GNU/Linux Debian.

Standard LibreOffice Writer doesn't have the issue for me either, only the version shipped in Collabora Office for Desktop.

Sorry, I missed that it wasn't about plain LibreOffice.

Re: The New Collabora Office for Desktop

#112

Post by jimnotgym » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 10:11 AM UTC

0x1ch wrote: post #66

realityfactchex wrote: post #65

First of all, I love LibreOffice very much as the last bastion of sanity in classic document suites, and I love what Collabora is trying to do with the online piece. So, first, a million thanks. Truly. Now, to put on the the "feedback is a gift" and "radical transparency" caps. From the screenshot comparison in TFA: The new one looks all Microsoft-Ribbony. That's a huge step backward. The big strength of LibreOffice…

At least to me, it seems most regular users would struggle and have their productivity reduced attempting to learn a new word processing UI. Everyone and their extended family has been trained on Microsoft products, with Microsoft UI design. I think this matters for the paying customers of things like Collabora and LibreOffice, as they're using it in a work environment. Not at home.

I would like an easy way to switch between the two paradigms. I got used to the ribbon

Re: The New Collabora Office for Desktop

#113

Post by greazy » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 12:28 PM UTC

mastermage wrote: post #107

dizhn wrote: post #55

I have super light office requirements these days and those are satisfied with OnlyOffice ( https://www.onlyoffice.com/ ). I do believe it's an Electron app but works quite fast in my personal experience. (Probably faster than LibreOffice if it's still like the last time I used it). It's open source: https://github.com/ONLYOFFICE/ I hadn't looked at the Github page in a while. They seem to have a ton of new features…

Important note OnlyOffice is basically Russian Software. The Company is majority Russian owned. So fuck them

One day I'd like to see people write the same regarding USA software companies.

Not defending Russia but pointing out the hypocrisy.

Re: The New Collabora Office for Desktop

#114

Post by greazy » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 12:35 PM UTC

Propelloni wrote: post #108

zingerlio wrote: post #103

For those who tried it, how good is the Calc (Excel equivalent) and Impress (PowerPoint equivalent)?

I have to use MS products at work and use Collabora (on Linux) at home. Sometimes, I have to edit the same spreadsheet at home and at work and that usually works flawlessly, besides automatic coloring. Now, I also don't try to code in Excel, so that might be one reason. Excel graphs are also nicer. Here is a comparison by the Document Foundation for spreadsheets [1]. I think it speaks for itself. Regarding Powerpoint…

I can fill in my opinion of Impress Powerpoint.

It's atrocious primarily due to MS not following open ODF. Everything is out of wack, dot point have different shapes, and spacing is wrong.

Impress is also not all that great. It's defaults are generally ugly, its auto sizing breaks and the animation pane is buggy.

Calc is much better. Writer is decent compatibility with MS

Re: The New Collabora Office for Desktop

#115

Post by mickelsen » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 12:49 PM UTC

karel-3d wrote: post #2

Collabora vs LibreOffice branding is always quite confusing to me. How is this project related to LibreOffice and also to what used to be called LibreOffice Online? (And Collabora Office Classic. And Collabora Online)

Also didn’t these guys buy Zetaoffice?

Re: The New Collabora Office for Desktop

#116

Post by direwolf20 » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 1:10 PM UTC

realityfactchex wrote: post #65

First of all, I love LibreOffice very much as the last bastion of sanity in classic document suites, and I love what Collabora is trying to do with the online piece. So, first, a million thanks. Truly. Now, to put on the the "feedback is a gift" and "radical transparency" caps. From the screenshot comparison in TFA: The new one looks all Microsoft-Ribbony. That's a huge step backward. The big strength of LibreOffice…

Microsoft did actual UX research about the ribbon. It's better. Deal with it.

Re: The New Collabora Office for Desktop

#117

Post by direwolf20 » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 1:12 PM UTC

trnglina wrote: post #87

itsrobreally wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree - we're coming up on 20 years of the ribbon, it is too jarring to go back to the fixed toolbars and the vast majority of computer users have no experience with the "old way."

Except for all the people who use Google Docs, I suppose.

Google Docs implements the most popular 10% of features that people use 90% of the time.

It was said in the distant past that the last 10% of the time everyone is using different features — the long tail 90% of features. You had to implement them in your software.

When did we switch so we adapt our workflows instead, and only use the common features now? And software doesn't have to implement the long tail?

Re: The New Collabora Office for Desktop

#118

Post by direwolf20 » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 1:15 PM UTC

czottmann wrote: post #109

mastermage wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Important note OnlyOffice is basically Russian Software. The Company is majority Russian owned. So fuck them

I had to look that up, found https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnlyOffice#Organization : > Based in Latvia, OnlyOffice owner Ascensio System SIA was a subsidiary of Russian-based New Communication Technologies. Due to EU economic sanctions targeting Russia, European organizations that used the commercial version of OnlyOffice were prohibited from doing so.

Wow. The EU got banned from Microsoft Office because of investigating America's genocide, and it banned itself from OnlyOffice because of Russia's genocide. No wonder they clamor for an EU office product.

Re: The New Collabora Office for Desktop

#119

Post by seven237 » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 2:16 PM UTC

I’m right there with you on the desktop side. The main reason I love LibreOffice is specifically because it isn’t bloated. It has a minimal footprint and loads fast, which is a breath of fresh air compared to the resource-heavy alternatives. Keeping that speed and simplicity is exactly why it’s still my go-to.

Re: The New Collabora Office for Desktop

#120

Post by rendaw » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 2:55 PM UTC

realityfactchex wrote: post #65

First of all, I love LibreOffice very much as the last bastion of sanity in classic document suites, and I love what Collabora is trying to do with the online piece. So, first, a million thanks. Truly. Now, to put on the the "feedback is a gift" and "radical transparency" caps. From the screenshot comparison in TFA: The new one looks all Microsoft-Ribbony. That's a huge step backward. The big strength of LibreOffice…

What's wrong with the ribbon? It's basically a tabbed toolbar. Unlike a menu bar it doesn't cover up content or require extra actions to hide, and it doesn't require precise mouse movement in order to avoid accidentally hiding.