"...their UI feels dated"

How do you define dated in this context?

Personally, I quite like being able to use the CUA keyboard shortcuts to access menu items. I like consistency over decades but I appreciate that there are other ways of looking at this.

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maxloh 23 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

LibreOffice on Windows still uses native Win32 controls. While you could call that a stylistic choice, even Microsoft has abandoned it for new apps.

This kind of UI is a deal breaker for many new users, especially Gen Zers. How could open source conquer the world without attracting our youngest generations?

They should have bundled GTK like GIMP does. That would make the experience feel much less like it is from the XP era.

(I know these types of comments often get downvoted, but I challenge you to explain why you disagree.)

	▲	dijit 2 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> even Microsoft has abandoned it for new apps. Ok, all other things being equal: Microsoft is no longer a good arbiter of UI/UX design. This is extremely well documented. Old doesn't automatically mean worse, though I understand that people feel that way on an emotional level when they see old "ugly" UI.

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Flavius 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Take a look at these screenshots: https://libreoffice.en.uptodown.com/mac

It looks ancient, worse than office apps from 20 years ago.

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yason 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That looks exactly like an office app should look like. Basic interface patterns, clear distinctive visual areas and borders, all in the tradition of a classical graphical user interface. And yes, classical GUI more or less peaked in the early 2000's and it has generally been a downhill from there because the irresistible need of the industry for offering "something new" every few years.

	▲	taspeotis an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Excuse me word processors are meant to have a ribbon, backstage view and where in LibreOffice is a sidepanel for me to talk to LibreLM to do agentic editing? Plus if it runs on Android it must support snackbars.

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gerdesj 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

"You are running version 7.0" - why not try some screenshots from this decade?

I have version 25.8.4.2 running here. It looks rather better and most importantly offers me the choice of a ribbon or not and many other choices rather than enforcing a single "opinionated" interface.

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Flavius 3 hours ago | parent [-]

What do you mean by version 7.0? I'm running Version: 26.2.0.3 and it still looks dated after I did my best to configure the interface.

	▲	tialaramex an hour ago \| parent [-]
		The screenshot you linked literally says that "You are running version 7.0 of LibreOffice for the first time"

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jamesnorden 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Maybe try installing a current version and seeing for yourself, there's multiple UI styles to chose from now, even one that is meant to mimic the MS "ribbon".

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barnabee 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Office apps from 20 years ago looked better than office apps now.

	▲	blackhaz 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		And from 32 years ago as well - MS Office 4.0 as an example.

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slyfox125 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It looks great using Plasma. If the comparison and "problem" is the lack of a "ribbon" menu, etc., then you are missing the whole point of Office alternatives: they are free, open source, but most importantly, they are usable. That is, they do not eschew usability and function for the sake of change, pure aesthetics, or a company's latest foray into some new gimmick.

Ultimately, the "classic" approach taken is because many users feel that the classic style is more usable and makes them more productive irrespective of their learned habits of the past 20-30 years.

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gzread 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Microsoft did usability studies on real people to determine the ribbon interface is better. This is back in the days when software companies cared about objectively verifiable results.

	▲	loloquwowndueo 13 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Only no, it’s not and everyone reviled it when it came out but we’ve been stuck with it ever since. MS may have done usability studies earlier (say, when they cared about dethroning Lotus 123 and WordPerfect) but that war was long won when the ribbon UI came out, by then they only cared about milking the cash cow.

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keyringlight 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

LibreOffice also has a ribbon toolbars mode, it's 5 seconds to switch if you prefer it under View > User interface.

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mft_ 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It looks awful and undiscoverable on a standard Mint/Cinnamon install.

Anyway, the point is surely that if LibreOffice really wants to attract users from Microsoft Office, then it should do everything possible to optimise that transition?

Offering the option of a UI mimicking the familiar MS Office layout is not a difficult engineering problem. And if it makes users significantly more likely to switch, it should be a high priority to implement.

Honestly, at this stage, thinking of Gimp, FreeCAD, LibreOffice, and Blender, it’s as though there’s a weird group psychology deliberately against offering even decent (let along best-in-class) UIs in the open source world. These are all apps with excellent fundamental underlying engines/tech which are handicapped hugely by their UI/UX. (Yes I know some of these have improved in recent years, but only after far longer without improvements.)

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jamesnorden 3 hours ago | parent [-]

>Offering the option of a UI mimicking the familiar MS Office layout is not a difficult engineering problem. And if it makes users significantly more likely to switch, it should be a high priority to implement.

It's already there. It really feels like such criticisms are from people who haven't used it in 10+ years.

	▲	AnonymousPlanet an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		My experience is less than two years old. I have the impression that those who defend it have a UI taste that is stuck in the 2000s. The same people who also point at UIs that are barely usable and ugly from a modern perspective like Windows 2000 and say "this was the pinnacle of UI".
	▲	mft_ 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Well, if that's the case, I take (that part of) it back and I'll fire up Mint later to explore. Thanks. It wasn't an obvious option when I tried LibreOffice a few weeks ago, but maybe I should have explored further.

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2b3a51 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Well 'ancient' to me in the context of computer interaction means punched cards (mechanical punches!) and a card reader, upper case only, so these terms are relative I suppose.

I think this is a matter of choice and it is nice that there are choices. As other posters in this little sub-tree have suggested, there are people who value continuity over a period of time.

	▲	7bit 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> are relative I suppose. > A matter of choice Congratulations on figuring this out. It's not like the commenter you replied to said, it "feels dated" ... Oh no wait, he did.

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mikkupikku 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Looks like a completely normal office application to me. Do you have an example of what you think they should look like?