The New Collabora Office for Desktop

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Relationship to LibreOffice & product variants

  • Commenters find Collabora’s branding confusing (Collabora Online, Collabora Office for Desktop, Collabora Office Classic, “LibreOffice Online”).
  • Rough consensus:
    • Collabora Office Classic ≈ rebranded, long-term-supported LibreOffice with the traditional VCL UI, full feature set (Base, Java-based components, advanced macros).
    • Collabora Online = web-based suite built on the LibreOffice core with a custom web UI.
    • Collabora Office for Desktop = that web-based Collabora Online UI packaged as a desktop app.
  • Collabora is described as a major code contributor to LibreOffice and employer of several key community members.

Gated information, pricing, and onboarding

  • Strong criticism of email walls and “Get a quote” flows for basic information and demos.
  • The “differences” whitepaper requires email and list subscription and is described as mostly marketing fluff; key points extracted:
    • New Office: modern JS/CSS UI, simplified settings, no Java, limited Base/Math, macros runnable but not ideal for authoring, “fresh” UX, faster to iterate.
    • Classic: extensive options, full macro tooling, includes Base and Java-based features, better for very heavy Calc workloads, “classic” UX.
  • Some users abandon evaluation due to opaque pricing and form-fill friction.

UI/UX and design debates

  • Many perceive the site and new UI as dated or “janky” – a clumsy clone of older MS Office in JavaScript.
  • Others like the familiar ribbon-like layout and see matching MS Office paradigms as essential for workplace adoption.
  • Long-running debate: classic menus/toolbars vs ribbons.
    • Some argue ribbons are a regression in usability; others cite Microsoft UX research and 20 years of user familiarity.
  • Broader thread on open-source design:
    • Challenges integrating designers into OSS processes.
    • Desire for consistent UX across FOSS creative tools, but fragmentation of toolkits makes this hard.

Performance and feature limitations

  • Multiple reports of lag and input delay in Collabora Online and the new desktop app, even on high-end hardware.
  • Compared to LibreOffice desktop:
    • LibreOffice is seen as heavy but still “snappier” than Collabora’s web-based UI once open.
  • Feature gaps in the new Office vs Classic:
    • No embedded Java components, no full Base UI, limited macro authoring, weaker support for extreme spreadsheet workloads.
  • Specific bugs mentioned: style list rendering glitch, pivot table dialog not appearing on first run, caret blink behavior making cursor hard to track.

Online vs desktop roles and alternatives

  • Several users question why they’d use Collabora Office for Desktop instead of plain LibreOffice, since:
    • The desktop app currently doesn’t integrate with Collabora Online or Nextcloud beyond local files.
    • It adds web-UI overhead without clear benefits for power users.
  • Many emphasize that for online collaboration, performance and real-time responsiveness must match Google Docs / Office 365; Collabora is seen as behind here.
  • Others are satisfied using Collabora Online via Nextcloud and see it as “good enough” vs Office 365.
  • OnlyOffice is frequently cited as an alternative with a familiar MS-like UI and good performance, though technical issues and trust concerns are raised.

Distribution and platform concerns

  • Windows Store distribution is a turn-off for some (especially LTSC users with no Store).
  • Linux users report success via Flatpak.
  • Some want purely offline desktop apps, are wary of anything branded “online,” and see no need for an office program to touch the internet.

Governance, ecosystem tensions, and strategic direction

  • One commenter outlines ongoing tensions between Collabora and The Document Foundation (TDF):
    • TDF now investing in its own online/mobile efforts while Collabora ships a desktop version of its online suite.
    • Expulsions of some TDF members affiliated with Collabora are described as controversial.
  • Strategic disagreement:
    • One side argues that cloning the MS Office paradigm is a dead end, and LibreOffice should rethink around web-native, browser-centric workflows and formats.
    • Others insist that classic office apps remain critical (especially for multilingual, privacy-respecting, multi-platform needs), and that LibreOffice already fills that role well.

Comparisons with MS Office, Google Docs, and others

  • Some users rank Collabora above Google Docs but below MS Office Online in polish and capability.
  • Excel vs Calc:
    • Calc seen as broadly compatible and usable for most tasks, though Excel graphs and some advanced features are nicer.
  • Impress vs PowerPoint:
    • Poor interoperability complained about (layout, bullets, spacing off), partly blamed on Microsoft’s handling of ODF.
    • Impress itself is seen as weaker, with ugly defaults and buggy animation tools.
  • Multiple people highlight that LibreOffice desktop remains attractive precisely because it is relatively lean, fast-loading, and avoids cloud lock-in, in contrast to heavier commercial suites.

Security, trust, and geopolitical issues

  • Discussion around OnlyOffice’s Russian corporate background:
    • Some refuse to use or pay for software with Russian ownership due to trust and geopolitical concerns.
    • Others argue it is unfair to conflate all Russian developers with the state; for FOSS, they’d rather rely on distro builds and sandboxing.
  • Parallel concerns are raised about trust in any closed-source vendor, including US-based ones, and the difficulty of verifying that external pressure didn’t compromise builds.