But this menu display is from the pre-ribbon days, with traditional top-line items: File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Styles, Table, Tools, Window, and Help. Writer opens like Word, with menus at the top and a blank page taking up most of the space. No concurrent editing via the cloud or local servers is available.ĭon't be scared of the blank page. Writer does a good job of tracking changes, even back and forth with Word users, but that's the limit of collaboration. The Remote Files feature allows users to grab files from shared cloud storage services such as Google Drive and OneDrive, but there's no multiuser editing support (real-time or otherwise). LibreOffice collaboration tools are behind the times, stuck around Office 2010 levels. Users who prefer the ribbon menu or just want to pick the background color of their apps will prefer WPS Office 2016, which includes these options and throws in tabbed documents for good measure. Because many of the submenu items are the same across all applications, like the Office of old, keyboard shortcuts (Alt-F-O to open a new file, for example) can be used once again.

Users still aggravated by the ribbon-menu design philosophy will appreciate the traditional menu design of LibreOffice. Once opened, Writer, Calc and Impress look much like updated versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, respectively. You can also launch individual applications from your Start menu, taskbar or desktop. When you click a document, it opens the appropriate software.

LibreOffice opens with a splash screen that's soon replaced by a screen with menu items down the left side, and recently used documents appear as icons on the right.

Libreoffice writer window