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dmizer
May 12th, 2009, 05:10 AM
New UI design proposals for Open Office have been submitted and feed back is being solicited.

More information here: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Renaissance/Design_Proposals_for_%E2%80%9CAccessing_Functional ity%E2%80%9D

fatality_uk
May 12th, 2009, 03:59 PM
Thanks dmizer.
Will follow this with interest. Hopefully make contributions!

stwschool
May 12th, 2009, 04:53 PM
Just getting a blank page here.

Giant Speck
May 12th, 2009, 05:00 PM
just getting a blank page here.

+1

LowSky
May 12th, 2009, 05:06 PM
the link is down but I found a picture of the new UI on some french site

http://www.silicon.fr/images/f/fluxui/large.png


more shots here

http://itcafe.hu/hir/openoffice_org_flux_ui.html

dmizer
May 12th, 2009, 05:10 PM
Unfortunately, it appears as though the site is having difficulty at the moment.

binbash
May 12th, 2009, 05:15 PM
@LowSky

It looks cool, way better than current one.

Islington
May 12th, 2009, 05:18 PM
Lowsky: that is just one of the proposals. :popcorn:

Giant Speck
May 12th, 2009, 05:24 PM
I just vomited in my mouth.

gjoellee
May 12th, 2009, 05:32 PM
the link is down but I found a picture of the new UI on some french site

http://www.silicon.fr/images/f/fluxui/large.png


more shots here

http://itcafe.hu/hir/openoffice_org_flux_ui.html

Now that looks cool, but I still think it should be a white "paper" and black fonts.

eragon100
May 12th, 2009, 05:47 PM
Uugghh!

gjoellee
May 12th, 2009, 05:49 PM
I changed a little on the mockup if it (was a mockup).

If you wonder why I set v.4.0 is that I just took at is an example, it does not mean that this will come with v.4.0!

I've added a shadow on the pop up menu and made the "paper" white. I have also added a version display in the taskbar in the bottom right corner.

abhiroopb
May 12th, 2009, 06:07 PM
I personally love the MS Office offered in Macs, it looks amazing. Its incredible how even Microsoft Software looks so sleek and streamlined on a mac, really amazing!

Personally I don't have a problem with the OO UI, but something a little simpler would be useful. Especially for Write.

LowSky
May 12th, 2009, 06:18 PM
Now that looks cool, but I still think it should be a white "paper" and black fonts.

Thats a mock of Impress, the Powerpoint of OO.o

Bölvaður
May 12th, 2009, 06:20 PM
I really like this one (http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Miroslav_Mazel) but think it has too few items to select.

Then again this one (http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Jaron_Baron) is complicated and might put people off by that.

I like them equally well :)

wsonar
May 12th, 2009, 08:22 PM
there are some slick looking one's

bashveank
May 12th, 2009, 08:30 PM
I changed a little on the mockup if it (was a mockup).

If you wonder why I set v.4.0 is that I just took at is an example, it does not mean that this will come with v.4.0!

I've added a shadow on the pop up menu and made the "paper" white. I have also added a version display in the taskbar in the bottom right corner.


That one remains my favorite.

Rackstar
May 12th, 2009, 10:41 PM
This is absolutely the winner by far, for me.

http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Johannes_Eva

Only it needs some other colors etc. It looks a little too much like MS Office 2007 rip-off.

It's clear that there has been a lot of thinking in this design.

kevin11951
May 12th, 2009, 11:00 PM
IMO, It is very important that we move towards programs with there toolbars, menus, etc... on the side instead of on top. Mostly because the new standard is to use widescreen.

meho_r
May 12th, 2009, 11:03 PM
Is this only about Impress or OOo in general?

kevin11951
May 12th, 2009, 11:24 PM
Is this only about Impress or OOo in general?

I know, I wish there were more diverse mock ups instead of just impress... but ya, its for all of OOo.

Rackstar
May 12th, 2009, 11:40 PM
IMO, It is very important that we move towards programs with there toolbars, menus, etc... on the side instead of on top. Mostly because the new standard is to use widescreen.

+1 for this one

billgoldberg
May 13th, 2009, 07:48 AM
+1 for this one

I agree.

My vertical space is limited but I have more than horizontal space available (22" inch, 1050x1680).

Screens are getting bigger and wider, at least for desktops.

Software design should acknowledge that.

super breadfish
May 13th, 2009, 10:12 AM
Why do they want a new UI? If it's not broke, don't fix it.

Look what happened with Office 2007.

sertse
May 13th, 2009, 10:25 AM
Why do they want a new UI? If it's not broke, don't fix it.

Look what happened with Office 2007.

What is there to look? Afaik overall was considered an improvement, and one of the better things to have came from office. There will always be people who dislike it, but that
s life.

SunnyRabbiera
May 13th, 2009, 04:42 PM
What is there to look? Afaik overall was considered an improvement, and one of the better things to have came from office. There will always be people who dislike it, but that
s life.

The ribbon sucks.

Xbehave
May 13th, 2009, 06:48 PM
Why do they want a new UI? If it's not broke, don't fix it.

Look what happened with Office 2007.
The UI is broken, static toolbars and menu bars do not scale well when you add plenty of features (which is what people want).

I put in a very crude idea at the last minute (only heard about the competition in the afternoon). link (http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Juan_Canham). The principle is simply to offer a highly customisable framework, which can then be used to cater to your basic user segments

Old skool - Some people work best the old way, why force a new UI on them
Minimalists - Some people (me included) don't want a UI to be taking away screen space from what im doing reading/writing a document.
flashy interface - Some people want it to look great even at the cost of functionality
Office - I'm a student but id guess that there are some office space specific tweaks in the MS office to cater for them
Widescreen - There are some good arguments for putting the UI on the side (especially in impress), however not everybody has a widescreen and some people like to use their screen for more than one thing at a time.

While i realize my idea doesn't look as nice as the alternatives (images were done in kpaint), I hope that the premise of customization is at least considered.
I would like to point out that a lot of the other ideas could be implemented as themes in my idea (the concepts of groups in this idea (http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Johannes_Eva), IMHO matches up particularly well.

While of the ideas that aren't mine i think the best is defiantly johannes's (http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Johannes_Eva), care must be taken as not everybody will like the complete shift in UI (they suggest keeping the old functionality in some way and i wholeheartedly agree with them on that)

olskar
May 14th, 2009, 01:03 AM
I know, I wish there were more diverse mock ups instead of just impress... but ya, its for all of OOo.

I think it says on the page that they start with Impress, the other apps come later.


Btw, real GTK in openoffice wouldn't hurt..

gnomeuser
May 14th, 2009, 12:18 PM
Why do they want a new UI? If it's not broke, don't fix it.

Look what happened with Office 2007.

I really enjoy the ribbon style UI. It does take a bit of getting used to but that is because we have had the same fairly poor UI for over a decade and the change is very sudden.

Once I got used to it, it really enhances the experience but visually and productively.

omar8
May 14th, 2009, 12:22 PM
Office 2007 has an amazing UI, of course when it first came out there were people compaining but once you got used to it everything seemed in the right place.

Giant Speck
May 14th, 2009, 01:06 PM
Btw, real GTK in openoffice wouldn't hurt..

This. I want this. I don't want a completely new interface. What I want is for the current interface to work correctly with my GTK theme.

gjoellee
May 14th, 2009, 02:02 PM
Btw, real GTK in openoffice wouldn't hurt..

I am using OpenOffice 3.2.0 (Development), and it is using my GTK theme!

kevin11951
May 14th, 2009, 05:49 PM
I am using OpenOffice 3.2.0 (Development), and it is using my GTK theme!

can you test if it works with the global menu panel applet (http://code.google.com/p/gnome2-globalmenu/wiki/InstallingonUbuntu)?

Giant Speck
May 14th, 2009, 06:10 PM
can you test if it works with the global menu panel applet (http://code.google.com/p/gnome2-globalmenu/wiki/InstallingonUbuntu)?

Or better yet, can you give us a link so that we can try it for ourselves?

gjoellee
May 14th, 2009, 08:19 PM
I am using Arch Linux and installed OpenOffice 3.2.0 (Devel) with pacman.


sudo pacman -S openoffice-base-develDevlopment snapshot for other distributions (including Ubuntu) is available here: http://download.openoffice.org/next/other.html#dev2
(Note: I do not know if this is the same verison as I am using)

sloggerkhan
May 14th, 2009, 08:35 PM
Like this one:
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Miroslav_Mazel
Mostly I am just a fan of document tabs, though.

I can't believe someone suggested popup toolbars, though:
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_J%C3%B6rg_Sievers
The idea of making styles more pervasive and easier to use is good, but I'll take popup toolbars over my dead body, thanks.

etnlIcarus
May 15th, 2009, 10:48 AM
What I'm liking:

- sidebar-centric interfaces.

What I'm not liking:

- many proposals seem to lack a proper menubar.

What I'd like to see:

- better GTK emulation or, less likely, native widgets.
- some kind of concession for those of us who like to work with multiple documents side-by-side. Perhaps the ability to drag the sidebar to the top of the window.

Twilight in Zero
May 15th, 2009, 08:40 PM
Btw, real GTK in openoffice wouldn't hurt..

+1. The widgets don't even have a proper widget path so I can work around all the brokenness I get in my theme. In Firefox, I was able to work around Firefox + Murrine's GtkEntry bug by theming its GtkEntries with Candido, but I can't do any such thing with OpenOffice. It's so bad that I used SAL_NO_NWF to get the generic theming. I hope 3.2 really does fix its broken, broken GTK.

meho_r
May 16th, 2009, 12:35 PM
There are really nice proposals. I only hope, whatever will be chosen, they'll still keep old look as an option, just in case users don't like the change. I really hate MSO 2007 ribbon style and don't wanna go Help>Search just to find/change some basic things in my document. Not to mention that I do not need "most used" functions displayed but the functions "I" use the most (Docky and Gnome-Do just came to mind :)). Saying that, I hope that there'll be the room for customization no matter what style will be used.

QwUo173Hy
May 17th, 2009, 08:01 PM
can you test if it works with the global menu panel applet (http://code.google.com/p/gnome2-globalmenu/wiki/InstallingonUbuntu)?

It's not using gnome-globalmenu for me anyway. You can try installing from the link posted and run the command
/opt/ooo-dev3/program/swriter
to test for yourself if you like.

RiceMonster
May 17th, 2009, 08:37 PM
edit: whoops wrong thread.

jonathanysp
May 24th, 2009, 08:06 AM
I really like the Martinu design with the side bars and stuff its like adobe's design suite's layout and i find that really productive cause you can have all the functions you need in the places you want them and makes use of wide screen displays. Its also similar to the mac office which i have to say has a pretty good layout. Hopefully this one gets chosen and implemented. Do we get to vote or smth?

dmizer
May 24th, 2009, 08:23 AM
Do we get to vote or smth?

I don't know about voting. Currently they are looking for feedback on the submitted designs. Feed back is being solicited on the mailing list: ui@ux.openoffice.org

ZarathustraDK
May 25th, 2009, 02:24 PM
I like the focus on moving stuff to the side to save vertical space on a widescreen.

Here's another idea: Make OpenOffice do an aspect-check and pick the most real-estate-saving possibility.

Sort of like this (in metacode):


IF "aspect=4:3" || IF "aspect=9:16" || IF "aspect=10:16"
THEN "set HorizontalInterface"
ELSE "set VerticalInterface"

Xbehave
May 25th, 2009, 05:16 PM
I like the focus on moving stuff to the side to save vertical space on a widescreen.

Here's another idea: Make OpenOffice do an aspect-check and pick the most real-estate-saving possibility.

What i love about the guys suggestion is that the groups can be moved up and become horizontal if you want, its win win!!

FirstByté
May 27th, 2009, 08:12 AM
First thought...

This looks excellent!
[1]
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/w/images/thumb/8/82/Iced_coffee-impress.png/640px-Iced_coffee-impress.png

This looks a bit off...
[2]
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/w/images/thumb/e/ec/Jaron_submission_v3-0_fig1.png/640px-Jaron_submission_v3-0_fig1.png

Simplicity is good; harmonious colour blend is Charming... I love the colour blends of [1]

I'll gladly shred my MS Office2007 for that ;) :guitar:

edujose
May 27th, 2009, 07:35 PM
Oooh! Very good designs/mockups. I like specially that of Miroslav Maciel (http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Miroslav_Mazel).

Anyway, for now I'd be satisfied with current OO.o look (as in Ubuntu's version) but using less taller toolbars (and smaller icons).

Something space-saving like the MS Office 2000 toolbars would be a gift for current <ohsomuchwidth> x 800 laptop screens.

cmat
May 27th, 2009, 08:37 PM
I really don't like the chrome/ribbon rips I've been seeing here. One of the merits of openoffice is that it's simple, uncluttered and resembles office 2000/2003. Just what we need, more GUI inconsistency.

Xbehave
May 28th, 2009, 03:50 AM
Martinů (http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Johannes_Eva) is by far thhe best tought out. .'. IMO the best.
tabs don't work for editing documents (MDI is soo 1995) and using window decorations for anything is generally a bad idea.



really don't like the chrome/ribbon rips I've been seeing here. One of the merits of openoffice is that it's simple, uncluttered and resembles office 2000/2003. Just what we need, more GUI inconsistency.
I agree that the chrome/ribbon stuff isn't great the problem is that openoffice's current GUI doesn't scale well, if they don't change it either the screem gets too cluttered with toomany buttons, or functionality gets hidden.


Something space-saving like the MS Office 2000 toolbars would be a gift for current <ohsomuchwidth> x 800 laptop screens.
Not used Office 2000 in a while what do you mean? currently you can set the icon size as a percentage of default i find 75% works well for a small GUI that is still usable

Tipped OuT
May 28th, 2009, 03:53 AM
First thought...

This looks excellent!
[1]
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/w/images/thumb/8/82/Iced_coffee-impress.png/640px-Iced_coffee-impress.png



That would never happen. Google would sue them to the next dimension. :lolflag:

DCK
May 28th, 2009, 07:31 AM
That would never happen. Google would sue them to the next dimension. :lolflag:Chrome is mostly BSD license so I doubt that could happen :)

But I don't think tabs will work in an office application, especially if you can mix text documents, spreadsheets and presentations like that. For the rest, that interface is like Office 2007/2010++!

Giant Speck
May 28th, 2009, 08:13 AM
That would never happen. Google would sue them to the next dimension. :lolflag:

For what exactly? The color blue? The shape of the tabs?

Tipped OuT
May 28th, 2009, 09:04 AM
For what exactly? The color blue? The shape of the tabs?

Do I really have to explain myself? :-|

The mock up (below) may look a bit wide, but that's because I re sized it for the forums.


MOCK UP
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/1818/icedcoffeeimpress.png (http://img23.imageshack.us/my.php?image=icedcoffeeimpress.png)


Google Chrome
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2357/googlee.png (http://img23.imageshack.us/my.php?image=googlee.png)

Maybe it's just me, I don't know, but even the close/minimize/maximize buttons are the same.

Xbehave
May 28th, 2009, 01:39 PM
Do I really have to explain myself? :-|You can't sue somebody for copying your look, especially if
1)the program is open source
2)you are not evil

At worst you could patent a look and feel (if you were evil), but ill continue to use the program outside of the US anyway!

mkkohls
May 29th, 2009, 02:25 AM
The look of the max min close buttons is for the most part set by the title bar theme therefore they should look the same.

Tipped OuT
May 29th, 2009, 03:48 AM
The look of the max min close buttons is for the most part set by the title bar theme therefore they should look the same.

Why? You just proved more of my point on why I think the mock up is a Google Chrome UI rip off. :p


You can't sue somebody for copying your look, especially if
1)the program is open source
2)you are not evil

At worst you could patent a look and feel (if you were evil), but ill continue to use the program outside of the US anyway!

True. But why not be original?

dmizer
May 29th, 2009, 04:56 AM
Why? You just proved more of my point on why I think the mock up is a Google Chrome UI rip off. :p
[obligatory Monty Python]
It's only a mockup.
[/obligatory Monty Python]

Seriously, the submitter probably used chrome as a template. Doesn't mean that the final product will appear this way. Also, as has been noted, chrome is open source so really there's no copyright or patent infringement anyway. After all, why reinvent a UI when there's a perfectly good FOSS UI already in the mix?

Tipped OuT
May 29th, 2009, 05:18 AM
[obligatory Monty Python]
It's only a mockup.
[/obligatory Monty Python]

Seriously, the submitter probably used chrome as a template. Doesn't mean that the final product will appear this way. Also, as has been noted, chrome is open source so really there's no copyright or patent infringement anyway. After all, why reinvent a UI when there's a perfectly good FOSS UI already in the mix?

1. Never said it would look like that in a final release... it's just a mock up. I did say, however, it probably wouldn't be in any sort of release, for such and such reasons.

2. I already achknowleged the fact that Google Chrome is open source and corrected myself, please read my previous post.

3. Like I said in my previous post, can we at least try to be more original?

I just don't like the idea of using a UI that has already been done before. At least change it up a bit, make it more unique, you kind of understand where I'm coming from? I mean, I bet you wouldn't like it if Ubuntu used a Microsoft Windows UI instead of something differn't (but great) like GNOME or KDE. I personally wouldn't.

dmizer
May 29th, 2009, 06:59 AM
3. Like I said in my previous post, can we at least try to be more original?

I just don't like the idea of using a UI that has already been done before. At least change it up a bit, make it more unique, you kind of understand where I'm coming from? I mean, I bet you wouldn't like it if Ubuntu used a Microsoft Windows UI instead of something differn't (but great) like GNOME or KDE. I personally wouldn't.
Some people desire that: http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php/Vistar7+-+Windows+7+Transformation+Pack?content=104232

You use UI features that already exist in order to create some consistency in your user experience, as well as some uniformity to your overall desktop. If everything works differently, you have to relearn how to use each program every time you install something else and that's really frustrating. It would be like jumping from XP to Vista, or Windows to Linux, only it would happen every time you switch applications.

Tipped OuT
May 29th, 2009, 08:42 AM
Some people desire that: http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php/Vistar7+-+Windows+7+Transformation+Pack?content=104232

You use UI features that already exist in order to create some consistency in your user experience, as well as some uniformity to your overall desktop. If everything works differently, you have to relearn how to use each program every time you install something else and that's really frustrating. It would be like jumping from XP to Vista, or Windows to Linux, only it would happen every time you switch applications.

Okay, I agree. ;)

edujose
May 29th, 2009, 09:17 PM
Well, some of these ideas can be implemented but would require a non-trivial amount of work.

Meanwhile, I hope for a near-term solution that uses more aesthetic (and space-saving) toolbars and icons in OO.o.

For comparison the attachments show the toolbars' look and size in [1] Word 2000 and [2] OO.o Writer 2.4 (Ubuntu 8.04).

Those Word icons aren't that beautiful, but its toolbars look simpler and more elegant than in OO.o (just imho, of course).

Tibuda
May 29th, 2009, 09:53 PM
Well, some of these ideas can be implemented but would require a non-trivial amount of work.

Meanwhile, I hope for a near-term solution that uses more aesthetic (and space-saving) toolbars and icons in OO.o.

For comparison the attachments show the toolbars' look and size in [1] Word 2000 and [2] OO.o Writer 2.4 (Ubuntu 8.04).

Those Word icons aren't that beautiful, but its toolbars look simpler and more elegant than in OO.o (just imho, of course).

You know you can change the OO toolbar icons size in Tools > Options?

edujose
May 29th, 2009, 10:58 PM
You know you can change the OO toolbar icons size in Tools > Options?

Oh, didn't know that! :o

I've just tried the small icon size, and the toolbars look far better. Their size and spacing is more like those of Word 2000, but better-looking.

My apologies for not knowing this config possibility, it's somewhat buried among a ton of other options #-o.

Maybe combining this with some nice icon set like Gnome-Colors or Breathe (when available) would give a pleasant UI for OO. Not next-gen but still desirable imho.

Xbehave
May 30th, 2009, 04:33 PM
My apologies for not knowing this config possibility, it's somewhat buried among a ton of other options #-o.Thats the point of this, while OO has sooooo many features, they are often hard to find and most people cant be bothered to tweak all the options they just want to run it! Hopefully whichever improvements are implemented will make it easier for everybody to set it up to their tastes :D

madjr
June 8th, 2009, 09:31 PM
as long as you can use a simple classic mode am ok with whatever New UI they want.

the koffice ui is not too bad

i still find office2007 akward, if i have to use office i always go with 2003

Darkaiser
June 16th, 2009, 02:03 PM
nice UI design for open office

josephellengar
June 17th, 2009, 03:35 AM
Uugghh!

I agree but anything is better than the way OOO looks right now. I only don't use it because it is so ugly. Right now, compared to anything else, OOO is the ghetto word processor.

longtom
June 18th, 2009, 12:21 PM
Some nice designs. I also like the one of Miroslav better than the others.

However, I disagree with the user(s) claiming, that most users use widescreens. I, for once, do not find them very helpful and I believe they actually make the workspace smaller (working with photos and documents).

That means that I am not in favour of a wide sidebar and rather would have my tools at the top and bottom in order to have my page as wide as possible (and the letters more readable). A smallish sidebar with icons like in some CAD programs would possibly acceptable - but not a preview like view like in adobe reader.

It's a matter of personal choice really.

Sometimes one feels designs need to be changed for the sake of...change. Having said that, the graphic design of the icons itself might be in for an upgrade - that would improve the look quite a bit imo.

hero1900
June 18th, 2009, 02:00 PM
good User interface i like it
keep the good job

ubfu
June 30th, 2009, 12:39 PM
Some people desire that: http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php/Vistar7+-+Windows+7+Transformation+Pack?content=104232

You use UI features that already exist in order to create some consistency in your user experience, as well as some uniformity to your overall desktop. If everything works differently, you have to relearn how to use each program every time you install something else and that's really frustrating. It would be like jumping from XP to Vista, or Windows to Linux, only it would happen every time you switch applications.


I am using Arch Linux and installed OpenOffice 3.2.0 (Devel) with pacman.

Can this vista skin kubuntu actually install on unbuntu 8.04 ?


sudo pacman -S openoffice-base-develDevlopment snapshot for other distributions (including Ubuntu) is available here: http://download.openoffice.org/next/other.html#dev2
(Note: I do not know if this is the same verison as I am using)

Which version of it I should choose to download ? Will it overwrite the previous version of open office ? Can I install separately to try ?

AICollector
July 4th, 2009, 07:28 AM
ello ello ello, facelift time for ol' OO?

pizza-is-good
July 10th, 2009, 04:40 PM
Look what happened with Office 2007.

I think that it looks a little bit too much like Office '07.

Office '07 is ugly...

FlyingIsFun1217
July 10th, 2009, 05:35 PM
Office '07 is ugly...

Thing is, that's very opinionated. Not everyone thinks such.

FlyingIsFun1217

vinutux
July 13th, 2009, 09:41 PM
the link is down but I found a picture of the new UI on some french site

http://www.silicon.fr/images/f/fluxui/large.png


more shots here

http://itcafe.hu/hir/openoffice_org_flux_ui.html


looklike openoffice goes to MSoffice way of designning...

zekopeko
July 14th, 2009, 02:25 AM
looklike openoffice goes to MSoffice way of designning...

not a bad thing in itself. office 2007 has a learning curve but once you get the hang of it it's awesome.

DoktorSeven
July 14th, 2009, 03:46 AM
+1 for "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

OOo looks awesome as is and the layout is pretty much perfect. I don't get all these alternative UIs going around these days. The ribbon is a horrible UI nightmare of a mistake and Chrome's layout is just bizarre.

Please, leave OOo alone. :)

phrostbyte
July 16th, 2009, 05:14 AM
Open Office should use CSS to implement it's UI. :)

That way everyone can have it any way they want!

ultimatebuster
July 20th, 2009, 05:04 PM
Ribbon UI?

Giant Speck
July 21st, 2009, 08:21 AM
I'd be interested in seeing a mockup made by Sand & Mercury.

keiichidono
July 23rd, 2009, 11:25 AM
When are they gonna implement these designs? They should get started as soon as they can is what I think. :(

Methuselah
July 23rd, 2009, 10:30 PM
Ribbon = very bad.
I rather see text than have to guess at what icons mean.
Other than that, I'm up for almost anything and there's a lot to look through here.

froggyswamp
July 24th, 2009, 12:56 AM
I rather see text than have to guess at what icons mean.

Text should be there only when it makes sense, i.e. you already know the cut-copy-paste icons, and a lot more of them. Icons also help keep the buttons of same size and save space.

gamergod131
July 24th, 2009, 03:53 AM
the link is down but I found a picture of the new UI on some french site

http://www.silicon.fr/images/f/fluxui/large.png


more shots here

http://itcafe.hu/hir/openoffice_org_flux_ui.html

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=hu&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fitcafe.hu%2Fhir%2Fopenoffice_org_fl ux_ui.html

Google Translation if anyone is interested.

hessiess
July 24th, 2009, 09:29 AM
http://www.silicon.fr/images/f/fluxui/large.png


Get rid of the useless gap around the slide, it does nothing but waste screen space.

aikiwolfie
July 25th, 2009, 02:13 PM
What I would really like is for OpenOffice.org to stop copying Microsoft Office and break the mould if they insist on changing the UI.

Jimleko211
July 28th, 2009, 09:50 PM
Get rid of the useless gap around the slide, it does nothing but waste screen space.
If it was right by it, it would look utterly crappy. Move it over a bit, but leave at least SOME bit of gap.

davbren
July 30th, 2009, 04:31 PM
I think KOffice have the right idea by building the app for widescreen pcs. Having the tools on the side giving the optimum view of the page...

necromonger
August 2nd, 2009, 09:03 PM
looks good,

zekopeko
August 3rd, 2009, 08:16 PM
Ribbon = very bad.

Ribbon = VERY good.

Tibuda
August 3rd, 2009, 08:18 PM
Very good or very bad = personal opinion

koleoptero
August 4th, 2009, 01:15 AM
Ribbon = VERY good.

+1 :popcorn:

Giant Speck
August 4th, 2009, 09:58 AM
Ribbon = very bad.


Ribbon = VERY good.

Choice of ribbon or no ribbon = best

zekopeko
August 4th, 2009, 03:58 PM
Choice of ribbon or no ribbon = best

Too much code maintenance that way. BTW there is a prototype that can be tested here: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Renaissance:Prototyping

Need Java 6 to work. And take note that this is just a rough prototype and not a finished product.

koleoptero
August 5th, 2009, 12:56 PM
I must also say that whatever they do to the openoffice UI it will probably be for the best. It can't get worse unless they put some effort on doing it worse.

The old interface is good and usable, but it needs a change. Most of the interfaces I saw in this thread are improvements. They are not perfect, some are a terrible waste of screen real-estate, but they are better than the original.

But I must agree with Giant Speck. Doing something like skins would be nice don't you think?

andamaru
August 5th, 2009, 10:38 PM
Too much code maintenance that way. BTW there is a prototype that can be tested here: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Renaissance:Prototyping

Need Java 6 to work. And take note that this is just a rough prototype and not a finished product.

That looks pretty good, are they going to apply a similar theme to all the other components

zekopeko
August 6th, 2009, 09:26 PM
That looks pretty good, are they going to apply a similar theme to all the other components

Yes. It's an entire GUI revamp of OO.org.

@People thinking that it uses too much space

This is a prototype. The buttons are obviously going to be smaller.
Not to mention that i wouldn't be surprised if they allow different orientation of the GUI (as a sidebar etc.)

Stan_1936
August 8th, 2009, 06:02 PM
Choice of ribbon or no ribbon = best

Choice of copying Microsoft or Not Copying Microsoft = ?

zekopeko
August 8th, 2009, 10:04 PM
Choice of copying Microsoft or Not Copying Microsoft = ?

It's not like the didn't copy their version from other applications...

chessnerd
August 10th, 2009, 06:59 AM
Here's my general thought about the "ribbon" interface: Once you use it, you learn to love it.

The ribbon makes everything much more simple and it makes it much easier to find new features. The only problem is getting passed the fact that it is totally alien compared to the classic interface of Word 97-2003.

If OpenOffice gets a ribbon-like interface it will be a step in the right direction for them when it comes to competing with MS Office. I've only been using Word 2007 for 8 months and already Writer feels dated to me, like I'm back to using Word 97 on Windows 95. If you don't believe me, take a look at the attached images.

(Unrelated side note: Best Buy sales people suck. This guy tried to sell me Office 2007 along with my laptop and when I said that I had a copy of Word 2000 he said he didn't think it would work in Vista. Word 2000 worked and even Word 97 installed just fine... :))

mcduck
August 11th, 2009, 10:37 AM
The new UI looks pretty, in a way, but at the same time it's horrible waste of screen space, and will be very, very, annoying for people with low-resolution displays. Actually it looks like it would be quite unusable on my laptop's 1280x800, with the UI taking all the space and not leaving any room for the actual document itself.

I mean I kind of get the idea of ribbon, but why does it have to be so huge, with so few tools actually available?

Also it doesn't look like it would fit at all with the theme rest of the desktop is using.

(besides, I have no problems using software with UI that somebody might consider to be from 90's. I also have no problems using command-line programs that look like they come from 70's. :D It's the usability and functionality that counts, not eyecandy. At least when there's work to be done.)

zekopeko
August 11th, 2009, 04:12 PM
The new UI looks pretty, in a way, but at the same time it's horrible waste of screen space, and will be very, very, annoying for people with low-resolution displays. Actually it looks like it would be quite unusable on my laptop's 1280x800, with the UI taking all the space and not leaving any room for the actual document itself.

I mean I kind of get the idea of ribbon, but why does it have to be so huge, with so few tools actually available?

First of all this is only a prototype. I suggest you try using MS Office 2007 and see for yourself. Second, there are ways around the vertical space "waste". Things such as auto hiding or a sidebar mode for the ribbon.


Also it doesn't look like it would fit at all with the theme rest of the desktop is using.

I hope you've read my disclaimer a few posts above. This isn't the final design. This is just a rough prototype. I highly doubt that the buttons will remain so large. Desktop integration can be achieved by using the default icons and themes. Current OO.org integrates rather nicely with Gnome and KDE.


(besides, I have no problems using software with UI that somebody might consider to be from 90's. I also have no problems using command-line programs that look like they come from 70's. :D It's the usability and functionality that counts, not eyecandy. At least when there's work to be done.)

This isn't about making a prettier UI. That's just a side effect of the design. Microsoft Office 2007 didn't revamp the UI so that it's prettier but more usable. Almost every function of Office is exposed in the simple Ribbon UI. I highly suggest that you try it and see for yourself. I wrote a number of essays in it and had hardly any problems figuring out were the functionality that I want is (a stark contrast to Office 2003). Once you get used to it you will see that the Ribbon UI is highly productive-wise piece of design.

mcduck
August 11th, 2009, 04:41 PM
First of all this is only a prototype. I suggest you try using MS Office 2007 and see for yourself. Second, there are ways around the vertical space "waste". Things such as auto hiding or a sidebar mode for the ribbon.



I hope you've read my disclaimer a few posts above. This isn't the final design. This is just a rough prototype. I highly doubt that the buttons will remain so large. Desktop integration can be achieved by using the default icons and themes. Current OO.org integrates rather nicely with Gnome and KDE.



This isn't about making a prettier UI. That's just a side effect of the design. Microsoft Office 2007 didn't revamp the UI so that it's prettier but more usable. Almost every function of Office is exposed in the simple Ribbon UI. I highly suggest that you try it and see for yourself. I wrote a number of essays in it and had hardly any problems figuring out were the functionality that I want is (a stark contrast to Office 2003). Once you get used to it you will see that the Ribbon UI is highly productive-wise piece of design.

Yes, I understand that this is not ready yet, and I will definitely test it when it is ready. I'm not the person to make any absolute decisions without being able to base them on personal experience.

I'll also try to find somebody who has Office 2007 to test the ribbon idea, It's just that I don't have it myself and everybody I know uses OpenOffice.. :D

Option for having the toolbar on the side sounds great, I'm all for vertical toolbars as they work very well on wide-screen displays, even with low resolutions.

I suppose the issue here is that the pictures I've seen look like the UI takes insane amounts of space (while otherwise eing very nice looking), and while all texts I've read about this sound great they don't really tell how it will appear in reality. Also what's highly usable in theory isn't always usable in practice if you have to work with limitations such as small resolutions or trackpad instead of proper mouse. But like I said, I will try it anyway when there's something ready to try. It's not like there was much choice anyway when looking for a full-blown opensource office suite for Linux and this far OpenOffice has been really great. :)

zekopeko
August 11th, 2009, 07:24 PM
Yes, I understand that this is not ready yet, and I will definitely test it when it is ready. I'm not the person to make any absolute decisions without being able to base them on personal experience.

I'll also try to find somebody who has Office 2007 to test the ribbon idea, It's just that I don't have it myself and everybody I know uses OpenOffice.. :D

Option for having the toolbar on the side sounds great, I'm all for vertical toolbars as they work very well on wide-screen displays, even with low resolutions.

I suppose the issue here is that the pictures I've seen look like the UI takes insane amounts of space (while otherwise eing very nice looking), and while all texts I've read about this sound great they don't really tell how it will appear in reality. Also what's highly usable in theory isn't always usable in practice if you have to work with limitations such as small resolutions or trackpad instead of proper mouse. But like I said, I will try it anyway when there's something ready to try. It's not like there was much choice anyway when looking for a full-blown opensource office suite for Linux and this far OpenOffice has been really great. :)

It looks like you can download and try Office 2007 for 60 days:http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101687261033.aspx .

You will also find interesting that MS didn't pull the Ribbon interface out of the magicians hat. They aggregated usability data from millions of users. If you have a theory you have to test it to be able to make any conclusion.

gOLdenHaWK3D
August 16th, 2009, 02:40 PM
They could have made it better.

Dan_Dranath999
August 16th, 2009, 08:58 PM
This is absolutely the winner by far, for me.

http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Johannes_Eva

Only it needs some other colors etc. It looks a little too much like MS Office 2007 rip-off.

It's clear that there has been a lot of thinking in this design.

I love that one

Kazade
August 16th, 2009, 09:45 PM
This is absolutely the winner by far, for me.

http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Johannes_Eva

Only it needs some other colors etc. It looks a little too much like MS Office 2007 rip-off.

It's clear that there has been a lot of thinking in this design.

THAT is awesome. If OOo released with that layout they would make a massive impression. It makes use of the space well, and just makes so much sense.

shuttleworthwannabe
August 17th, 2009, 09:51 AM
THAT is awesome. If OOo released with that layout they would make a massive impression. It makes use of the space well, and just makes so much sense.

did anyone notice how similar it looks to KOffice 2.0?

Aside: OOo is usable, but some quirks still remain, e.g. in Impress, one cannot scroll to next slide while editing it (a simple thing that is easily done by moving mouse scroll wheel up and down). See MS Office for a demo.

S

andamaru
August 19th, 2009, 07:43 PM
I hope I didn't miss something, but are they just redesigning the other components or just the presentation component

AmyRose
August 27th, 2009, 10:32 AM
I tried the Java-based prototype that was posted a few weeks ago, and I hated it. I don't like the ribbon, and it looks like they're just trying to copy Microsoft now.

SunnyRabbiera
August 27th, 2009, 10:43 AM
Personally I dont see why we have to imitate the Office 2007 ribbon, I hate that friggin thing!

Rackstar
August 27th, 2009, 11:07 AM
Are there any updates, or previews yet?

Giant Speck
August 27th, 2009, 11:32 AM
I like the ribbon interface of Office 2007, but I don't think I'd enjoy using it in OpenOffice after seeing the current prototype. I just think they could at least be creative about the new design.

Kazade
August 27th, 2009, 11:47 AM
I just still don't understand why they didn't go with this one: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Proposal_by_Johannes_Eva

If you read the whole page, this guy has really thought about screen space usage. He's explained how the Ribbon was designed before widescreen went mainstream and so it's not a good model for the now common widescreen resolutions. Basically, he's done a lot of research and come up with an awesome design which is ribbon-like but better IMO and yet they are going with what looks like a crappy rip-off. What was the point in accepting designs if they were just gonna clone MS Office?

aikiwolfie
August 29th, 2009, 12:33 PM
Yeah that does look like a good solution to the problems highlighted. The layout also looks alot like existing software like The GIMP or Thunderbird. So it wouldn't be a massive change for users.

Best of all the sidebar has one over the ribbon. People are familiar with the sidebar concept. They already know how to use it. I guess someone could implement it as an add-on.

loderunner99
October 8th, 2009, 12:31 PM
I've only been using Word 2007 for 8 months and already Writer feels dated to me, like I'm back to using Word 97 on Windows 95.

That's exactly what my thoughts about OO are...

Really needs to come into the 21st century and take some inspiration from some Sci-Fi movies because there is a serious lack of creativity going on and too much love for grey.

SomeGuyDude
October 8th, 2009, 02:35 PM
Thirded on the love for Office2007. When I did some heavy writing in school, not having Office2007 felt like a handicap. Took a whopping half hour to get used to the interface and then it felt seamless.

xopher
October 8th, 2009, 02:43 PM
I'd say skip to gradients , keep it simple - simple is beautiful.

Less distractions -> more creativity -> increased effectivity (-> more money.)

The UI should be just a white paper, plus a small toolbar with the tools you use the most, font, styles, colors, pagination etc. The rest easy to get to, but when you open, eg. a drawer, they shouldn't get in the way of the document. Always keeping the whole page, document in sight.

Just my bean on this :)

rudihawk
October 8th, 2009, 03:20 PM
I'd say skip to gradients , keep it simple - simple is beautiful.

Less distractions -> more creativity -> increased effectivity (-> more money.)

The UI should be just a white paper, plus a small toolbar with the tools you use the most, font, styles, colors, pagination etc. The rest easy to get to, but when you open, eg. a drawer, they shouldn't get in the way of the document. Always keeping the whole page, document in sight.

Just my bean on this :)

Agreed.

Using Office 2007 was a nightmare. I hated it. I used it for nearly 2 years at school - and never got used to it. Always irritated the heck out of me.

qamelian
October 8th, 2009, 03:39 PM
Thirded on the love for Office2007. When I did some heavy writing in school, not having Office2007 felt like a handicap. Took a whopping half hour to get used to the interface and then it felt seamless.
I'm trapped using Office 2007 at work and I feel the opposite. I hate the interface like I've never hated anything else. It feels cluttered, cramped, and clumsy. I find it so cumbersome to use that I only use the Office apps when I absolutely have no other choice. I hope OOo doesn't adopt a similar ribbon-style inteface. If they do, I'll drop it like a shot.

pmlxuser
October 8th, 2009, 03:43 PM
remind me of ah ah.. oh yes i remember something office 2007 right??

qualtch
April 24th, 2010, 10:13 AM
Now when I'm reading Johannes Eva's proposal, I'm starting to love it more and more. Also reusing some ideas from Apple's Pages software would be nice, especially when considering usability. :)

Mimicing the Ribbon UI wouldn't be clever in my opinion. I've heard lots of bad feedback of it, and it's not as space efficient as Johannes' proposal, especially on netbook screens and widescreens.