LibreOffice Update on Mac: A Frustrating Experience

The latest update of LibreOffice on Mac has been a disappointment for many users, including myself. The issue is not just about the software's functionality, but also its overall performance.

As soon as you open the top or Activity Monitor, it becomes clear that there are significant problems with the update. The movements lack precision, leading to vague placement and dropping of objects where you don't intend to. This makes using Draw an exercise in futility, even worse than typing on an Electron 'desktop' application.

The lag is noticeable, especially when typing long form text input in Writer. Characters appear immediately in other applications, but with a delay that can be frustrating. The worst part is when the software buffers your input, causing you to watch as your document or spreadsheet cells disappear even after you stop scrolling.

In comparison, my vintage 200MHz Pentium tower running Lotus 1-2-3 scrolls a thousand-line spreadsheet more accurately and smoothly, stopping when I lift my finger off the cursor keys. The scrolling speed in LibreOffice is slow, jittery, unpredictable, and easy to overshoot.

Despite these issues, it's worth noting that the software was properly ported to use native Quartz as opposed to spawning an Xorg session. This is a significant improvement over previous versions.

However, performance remains a major issue. The software uses native Mac Open and Save dialog boxes, which have been getting worse since at least 2017. This is particularly frustrating given the install base of macOS users who may prefer free and open-source GUI applications.

Despite these issues, I must admit that I'm grateful for the efforts of the Document Foundation in maintaining and fostering LibreOffice's development. The software has come a long way, and special thanks go to Christian Lohmaier for tracking down the issue with Xcode that caused this problem.

In recent updates, text pixel-doubling issues have been resolved, making it possible to use the Mac's native Retina screen resolution. However, performance issues remain a major concern.

Overall, while LibreOffice is solid software, its latest update on Mac has left much to be desired in terms of performance and functionality. I've found that using LibreOffice on my FreeBSD machines provides a smoother experience, thanks to the efforts of the ports team.

Libreoffice update mac