My favorite is definitely #1.

One thing I would like to see though is the menus combined into the side and top panel. The whole top panel could be used for the File menu. The Window menu should just go away. Edit, Window, and Help could go in the side panel.

Also, they should really use tabs. I don't understand why browsers use tabs but everything else is stuck using prehistoric MDI.

#2 Ribbon is really necessary.
Putting it in a Sidebar would be a good compromize.

Nevertheless, Libreoffice needs nice icons. Actual ones are terrible. Most of those presented are sketches and difficult to use efficiently. Please use rather glossy icons.

The "ribbon" Microsoft IP that they let people use because it looks good and it does them a favour of advertising their presence. There is a very, very long specification (somewhere on the MS website, sorry that I lost the link) that specifies how exactly said ribbon should behave. Any deviation is grounds for a lawsuit, apparently. the worst part is that Microsoft will let anyone use a ribbon UI... EXCEPT office suites, or products that compete with its own Office. A "ribbon" horizontal UI would have to be radical enough to be different from the actual MS "ribbon" and cannot be based from the MS "ribbon", as that violates some rules. We all know what happens when big companies get saucy over intellectual property.

Furthermore, look how many people have very, very angry about how MS reshuffled everything with the ribbon.

I don't like the sidebar, since the notion of having to fill every pixel of space is nonsense. Proper use of whitespace can be the most pleasing thing about a UI. More importantly, though, there can't be any trace of the "too many buttons" syndrome. I find that sidebars are more distracting than they are functional. And what happens when you're working on spreadsheets or long, landscape documents?

On the bright side, I'm absolutely in love with the Citrus concept (OMG at Fizz!)

But I agree that code is the most important focus, including little things like custom colours and better style management.

“#5. arthanzel

The "ribbon" Microsoft IP that they let people use because it looks good and it does them a favour of advertising their presence. There is a very, very long specification (somewhere on the MS website, sorry that I lost the link) that specifies how exactly said ribbon should behave. Any deviation is grounds for a lawsuit, apparently.”

Yes, MS has IP on the ribbon, but the ribbon has prior art, so if they bothered to sue someone and that suit got to court, MS would be forced to drop the case. Deviating the style also would actually make any lawsuit unfounded, because MS protected a specific design, any variation makes it so it is no longer the same design and Microsoft doesn't have any rights on that.

I'm no lawyer tough, so don't count on my statements if you're considering the legal pros and cons of using a ribbon.

#1 looks great. Also #4.

I prefer the 4 :

- I think it is more functional than the others
- I think all DE (KDE, Gnome, XFCE, LXDE...) must have the same interface -> No n°1 and n°3 and n°2 is a MS Office copy.

I really like n°4

<i>DDZ, how is n°1 a MS Office copy?
Or do I read your coment wrong?</i>

Number 1 looks the best to me. Since we are all on wide screens right now, and pages are still upright, we might as well use the sides to have our tools instead of the top of screens.

I should add, that the UI is the only thing preventing me from switching from MS:O to LO

Why not implement skins the way firefox and winamp and such programs have, to be able to change the GUI at will would be a huge step up from ms office. Someone would probaly even make a nice little gui skinmaker and then everything would be awesome :)

I think that not only is unnecessary, too much work for the developers for too few gain, as well as it not fitting with the use of the program.

Unless you're creating a novel or writing an article, when you sit in front of an office suite you're doing work, you're doing something you would rather not be doing. There is no interest in looking at an office suite when you have no goal to it (unlike browsers or music players, where you can browse aimlessly and enable shuffle or random on your music player).

The best goal possible in this case, instead of skins and such, is making sure - as Kroc has already said - that the interface is as invisible to the user as it can be. That it allows the user to make their work without delays from the interface, without hassles. The best way to achieve this is with an interface native to the system and with good design parameters.

A neat interface that takes advantage of aero for context separation without abusing it. An interface made in Cocoa that blends completely on Mac, again taking advantage of the unified toolbar for context separation of the rest of the elements in aqua style. And at last an interface that can easily fit in both Gnome and KDE on Linux, that does not display the incredibly ridiculous amount of glitches the current one displays. With native support for global menu in case it is enabled, that can take advantage of the strengths and diminish the weaknesses of each graphical toolkit.

If these ideals are implemented, then skins are unnecessary, as the application would just fit in and not bother the person. If you wanted a different skin, you'd change the Windows/Mac/Linux skin (even if you have to hack around to make it possible, your system's limitations are your problem, not the application's one).

#2 Ribbon is really necessary.

now that's a point ...

do you have a reason to trow things in the air just because you have some free time ?

do you think before you type ?

give us a single good reason