Is the "Fresh" Download Supposed to be Bleeding Edge?

[ghborrmann]

Having used LibreOffice on Linux for quite some time, I recently tried to install it on my Windows 7 system. Finding the libreoffice.org site, I was directed to download the “Fresh” version (although at that time I was unaware of any other version). Upon installation, I was amazed to find that version (5.1.0) unusable. The side panel did not appear, only a blank screen. The menu was invisible, but usable: hovering over where the “File” menu was supposed to be exposed the expected options. Clicking on “New” and “Spreadsheet” resulted only in a blank colored screen. I can’t believe that this happens with every user, but the only things different about my installation were an AMD processor and the fact that I chose to install it to D:Program Files.

By Googling, I found out about the “Still” version (5.0.5). That version installed and has worked perfectly so far. Thus, the problem appears only with the “Fresh” (5.1.0) version.

[Lupp]

The specific issue:

The side panel did not appear, only a blank screen. The menu was invisible, …

This is not a big issue with V5.1.0 in general but an isolated issue with the option ‘Use OpenGL for all rendering’ on hardware with graphics / drivers not complying with OpenGL. Set the mentioned option inactive under ‘LibreOffice’ > ‘View’ and 5.1.0 should work well.

“Still” and “Fresh” in general: I would not judge V5.0.5 which was the very first released version of the 5.x.y series more reliable or “production safe” than 5.1.0 .
If you want to go to the safe side you might better choose a version with matured bug fixing and leaving aside new (young) features. The most recommendable still version presently should be 4.4.7, available for any OS and packed as a PortableApp, too, from this location.

[AlexKemp]

Yes.

Like most software companies–thanks to the lead provided by Google & others–users are used as test monkeys. LO has added a 1990s political-correctness gloss on to this trend in their clever choice of language. To rewrite those terms into ones more familiar to older users:-

• Development == “Alpha” (current: 5.1.1)
• Fresh == “Beta” (current: 5.1.0)
• Still == “(production)” (current: 5.0.5)

Further, as @Lupp says, the current divisions are far too narrow; go for 4.4.7 if you want a production-level version.