LibreOffice 26.8 was download more than 1 million times in its first week of release, which The Document Foundation say is the highest first-week figure of any release of the free office suite.
Released on 26 August, LibreOffice 26.8 saw 1,031,162 downloads from the official website, which provides installers for Windows, macOS and Linux, during the first seven days.
As many Linux users update via other sources, like the Snap Store, Flathub and PPAs, the real figure will be even higher than that.
“This is the highest number of downloads in the first week of any LibreOffice release”, The Document Foundation said in a blog post to recap the impact the new version has had (it also gained traction on social media too).
What’s made this release such a hit?
For one, it is big update.
A new Paragraph Composer finally makes justified text look good, handling of right-to-left and CJK scripts was improved and a distraction-free Draft view was added to allow for more productive, focused workflows – all among other changes.
But I can’t help wondering if some of the uptick is because of what LibreOffice didn’t add: AI features.
LibreOffice’s lack of AI is a feature
Microsoft’s enshittAIfication continues, having recently foisted a floating AI icon in the corner of Word, Excel and PowerPoint that couldn’t be disabled, and, more gallingly, it begun hassling those who’ve paid for Microsoft 365 with upsells – intentionally.
Even Apple is gating off features in its hitherto free-with-the-cost-of-a-computer iWork suite. Only those who pay for its Creator Studio subscription can use some features, like Keynote’s Draft Presentation and Numbers’ Magic Fill options.
And though ONLYOFFICE is free and open-source (and, if reader comments are an indicator, better at handling Microsoft Office files), it’s spent the past year adding integrations and support for AI agents that can generate and edit documents on your behalf.
The Document Foundation says it has made a deliberate choice to avoid AI. Documents aren’t sent to or rifled through by LLMs on remote servers, there are no “sparkle” buttons cluttering up the UI and no in-menu nags to undermine your own intent.
With so much software now infused with AI – even where it barely makes sense – LibreOffice opting to not join in is a refreshing choice that also provides choice.