openoffice is an apache project, created when oracle gave them the code and rights to the openoffice project. ibm later donated symphony to them. anyone familiar with apache knows they do things their own way, and usually slowly.

libreoffice originated from a fork when openoffice’s status under oracle was in doubt. it progresses faster than apache, as most developers also switched.

onlyoffice is an entirely different application. decent enough, but with its own quirks. it can also be slow on lower-spec systems due to the heavy reliance on js. originally a latvian-russian project, it was reorganized (via new corporate entities in uk and sg) to hide the russian ties for ‘reasons’.

sounds like a ‘service problem’ someone once spoke about…

acquire your ms office ‘elsewhere’ and never link it to a ms account. same with windows. no msa, no ‘cloud’ to save to.

and there is a service problem here.

the new libreoffice won’t run on your vista.

that’s where most of my ‘issues’ come from when upgrading an old debian… upstream version changes to major software packages (python, php, even apache 1.x to 2 back in the day) that require some manual intervention

it’s really not their responsibility to babysit user-initiated configuration changes and third-party software during updates and upgrades. the user makes the changes that go ‘off book’ and uses ‘non debian’ software–so that is where the responsibility lies.

‘decision anxiety’ is definitely real. there’s literally too many choices and different ways to deliver the same end result.

ubuntu studio is an excellent choice for your use case. you just gotta jump in with both feet