Using Writer 14. been using since 1st release and love it.
Italic however doesn't work. Instead of the hightlighted word being italic, it shinks the font and puts the text on its own line. Writer uses <em> which doesn't seem to display right.
This sounds like a theme / CSS issue. If you do go to the VIew menu, and then uncheck 'Enable editing with themes', it should bring you to a very simple white background page to edit your content. Does the italics button work then?-Brandon Turner [MSFT]