ui "improvements" need some improving

[Don Dinnerville]

Did you all even run these improvements by UI groups? I can't tell you how
frustrated and upset my clients are at things such as taking away the "File"
item from the menubar. At the very least, is there an option for "classic"
menus? Major UI overhauls at this point in Office's life cycle don't do
anything but alienate the users who have been with you the longest. For some
of my clients, this frustration is the proverbial "straw that broke the
camel's back," and they're seriously considering a switch to Google, Yahoo,
and other free email and productivity programs.

----------------
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http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-cd442ef584ed&dg=microsoft.public.office.misc

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh is what you need to read. The answer is yes they did do extensive testing in the real world.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Don Dinnerville asked:

| Did you all even run these improvements by UI groups? I can't tell
| you how frustrated and upset my clients are at things such as taking
| away the "File" item from the menubar. At the very least, is there
| an option for "classic" menus? Major UI overhauls at this point in
| Office's life cycle don't do anything but alienate the users who have
| been with you the longest. For some of my clients, this frustration
| is the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back," and they're
| seriously considering a switch to Google, Yahoo, and other free email
| and productivity programs.
|
| ----------------
| This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
| suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click
| the "I Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the
| button, follow this link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft
| Web-based Newsreader and then click "I Agree" in the message pane.
|
| http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-cd442ef584ed&dg=microsoft.public.office.misc

 

[Don Dinnerville]

Thanks Milly. I'm not so ignorant as to really think that they didn't do
extensive user testing. I still hope to read responses to the rest of my
original reply, rather than just a terse reply to my tongue in cheek user
testing comment.

 

[Beth Melton]

Actually, Jensen's blog (the link Milly posted) has a lot of insight on why
they did make the change and offers a lot of information on how there is
more to Office 2007 than just a new look. There are a lot of new features
that couldn't be implemented with the old interface. While there are some
add-ins available for a "classic" look, personally I recommended jumping in
both feet first and adapting since the add-ins can't offer the new
capabilities. It honestly doesn't take that long and you'll be further ahead
if you do. Here's a link to a post that may be of interest to you. It
contains some tips on making the change and links to a few utilities that
are available:
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.office.misc/msg/3774095495101d1c?dmode=source

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Don Dinnerville]

Thanks Beth. I'll check it out, and I'm sure I'll agree. Unfortunately,
many of my clients are extraordinarily non-tech saavy users who only need the
most basic functionality, and any sort of significant change is equivalent to
completely starting over. I'd go as far as to say that since Vista and
Office 2007 came out, I've seen a very large swing in momentum towards Macs.
I think it's very unfortunate, but at least from where I'm sitting, all of
the changes are hurting Microsoft, not helping. (I made some similar
observations about non-helpful improvements when Vista first came out, such
as the Start Menu Search box that can't be hidden or disabled, preventing
saavy users from hitting the Start key and then jumping to menu items by
pressing the first letter of their choice.)

 

[Echo S]

many of my clients are extraordinarily non-tech saavy users who only need

the
most basic functionality, and any sort of significant change is equivalent
to

Interesting. I think those users are exactly the ones who benefit most from
the new interface. It's the power users who seem to struggle the most....

For example, I still struggle with a number of things in PPT 2007.
PowerPoint is the one Office application I know inside and out, and the new
interface just doesn't do it for me there.

But I'm more of a casual Word user, and I love the Office 2007 Ribbon in
Word. Go figure.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PowerPoint 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
(New!) The PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/2qzlpl
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/index.html
PPTLive! Oct 28-31, New Orleans http://www.pptlive.com

 

[Bring back Classic Menus]

Don't lie. The new features could have been implemented with the classic
menu. The Microsoft Office Development Team, however, just decided to force
the unintuitive, clunky ribbon on us. There is demand for Classic Toolbars
that Microsoft is flat out ignoring, so third parties are now trying to
correct Microsoft's horrendous mistake. All Microsoft needed to do is offer
a classic menu option. Windows XP and Windows Vista both have the options
for a Classic View.

 

[Gordon]

Don't lie. The new features could have been implemented with the classic
menu. The Microsoft Office Development Team, however, just decided to
force
the unintuitive, clunky ribbon on us. There is demand for Classic
Toolbars

Then use Open Office.

 

[Gordon]

Don't lie. The new features could have been implemented with the classic
menu. The Microsoft Office Development Team, however, just decided to
force
the unintuitive, clunky ribbon on us. There is demand for Classic
Toolbars

Then use Open Office.

 

[Beth Melton]

If you think I'm lying then please prove me wrong. Tell me how they could
have implemented some of the new features using the old command bars, how
they could integrate XML functionality in the old command bars, and where
they could find more room in the old UI to add all of the new commands.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Shah Shailesh]

Untill you familiar with new ribbon UI , you can use free addins to use old
classic menu of office-2003 in Office-2007, from below page.


http://in.geocities.com/shahshaileshs/menuaddins


Regards,
Shailesh Shah
http://in.geocities.com/shahshaileshs/
If You Can't Excel with Talent, Triumph with Effort.


Free Addins Office Menu-2003 for Office-2007
http://in.geocities.com/shahshaileshs/menuaddins

 

[Bring back Classic Menus]

I do use OpenOffice.org Writer, their word processor. Unfortunately, for my
needs, Excel still beats OpenOffice.org Calc. I haven't really done enough
comparison between PowerPoint and Impress or Access and Base yet though.

 

[Kit]

I just upgraded from Office 2002 to Office 2007. I really want the 3D look
back. I detest the flat, cartoon-like look of Office 2007. Also, my eyes
get tired faster looking at these new screens. At the very least, please
make the double chevrons very crisp and clean instead of fuzzy and jagged.

Also, how do I tone the brightness down? The Office 2007 screens are not
using the Windows theme I created to keep my eyes from having a
"snowblindness" effect that looking at bright screens causes my eyes after a
couple of hours.

Thanks,

Kit
_________