Use Office 2003 interface in Office 2007: is it possible?

[Bibico]

I posted a related question in the Word group but I didn't see a response to
the main point: Before I go spend the money to buy a copy of Office 2003 and
uninstall Office 2007, which I hate with a passion, is there any way to use
the old 2003 and XP toolbars and menus and get rid of the 2007 interface in
Word and Excel? I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get 2003 if there
are copies available, if there's no way to convert the 2007 interface.

Thank you for any responses. I should mention that I'm not looking for
responses along the lines of "you'll grow to like it". I only want to know if
I'm stuck with the 2007 interface and have no choice but to uninstall it.
Thanks very much.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Google is your friend.

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice/
http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer/starter.php

On the off chance that Tiny Tim will warm your heart towards Office 2007:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx?pid=CL100788241033

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:

| I posted a related question in the Word group but I didn't see a
| response to the main point: Before I go spend the money to buy a copy
| of Office 2003 and uninstall Office 2007, which I hate with a
| passion, is there any way to use the old 2003 and XP toolbars and
| menus and get rid of the 2007 interface in Word and Excel? I'm
| willing to spend whatever it takes to get 2003 if there are copies
| available, if there's no way to convert the 2007 interface.
|
| Thank you for any responses. I should mention that I'm not looking for
| responses along the lines of "you'll grow to like it". I only want to
| know if I'm stuck with the 2007 interface and have no choice but to
| uninstall it. Thanks very much.

 

[Bibico]

Thanks, Milly. The funny thing is I was just coming on here to post a
followup and say I'd found the addintools.com "classic" conversion add-in.
I'll probably give their 60-day free trial a go and see if it works as
advertised. I've not yet found a review of the product, so I guess I'll just
set a restore point and hope for the best.

Thanks again.

 

[Shailesh Shah]

Hi Bibico,

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

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

and if you still find difficult to search command in the Ribbon (Word, Excel
and PowerPoint) , there is a nice addon "Search Commands" by Microsoft
Office Labs, you can download from below site.

http://www.officelabs.com/Pages/Default.aspx


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


Use Free Accounting Software as per Principle of Book Keeping having vat
enabled invoice printing and vat computation with inventory by Busy
Infotech:
http://www.busy.in/index.php?p=fas

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

you may find the free ribbon customizer from pschmid.net (starter edition)
will get you going without shelling out any money.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:

| Thanks, Milly. The funny thing is I was just coming on here to post a
| followup and say I'd found the addintools.com "classic" conversion
| add-in. I'll probably give their 60-day free trial a go and see if it
| works as advertised. I've not yet found a review of the product, so I
| guess I'll just set a restore point and hope for the best.
|
| Thanks again.
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| Google is your friend.
||
|| http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice/
|| http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer/starter.php
||
|| On the off chance that Tiny Tim will warm your heart towards Office
|| 2007:
||
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx?pid=CL100788241033
||
|| --
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||
||
|| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||
||| I posted a related question in the Word group but I didn't see a
||| response to the main point: Before I go spend the money to buy a
||| copy of Office 2003 and uninstall Office 2007, which I hate with a
||| passion, is there any way to use the old 2003 and XP toolbars and
||| menus and get rid of the 2007 interface in Word and Excel? I'm
||| willing to spend whatever it takes to get 2003 if there are copies
||| available, if there's no way to convert the 2007 interface.
|||
||| Thank you for any responses. I should mention that I'm not looking
||| for responses along the lines of "you'll grow to like it". I only
||| want to know if I'm stuck with the 2007 interface and have no
||| choice but to uninstall it. Thanks very much.

 

[JaimeZX]

Hm. Well I came back into this forum to find out if MS had made any strides
regarding enabling the old toolbar (in an official sense) in 2007, but I
guess not.

Are you aware of somewhere we can provide some sort of official feedback
along these lines to MS? Thanks much!

Jim

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hm. Well I came back into this forum to find out if MS had made any strides
regarding enabling the old toolbar (in an official sense) in 2007, but I
guess not.

Are you aware of somewhere we can provide some sort of official feedback
along these lines to MS? Thanks much!

Oh, they've gotten plenty of feedback about it already, count on that.
But if you'd like to join the pile:

How do I send PowerPoint 2007 feedback or report bugs to Microsoft?
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00962.htm

The URL on that page is actually good for Office 2007 in general.

Jim

you may find the free ribbon customizer from pschmid.net (starter edition)
will get you going without shelling out any money.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:

| Thanks, Milly. The funny thing is I was just coming on here to post a
| followup and say I'd found the addintools.com "classic" conversion
| add-in. I'll probably give their 60-day free trial a go and see if it
| works as advertised. I've not yet found a review of the product, so I
| guess I'll just set a restore point and hope for the best.
|
| Thanks again.
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| Google is your friend.
||
|| http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice/
|| http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer/starter.php
||
|| On the off chance that Tiny Tim will warm your heart towards Office
|| 2007:
||
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx?pid=CL100788241033
||
|| --
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||
||
|| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||
||| I posted a related question in the Word group but I didn't see a
||| response to the main point: Before I go spend the money to buy a
||| copy of Office 2003 and uninstall Office 2007, which I hate with a
||| passion, is there any way to use the old 2003 and XP toolbars and
||| menus and get rid of the 2007 interface in Word and Excel? I'm
||| willing to spend whatever it takes to get 2003 if there are copies
||| available, if there's no way to convert the 2007 interface.
|||
||| Thank you for any responses. I should mention that I'm not looking
||| for responses along the lines of "you'll grow to like it". I only
||| want to know if I'm stuck with the 2007 interface and have no
||| choice but to uninstall it. Thanks very much.

 

[JaimeZX]

Thanks much for the link!

I left (polite but to-the-point) feedback and FWDed the link to other folks
in our organization for their usage if they see fit.

Regards,

Jim

Hm. Well I came back into this forum to find out if MS had made any strides
regarding enabling the old toolbar (in an official sense) in 2007, but I
guess not.

Are you aware of somewhere we can provide some sort of official feedback
along these lines to MS? Thanks much!

Oh, they've gotten plenty of feedback about it already, count on that.
But if you'd like to join the pile:

How do I send PowerPoint 2007 feedback or report bugs to Microsoft?
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00962.htm

The URL on that page is actually good for Office 2007 in general.

Jim

you may find the free ribbon customizer from pschmid.net (starter edition)
will get you going without shelling out any money.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:

| Thanks, Milly. The funny thing is I was just coming on here to post a
| followup and say I'd found the addintools.com "classic" conversion
| add-in. I'll probably give their 60-day free trial a go and see if it
| works as advertised. I've not yet found a review of the product, so I
| guess I'll just set a restore point and hope for the best.
|
| Thanks again.
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| Google is your friend.
||
|| http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice/
|| http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer/starter.php
||
|| On the off chance that Tiny Tim will warm your heart towards Office
|| 2007:
||
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx?pid=CL100788241033
||
|| --
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||
||
|| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||
||| I posted a related question in the Word group but I didn't see a
||| response to the main point: Before I go spend the money to buy a
||| copy of Office 2003 and uninstall Office 2007, which I hate with a
||| passion, is there any way to use the old 2003 and XP toolbars and
||| menus and get rid of the 2007 interface in Word and Excel? I'm
||| willing to spend whatever it takes to get 2003 if there are copies
||| available, if there's no way to convert the 2007 interface.
|||
||| Thank you for any responses. I should mention that I'm not looking
||| for responses along the lines of "you'll grow to like it". I only
||| want to know if I'm stuck with the 2007 interface and have no
||| choice but to uninstall it. Thanks very much.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

And you realize that it will do no good as the next version's interface is
locked and loaded with more applications using the ribbon interface?

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, JaimeZX asked:

| Thanks much for the link!
|
| I left (polite but to-the-point) feedback and FWDed the link to other
| folks in our organization for their usage if they see fit.
|
| Regards,
|
| Jim
|
| "Steve Rindsberg" wrote:
|
|| In article <[email protected]>,
|| JaimeZX wrote:
||| Hm. Well I came back into this forum to find out if MS had made any
||| strides regarding enabling the old toolbar (in an official sense)
||| in 2007, but I guess not.
||
||| Are you aware of somewhere we can provide some sort of official
||| feedback along these lines to MS? Thanks much!
||
|| Oh, they've gotten plenty of feedback about it already, count on
|| that.
|| But if you'd like to join the pile:
||
|| How do I send PowerPoint 2007 feedback or report bugs to Microsoft?
|| http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00962.htm
||
|| The URL on that page is actually good for Office 2007 in general.
||
||
||
|||
||| Jim
|||
||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||
|||| you may find the free ribbon customizer from pschmid.net (starter
|||| edition) will get you going without shelling out any money.
||||
|||| --
|||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||
|||| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|||| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|||| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||||
||||
|||| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||||
||||| Thanks, Milly. The funny thing is I was just coming on here to
||||| post a followup and say I'd found the addintools.com "classic"
||||| conversion add-in. I'll probably give their 60-day free trial a
||||| go and see if it works as advertised. I've not yet found a review
||||| of the product, so I guess I'll just set a restore point and hope
||||| for the best.
|||||
||||| Thanks again.
|||||
||||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||||
|||||| Google is your friend.
||||||
|||||| http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice/
|||||| http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer/starter.php
||||||
|||||| On the off chance that Tiny Tim will warm your heart towards
|||||| Office 2007:
||||||
||||
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx?pid=CL100788241033
||||||
|||||| --
|||||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||||
|||||| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|||||| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|||||| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||||||
||||||
|||||| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||||||
||||||| I posted a related question in the Word group but I didn't see a
||||||| response to the main point: Before I go spend the money to buy a
||||||| copy of Office 2003 and uninstall Office 2007, which I hate
||||||| with a passion, is there any way to use the old 2003 and XP
||||||| toolbars and menus and get rid of the 2007 interface in Word
||||||| and Excel? I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get 2003
||||||| if there are copies available, if there's no way to convert the
||||||| 2007 interface.
|||||||
||||||| Thank you for any responses. I should mention that I'm not
||||||| looking for responses along the lines of "you'll grow to like
||||||| it". I only want to know if I'm stuck with the 2007 interface
||||||| and have no choice but to uninstall it. Thanks very much.

 

[JaimeZX]

I'm certain you're right, Milly. It totally baffles me how immune to feedback
MS seems to be on this issue though.

I'll bet I can get a few thousand people to submit their thoughts if I put
my mind to it though. Just not sure if it's worth the effort. ;-)

Jim

And you realize that it will do no good as the next version's interface is
locked and loaded with more applications using the ribbon interface?

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, JaimeZX asked:

| Thanks much for the link!
|
| I left (polite but to-the-point) feedback and FWDed the link to other
| folks in our organization for their usage if they see fit.
|
| Regards,
|
| Jim
|
| "Steve Rindsberg" wrote:
|
|| In article <[email protected]>,
|| JaimeZX wrote:
||| Hm. Well I came back into this forum to find out if MS had made any
||| strides regarding enabling the old toolbar (in an official sense)
||| in 2007, but I guess not.
||
||| Are you aware of somewhere we can provide some sort of official
||| feedback along these lines to MS? Thanks much!
||
|| Oh, they've gotten plenty of feedback about it already, count on
|| that.
|| But if you'd like to join the pile:
||
|| How do I send PowerPoint 2007 feedback or report bugs to Microsoft?
|| http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00962.htm
||
|| The URL on that page is actually good for Office 2007 in general.
||
||
||
|||
||| Jim
|||
||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||
|||| you may find the free ribbon customizer from pschmid.net (starter
|||| edition) will get you going without shelling out any money.
||||
|||| --
|||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||
|||| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|||| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|||| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||||
||||
|||| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||||
||||| Thanks, Milly. The funny thing is I was just coming on here to
||||| post a followup and say I'd found the addintools.com "classic"
||||| conversion add-in. I'll probably give their 60-day free trial a
||||| go and see if it works as advertised. I've not yet found a review
||||| of the product, so I guess I'll just set a restore point and hope
||||| for the best.
|||||
||||| Thanks again.
|||||
||||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||||
|||||| Google is your friend.
||||||
|||||| http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice/
|||||| http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer/starter.php
||||||
|||||| On the off chance that Tiny Tim will warm your heart towards
|||||| Office 2007:
||||||
||||
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx?pid=CL100788241033
||||||
|||||| --
|||||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||||
|||||| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|||||| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|||||| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||||||
||||||
|||||| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||||||
||||||| I posted a related question in the Word group but I didn't see a
||||||| response to the main point: Before I go spend the money to buy a
||||||| copy of Office 2003 and uninstall Office 2007, which I hate
||||||| with a passion, is there any way to use the old 2003 and XP
||||||| toolbars and menus and get rid of the 2007 interface in Word
||||||| and Excel? I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get 2003
||||||| if there are copies available, if there's no way to convert the
||||||| 2007 interface.
|||||||
||||||| Thank you for any responses. I should mention that I'm not
||||||| looking for responses along the lines of "you'll grow to like
||||||| it". I only want to know if I'm stuck with the 2007 interface
||||||| and have no choice but to uninstall it. Thanks very much.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

On the off chance that you would consider Microsoft's dilemma with the
Office toolbar situation, and if you want to present this to your potential
petitioners, please take the time to really review this presentation by
Jensen Harris on why the Ribbon became the only option to truly expose
options so hidden by menus as to make them virtually undiscoverable.

Not required viewing, but fascinating:
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/the-story-of-the-ribbon.aspx

Download the video file and show it to your users. You may find something
that changes your mind... or not.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, JaimeZX asked:

| I'm certain you're right, Milly. It totally baffles me how immune to
| feedback MS seems to be on this issue though.
|
| I'll bet I can get a few thousand people to submit their thoughts if
| I put my mind to it though. Just not sure if it's worth the effort.
| ;-)
|
| Jim
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| And you realize that it will do no good as the next version's
|| interface is locked and loaded with more applications using the
|| ribbon interface?
||
|| --
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||
||
|| After furious head scratching, JaimeZX asked:
||
||| Thanks much for the link!
|||
||| I left (polite but to-the-point) feedback and FWDed the link to
||| other folks in our organization for their usage if they see fit.
|||
||| Regards,
|||
||| Jim
|||
||| "Steve Rindsberg" wrote:
|||
|||| In article <[email protected]>,
|||| JaimeZX wrote:
||||| Hm. Well I came back into this forum to find out if MS had made
||||| any strides regarding enabling the old toolbar (in an official
||||| sense) in 2007, but I guess not.
||||
||||| Are you aware of somewhere we can provide some sort of official
||||| feedback along these lines to MS? Thanks much!
||||
|||| Oh, they've gotten plenty of feedback about it already, count on
|||| that.
|||| But if you'd like to join the pile:
||||
|||| How do I send PowerPoint 2007 feedback or report bugs to Microsoft?
|||| http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00962.htm
||||
|||| The URL on that page is actually good for Office 2007 in general.
||||
||||
||||
|||||
||||| Jim
|||||
||||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||||
|||||| you may find the free ribbon customizer from pschmid.net (starter
|||||| edition) will get you going without shelling out any money.
||||||
|||||| --
|||||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||||
|||||| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|||||| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|||||| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||||||
||||||
|||||| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||||||
||||||| Thanks, Milly. The funny thing is I was just coming on here to
||||||| post a followup and say I'd found the addintools.com "classic"
||||||| conversion add-in. I'll probably give their 60-day free trial a
||||||| go and see if it works as advertised. I've not yet found a
||||||| review of the product, so I guess I'll just set a restore point
||||||| and hope for the best.
|||||||
||||||| Thanks again.
|||||||
||||||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||||||
|||||||| Google is your friend.
||||||||
|||||||| http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice/
|||||||| http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer/starter.php
||||||||
|||||||| On the off chance that Tiny Tim will warm your heart towards
|||||||| Office 2007:
||||||||
||||||
||
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx?pid=CL100788241033
||||||||
|||||||| --
|||||||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||||||
|||||||| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|||||||| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|||||||| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||||||||
||||||||
|||||||| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||||||||
||||||||| I posted a related question in the Word group but I didn't
||||||||| see a response to the main point: Before I go spend the money
||||||||| to buy a copy of Office 2003 and uninstall Office 2007, which
||||||||| I hate with a passion, is there any way to use the old 2003
||||||||| and XP toolbars and menus and get rid of the 2007 interface
||||||||| in Word and Excel? I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to
||||||||| get 2003 if there are copies available, if there's no way to
||||||||| convert the 2007 interface.
|||||||||
||||||||| Thank you for any responses. I should mention that I'm not
||||||||| looking for responses along the lines of "you'll grow to like
||||||||| it". I only want to know if I'm stuck with the 2007 interface
||||||||| and have no choice but to uninstall it. Thanks very much.

 

[Gemini]

I'm certain you're right, Milly. It totally baffles me how immune to feedback
MS seems to be on this issue though.

I'll bet I can get a few thousand people to submit their thoughts if I put
my mind to it though. Just not sure if it's worth the effort. ;-)

Jim

Jim. so far, it appears you're correct re MS's response. However, GM is an
excellent example of what happens to a once-mighty co. when they ignore their
customers for a long enough period of time.

-- Gemini

 

[JaimeZX]

Milly, I watched the entire video this time. Clearly a lot of time and effort
went into the Ribbon, and I can appreciate that, and respect the intent
behind it. The thing that most impressed me with 2007 is the "Live Preview"
of changes, as that's something for which I've wished for a lont time. I
guess the thing that bugs me and most of the people around here is there
isn't even the *option* to enable the old UI.

I realize that the "old UI" may be more confusing for new users, and that it
doesn't have the capacity or functionality for all of the new features in
2007. The thing is, (and the narrator mentioned this several times in the
video) *most people don't use anywhere near all of the features.* They might
be unused not because people can't find them, but because *most* of the time
the features are not needed. I LOVE features. I love that they EXIST. I just
don't need a menu bar taking up 25% of the screen to help me find them.
That's what "F1" is for.

I think perhaps part of the problem was that (as I understand it from the
video) the team was constantly hunting for new users in the testing lab. This
to ensure people were seeing the product with a fresh eye. Which again, is
good. But how many of them were "new users" and how many were "people very
used to Office 2000/XP/2k3?" The narrator never told us that; it would've
helped me understand the testing base a little better.

In an earlier post you wondered "aloud" why people who dislike the 2007 UI
even use it; I think perhaps the development team did not anticipate that IT
departments across the country would push the new version to all machines on
their domain regardless of what the enduser wanted. If there was just a check
box in the options menu that said "Enable 2003 UI - NOTE: Cool new 2007
features will not be available if this is selected" I think it would save an
incredible amount of griping.

My first experience with 2007 was when I double-clicked a PPT and suddenly
2007 opened instead of 2003. This new ribbon thing totally threw me off, but
I decided to go with it for the moment. Then some of my common keystrokes
like "ALT+I+D" (Insert duplicate slide) did not act the way I expected.
Instead I got "You look like you're trying to use an Office 2003 keystroke.
Would you like to see the help menu?"
At that point, I was done. Things that took me ¼ second before now took
much, much longer because I had to figure out how to insert a duplicate slide
by browsing through the tabs. There's an insert tab, and I can go Insert
Slide, but there's no "Insert duplicate slide." Why? Where did it go? After
five minutes I figured out if I right-clicked in the thumbnail pane, I could
get "insert duplicate slide" that way.

Personally, I would've preferred an "iterative" upgrade as opposed to a
total redesign.

Please note, Milly, this feedback is in no way an attack on anyone, merely a
statement of what I see as an oversight. It seems to me that the approach you
take to responding to me is very personal, and I can admire your devotion to
the company and product.

Regards,

Jim

On the off chance that you would consider Microsoft's dilemma with the
Office toolbar situation, and if you want to present this to your potential
petitioners, please take the time to really review this presentation by
Jensen Harris on why the Ribbon became the only option to truly expose
options so hidden by menus as to make them virtually undiscoverable.

Not required viewing, but fascinating:
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/the-story-of-the-ribbon.aspx

Download the video file and show it to your users. You may find something
that changes your mind... or not.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, JaimeZX asked:

| I'm certain you're right, Milly. It totally baffles me how immune to
| feedback MS seems to be on this issue though.
|
| I'll bet I can get a few thousand people to submit their thoughts if
| I put my mind to it though. Just not sure if it's worth the effort.
| ;-)
|
| Jim
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| And you realize that it will do no good as the next version's
|| interface is locked and loaded with more applications using the
|| ribbon interface?
||
|| --
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||
||
|| After furious head scratching, JaimeZX asked:
||
||| Thanks much for the link!
|||
||| I left (polite but to-the-point) feedback and FWDed the link to
||| other folks in our organization for their usage if they see fit.
|||
||| Regards,
|||
||| Jim
|||
||| "Steve Rindsberg" wrote:
|||
|||| In article <[email protected]>,
|||| JaimeZX wrote:
||||| Hm. Well I came back into this forum to find out if MS had made
||||| any strides regarding enabling the old toolbar (in an official
||||| sense) in 2007, but I guess not.
||||
||||| Are you aware of somewhere we can provide some sort of official
||||| feedback along these lines to MS? Thanks much!
||||
|||| Oh, they've gotten plenty of feedback about it already, count on
|||| that.
|||| But if you'd like to join the pile:
||||
|||| How do I send PowerPoint 2007 feedback or report bugs to Microsoft?
|||| http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00962.htm
||||
|||| The URL on that page is actually good for Office 2007 in general.
||||
||||
||||
|||||
||||| Jim
|||||
||||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||||
|||||| you may find the free ribbon customizer from pschmid.net (starter
|||||| edition) will get you going without shelling out any money.
||||||
|||||| --
|||||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||||
|||||| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|||||| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|||||| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||||||
||||||
|||||| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||||||
||||||| Thanks, Milly. The funny thing is I was just coming on here to
||||||| post a followup and say I'd found the addintools.com "classic"
||||||| conversion add-in. I'll probably give their 60-day free trial a
||||||| go and see if it works as advertised. I've not yet found a
||||||| review of the product, so I guess I'll just set a restore point
||||||| and hope for the best.
|||||||
||||||| Thanks again.
|||||||
||||||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||||||
|||||||| Google is your friend.
||||||||
|||||||| http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice/
|||||||| http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer/starter.php
||||||||
|||||||| On the off chance that Tiny Tim will warm your heart towards
|||||||| Office 2007:
||||||||
||||||
||
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx?pid=CL100788241033
||||||||
|||||||| --
|||||||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||||||
|||||||| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
|||||||| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
|||||||| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
||||||||
||||||||
|||||||| After furious head scratching, Bibico asked:
||||||||
||||||||| I posted a related question in the Word group but I didn't
||||||||| see a response to the main point: Before I go spend the money
||||||||| to buy a copy of Office 2003 and uninstall Office 2007, which
||||||||| I hate with a passion, is there any way to use the old 2003
||||||||| and XP toolbars and menus and get rid of the 2007 interface
||||||||| in Word and Excel? I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to
||||||||| get 2003 if there are copies available, if there's no way to
||||||||| convert the 2007 interface.
|||||||||
||||||||| Thank you for any responses. I should mention that I'm not
||||||||| looking for responses along the lines of "you'll grow to like
||||||||| it". I only want to know if I'm stuck with the 2007 interface
||||||||| and have no choice but to uninstall it. Thanks very much.