What were they thinking???

[wam]

What were they thinking when they came out with Office Word 2007??? I use to
be able to whip up a letter or Word doc in no time, - now it is agony to
write a simple paragraph, because nothing is where it is suppose to be! Is
it Mircosoft's premise that each new version of Office should require the
purchaser to go through a time consumming training course on how to use it
simply because the programmers decides that his/her "new way" should be the
only way to do things.

I am absolutly totally disgusted with this program, and I am ready to
convert over to a MAC product.

WAM

 

[Bob I]

Perhaps use Wordpad instead.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Free Onlime Training for Office 2007
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/FX100565001033.aspx?ofcresset=1

Office 2007 For Dummies
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-302927.html

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows System & Performance

---------------------------------------------------------------

:

What were they thinking when they came out with Office Word 2007??? I use to
be able to whip up a letter or Word doc in no time, - now it is agony to
write a simple paragraph, because nothing is where it is suppose to be! Is
it Mircosoft's premise that each new version of Office should require the
purchaser to go through a time consumming training course on how to use it
simply because the programmers decides that his/her "new way" should be the
only way to do things.

I am absolutly totally disgusted with this program, and I am ready to
convert over to a MAC product.

WAM

 

[On Request]

I have wondered (hypothetically) what the reaction would have been what we
know as the Word 2007 type/scheme had been the standard version (ribbon and
all) for years and years, and then MS came out with a 'new',say, 'Word 2008'
that looked just like what we currently know as Word 2003...no doubt a great
hue and cry....

 

[Beth Melton]

Good point! Change is indeed frustrating. I remember what I thought when
WordBasic was replaced with VBA. My first thoughts were WordBasic was SO
simple - why did they make it so much more difficult?? Who needs Objects,
Properties, Methods, Events? How can something that takes extra steps save
me time?? Then I learned the power of VBA. I'm currently learning the power
of XML. ;-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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

 

[Gemini]

wam, I too, had the very same experience. The trial version of Office 2007
came pre-installed on my new laptop. After using it for some time, I decided
to remove it completely and go back to Office 2003, as many users have done.
I use Excel extensively. Excel 2007 kept crashing for no apparent reason. In
addition, I found the "Ribbon" to be illogical and therefore
counterproductive. So, I didn't any reason to fork out the $$$s to buy the
full version for a product I didn't like in the first place.

For now, I've gone back to Office 2003. I am also evaluating OpenOffice and
Zoho, as MS has no plans to offer a classic UI, despite the demand from
thousands of users. Since Gates has publicly announced that future versions
of Windows will be using more of this ridiculous Fluent UI, I guess I shall
be migrating to a Mac or to Linux in the future.

BTW, MS claimed the new UI was the outcome of extensive "research" and that
it has been accepted by some 85% of the users, per market research. Despite
several requests for these research reports on Jensen Harris' blog (he's the
one that led the design of the Ribbon UI), no response has been forthcoming
from Jensen Harris. The silence speaks volumes.

-- Gemini

 

[Gemini]

wam, here's a couple of things for you.

One, the latest version of Office (2008, I believe) for the Mac will have
the Ribbon interface as well.

Two, if you want to let Jensen Harris (he led the effort that resulted in
the Ribbon UI), here's a link to his blog.
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/

HTH!

-- Gemini

 

[Gemini]

On Request, you're correct. There probably would have been a big hue and cry.

However, the major issue here is that some users don't want to spend the
time and energy required to learn a whole new interface, merely to continue
their everyday work. I personally did not see (and still don't) any benefits
from the Ribbon UI.

Had MS provided a classic UI, I wonder how many users would have switched to
the new UI of their own volition. I strongly suspect that's the reason MS
decided not to provide a classic UI, so they could ensure the new UI was
"successful".

-- Gemini

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Gemini,

Office:mac 2008 is released and yes it does have an updated interface, but it's not just the Office 2007 ribbon. You can see videos
of them (this is Excel) on http://microsoft.com/mac/products/excel2008/default.mspx
Definitely more 'mac like' and yes there is a classic Windows menu top bar shown (and overall the height would seem to be more
than in the Windows version) <g> but I don't know if that's an Apple or Office menu bar.

What their overall product marketing video at
http://microsoft.com/mac/products/Office2008/default.mspx
focuses on is what the interface has added behind the scenes more than the what size the icons are etc. The availability of
galleries, themes, page layouts and more with live previews available through that interface that's in Office:mac 2008 and Office
2007 Windows version that weren't there in the earlier versions and that basically didn't work out well when tried in the older menu
structure, and did take up more real estate when having both. I would expect to see revisions to the interface in the next version
of Office for Windows as it evolves and it will be interesting to see what those are.

As you mentioned you in an earlier message that you were thinking of trying out a mac it would be interesting to know your
impressions of working with that interface, especially 'going in cold' after having used multiple Excel versions in Windows.

There are days when going to a mac seems like the thing to do for me as well <g>.

================
wam, here's a couple of things for you.

One, the latest version of Office (2008, I believe) for the Mac will have
the Ribbon interface as well.

Two, if you want to let Jensen Harris (he led the effort that resulted in
the Ribbon UI), here's a link to his blog.
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/

HTH!

-- Gemini >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Gemini]

Hi Bob! Migration to the Mac and/or Linux is definitely not in the near
future. I've got a lot of items ahead of that in the priority queue. As you
can guess, I don't mind learning a new interface, as long as it isn't the
ridiculous Ribbon. I played with the Mac version briefly at the local Apple
store. It was a sight more intuitive than that Ribbon contraption.

-- Gemini