You Took the Excel Out Of Excel 2k7 (Beta)

J

Jimerb

As an avid office user I have to say you are really hacking up office bad.
Not only don't I know where anything is anymore I can't go back to the format
I'm familiar with. (Or at least it's a pain the neck to find a way.)

The direction you are going with office is REALLY bad. No file menu; no
format menu; no edit menu etc. I'M LOST and I really don't feel like
learning a new product.

I know it's just a beta but I fear that this could be the biggest
boon-doggle since you took the "Basic" out of Visual Basic.

----------------
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G

Gyorgy Moldova [MVP]

That's an opinion but it may also indicate that you don't feel that you can
or will lear the more logical interface.

With Office 2007, there is no way back, we'll have to get used to it. (Which
is ain't that hard if someone would _like_ to get used to it)
 
J

John Jay Smith

there is no way back LOL!!! I bet you spread arrogance on your toast in the
morning!

Ok the plunging sales of vista and office 2007 with give a powerful message
to MS
to do some serious research before making retarded GUIs (interfaces) designs
 
J

John Jay Smith

Not to mention that when the word gets out people will be advising everyone
to keep away from
office 2007 and get office 2003 that is better.
It seems to me that office 2007 will be the WindowsMe equivalent, only far
worse!
People formatted their computers and installed windows98SE even if they had
Me!

And I thought MS had learned is lesson from that bad move.. I wonder who is
in charge of these decisions.
He should be fired and sent home!
 
M

MerlinsWeb

Greetings,

I doubt very seriously that Microsoft will sacrifice the beauty, elegance,
and functionality of the new Office 2007 simply because there are those who
feel the UI is too new and different. I found it very confusing and
unfamiliar as well, but being a problem solving computer enthusiast myself, I
went looking for a tutorial that would enlighten me, and that is exactly what
I found here: http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/ui/video.mspx (the
video)

By comparison, I went kicking and screaming from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95,
but after I learned to navigate the User Interface, I realized it was much
better, and more intuitive. XP was also a leap over previous versions of
Windows, in functionality, and stability – I expect Vista will follow this
trend.

I actually have working computers running Windows 3.1, 98SE, and ME, but I
wouldn’t dream of using either of them over XP for my everyday computing.

I installed Office 2007 alongside Office 2000, but now that I’ve learned the
UI of 2007, I will probably never return to 2000. It’s like going from
Windows XP, to Windows 3.1.

In my opinion, Microsoft will simply have to find a way to show potential
users, up front, how the UI works. Once a user knows how to get around in the
program, they’re going to be absolutely amazed at how much more efficient
Office 2007 really is. It’s a brilliant alternative to the tired old dropdown
menus and toolbars.

Good Luck,

Merlin
 
G

Gyorgy Moldova [MVP]

untrue. I quoted someone :)
John Jay Smith said:
there is no way back LOL!!! I bet you spread arrogance on your toast in
the morning!

Ok the plunging sales of vista and office 2007 with give a powerful
message to MS
to do some serious research before making retarded GUIs (interfaces)
designs
Click to expand...
 
J

John Jay Smith

--Win95 was a great improvement..a revolution (although it did borrow ideas
form others)
--Win98 was like 95 but it sorted out all the buts and added some new
technologies
--Win98SE had some minor improvements
--WinMe, was an abomination. They tried to load 1000 gui improvements on a
core that just couldnt handle the
task! Results? It kept crashing....
--Win2000 was another milestone, but the target was not on the masses, thus
it was not so popular as it deserved.
--WinXP was the best OS MS had made, flexible, easy to use, stable, popular
(meaning that you could find drivers)..

and now we have vista.... that has big problems:

1) While XP goal was to make it easy for users to use, vista is a strange
monster.....
They changed the start button to an orb. Now the word start was not super
fantastic, but you could
tell someone from the phone press the start button if you wanted to give him
support. Now what
are you going to tell him? Press the ORB? What the heck is an orb, will be
the most likely reply.
2) The start menu unfolds upon itself, this means you cannot see the path
you are going with your mouse
in a visual unfolding menu. But that will it HARDER for people to remember
and do fast mouse actions.
The reason for this unfolding upon itself was because with XP you ended up
having too long of a start menu.
However there are tools that solve this problem like www.tidystartmenu.com .
Couldn't, MS just buy this technology and add a startmeny tidy wizard?
3) The whole black color of Vista is depressing and bad. Black is the worse
color they could choose.
They dont seem like they are willing to give alternatives to that stupid
aero glass, only a way to tint the
colors of the windows. Black is depressing.. Luna from XP was happy!!!
4) The whole OS is a monster... 7 gb of HD space needed, 512 ram is the
absolute minimum of ram,
its sluggish slow.. and it needs to have super high end graphic adaptors
(see point5)
5) People who even have new computers and especially laptops will not be
able to use AERO.
Even New very expensive laptops cannot work with aero... and they COULD make
aero work without
having a super GPU, like window blinds does.. and IF they had a better GPU
it would work better. But
noooooo.... MS wants to push all technology so people wills start buying
more hardware. I bet we will see
a Microsoft GPU in no time!

I could go on and on... but lets face it. When I install Vista I will do it
because it will support new technologies,
and because MS will fade out XP slowly using its techniques (vista only
technology).
But when I install it, I will have to tweak it to make it usable. Even if I
do it, other simple users wont be able to.
I support and teach hundreds of people... I know what they will start
asking.. I know their complaints beforehand!

If some of them struggled to use XP, what will they do with vista? Its a
step backward.... an abomination!

And this "change" is because it wants to do something different for
marketing reasons... these changes are stupid, not to
really give the user a better "user experience"
 
M

MerlinsWeb

As a computer technician, I’ve sat down in front of more than a thousand
computers over the years; in people’s homes, and offices. I’ve worked phone
support as well, but perhaps, not as much as you. Traditionally, it has
always been difficult to direct computer “challenged†individuals over the
phone - that may never change. I sympathize with you. But is that to say that
we should resolve ourselves to never go beyond what is familiar? Should we
limit the advancement of technology which goes beyond what people are use to
simply because teaching them how to use that technology would be challenging?
I sincerely hope not.

I haven’t had the pleasure of installing Vista on my test machine yet, so I
have no personal experience with it. But what I’ve seen in videos is very
impressive. I am looking forward to testing it in the coming week.

I love working with computers, I love fixing them and solving OS related
problems for people. If you don’t find your job absolutely fulfilling, well
then…

Merlin


John Jay Smith said:
and now we have vista.... that has big problems: ------------------------
I support and teach hundreds of people... I know what they will start
Click to expand...
asking.. I know their complaints beforehand!
------------------------
If some of them struggled to use XP, what will they do with vista? Its a
step backward.... an abomination!
Click to expand...
------------------------
 
B

Bob Buckland ?:-\)

Hi Jim,

You may also want to use the link below to participate in the Excel discussion group and the 2007 Microsoft Office feedback tool
link below to also send the feedback directly to Microsoft.

==========
As an avid office user I have to say you are really hacking up office bad.
Not only don't I know where anything is anymore I can't go back to the format
I'm familiar with. (Or at least it's a pain the neck to find a way.)

The direction you are going with office is REALLY bad. No file menu; no
format menu; no edit menu etc. I'M LOST and I really don't feel like
learning a new product.

I know it's just a beta but I fear that this could be the biggest
boon-doggle since you took the "Basic" out of Visual Basic. >>
--
Please let us know if this has helped,

Bob Buckland ?:)
MS Office System Products MVP

LINKS
A. Specific newsgroup/discussion group mentioned in this message:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.
or via browser:
http://microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/?dg=microsoft.public.

B. MS Office Community discussion/newsgroups via Web Browser
http://microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx
or
Microsoft hosted newsgroups via Outlook Express/newsreader
news://msnews.microsoft.com


Already have 2007 Office System Beta 2?
Send Microsoft your feedback (with pictures)
http://sas.office.microsoft.com/
 
B

Bob Buckland ?:-\)

Hi Jim,

Oops, the links to the Excel groups in the last message were incomplete they are

Via newsreader (such as MS Outlook Express)
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.excel

or via browser:
http://microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/?dg=microsoft.public.excel


=========
<<"Bob Buckland ?:)" <75214.226(At Beautiful Downtown)compuserve.com> wrote in message
Hi Jim,

You may also want to use the link below to participate in the Excel discussion group and the 2007 Microsoft Office feedback tool
link below to also send the feedback directly to Microsoft. >>
 
G

GABTGURL

From my experience and comments I have heard froim other users, once you get
your head around the 2007 way of doing things in the various Office
components it becomes a lot easier, and you can actually do things a lot
faster. Just a matter of learning the new UI and where things are..
 
J

John Jay Smith

simply because teaching them how to use that technology would be
No we must not limit technology.....

Say, do you have a website?
 
B

Beth Melton

I think it's a bit of compromise. I, too, am not incredibly fond of
the UI, but I am starting to slowly adjust to it, now that I have the
commands and groups I use the most on my QAT. (Funny how I placed the
initial commands in the exact same order as in previous versions.
;-) )

I started using Office 2007 more and more because I love some of the
new features, document themes which give you the ability to not only
change the format and overall look of an Office document in seconds
but to also include formatting for content you haven't even added yet,
such as pasting data from Excel in Word and have it formatted to match
my other tables in about two clicks: one for paste and one for
applying the format. I ability to just adding data and not spending a
bunch of time reformatting the darn thing is a good thing for me.
(This allows me more time to search for some of the commands I can't
seem to find. lol)

The new graphic effects and SmartArt are fantastic, insert an image
and experiment with some of the picture styles - those are pretty
awesome. And the galleries with the live preview - I like being able
to preview a format quickly and not repeatedly apply different
formatting over and over until I find what I'm looking for. Some of my
favorite new features are in Outlook, the new ability to overlay
multiple calendars and the instant search is *very* cool!

But if I want the new functionality I also need to adapt to the new UI
so I'm slowly making the compromise.

I know this sounds like a sales pitch, but believe me and there are
others who will attest to this, I was one of the first on the "this
bites" band wagon and I'm pretty sure there a few folks who are
surprised to actually hear me singing praises for once. <grin>

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

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

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

MerlinsWeb

In my opinion, the UI – Ribbon specifically – is a stroke of genius. It’s a
complete shift in the way work gets done, and while that invariably takes
some getting used to, I believe it will be well worth the effort in the long
run.

Another aspect that I find invaluable is the cleaner output code in Office
2007. As a Web Developer, all of my clients are required to submit their text
in some format that I can open with Word. Most of them use Word, and some
include tables and photos in their documents. As a rule, I never copy and
paste directly from Word into my web app; there is simply too much code
included, and the tables are difficult to edit. Not so with Word 2007.
Useless code is non-existent, and tables pasted in are easily editable. This
will be an enormous time saver. Before, I would have to clean the text by
running it through Notepad… which of course, destroyed the tables.

I am very impressed!

Merlin
 
J

John Jay Smith

because what you said shows that you know what you are talking about and I
might need to contact you about something....
 
K

Kevin

I love it too, and I don't understand why people whine about the new
interface.....if you don't like it DON'T UPGRADE! I am certain that a
person who has never been exposed to any version of Office would find the
new UI more intuitive to work with.
 
B

Beth Melton

I believe that's the key, Kevin, those who have had no previous
exposure to any version will love it.

Those of us who *know* the UI for the previous versions with our eyes
closed feel like complete newbies trying to use Office 2007. At least
that's how I felt: all my years of learning the Office applications, I
started using Excel around 1985, was now worthless. It felt like I was
learning to walk all over again and I completely understand the
whining because I was right there with them not too long ago.

I still have my moments and want my old 'familiar' UI back but like I
said before, is it worth trading the new functionality? So the more I
use it the more I adjust.

What I recommend to those who hate the new UI, is to play around with
it for awhile and check out the new features and do a little reading
to get a better understanding for why they changed the UI. Jensen
Harris has a great series on this topic (if you only want to read one
the second link has a the best explanation):
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/09/26/473950.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/10/03/476412.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/10/10/479123.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/10/17/481809.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/10/24/484131.aspx

You can find more information on the Office preview site and the
Communities link has links to other blogs and articles:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/community/articles.mspx

Then, if the new functionally doesn't encourage you want to learn
Office 12 then by all means, uninstall the beta and go back to your
old version.

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

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

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

Harlan Grove

Beth Melton said:
Then, if the new functionally doesn't encourage you want to learn Office 12
then by all means, uninstall the beta and go back to your old version.
Click to expand...
....

If only . . .

And after March 2007, say, how many OEMs will still be shipping Office 2003?
And if one already has an OEM version of Office 2003 or prior, what happens
when they need to upgrade hardware?

The problem with the new interface is that not long after Office 2007 goes
on sale, Office 2003 will cease being available. Then how does one choose?
 
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