You're right, the new dialog boxes need some work. I'm not thrilled with
them, I do think they are more efficient in most cases when it comes to
determining what you want and I like the ability to leave them open, as
opposed to opening/closing the old dialog boxes, but they are I do think
that's an area that is in dire need of improvement, if not a total revamp.
But I don't agree that the Ribbon and the dialog boxes are related. The
Ribbon is one element and was created by a different group than those who
created the dialog boxes and if they had a classic menu option you'd still
have the same dialog boxes.
That being the case, then it sounds like you dislike the new dialog boxes
and it's not really a desire for the old menu bar, right?
Regarding what may or may not be implied when someone doesn't like the
Ribbon, first, as Suzanne noted, no one here is a representative of
Microsoft and Microsoft doesn't force anyone to think one way or another. I
think what it comes down to is there is there are two types of feedback,
constructive and educated feedback, and there's destructive and uneducated
feedback. Those who start throwing around assumptions and making uneducated
statements after spending a short time with the new interface typically need
some time to adjust and they shouldn't be attempting to sway others with
their irrational assumptions.
Then there are those who can provide specific issues, based on an educated
analysis (such as in your case), and provide specific examples - that's the
type of feedback that Microsoft should hear and wants to know about. :-)
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook
Word FAQ:
http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine:
http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site:
http://mvps.org/
"joe_btfsplk" wrote in message
...
(for whatever reason, my reply was lost ... here it is again)
Beth, that dialog box for Format Data Series is exactly my problem: it
consists of a cluster of nine formatting options, all of which would be
more
efficiently handled in a single window with all options shown. With the
opening and closing of each individual formatting option, it now takes
more
than twice as many mouse clicks to accomplish the same task ... hardy a
step
forward in productivity. Furthermore, after each operation the graph
redraws
itself: not bad, except with several thousand data points on each of
several
lines, that process alone slows down the reformatting procedure for each
and
every modification, even with ample RAM. Formerly, all modifications
were
specified before the graph was redrawn. In summary, with Office 2007 I'm
spending more time to perform tedious operations, and I resent it.
Several contributors in this Discussion Group imply that those users
dissatisfied with the new ribbons are either Luddites who can't face
change,
or that they only need more time with which to familiarize themselves with
the ribbons. I, for one, don't believe it; I like constructive change.
Instead, the ribbon developers should now realize that they've made a
collosal mistake in not offering menus, and reinstate them. These ribbons
are truly inefficient, and have forced me to reinstall an older version of
Excel so that I can get some work done.
"Beth Melton" wrote:
I guess I'm still not following what you are referring to - exactly what
you
want is available. If I right-click a chart element, such as a data
series
(by placing my mouse over the element and right-clicking - this works
best
when the element isn't already selected), and then click Format Data
Series
then I can change multiple formats in the Format Data Series dialog box,
such as Series Options, Marker Options, Marker Fill, Line Color, Line
Style,
Marker Line Color, Marker Line Style, Shadow, and 3D Format. If I make a
modification I can see it instantly and I can leave the dialog box open,
select another element and make modifications.
Then, of course, if I create similar charts using the same format, I'll
make
the modifications once and save them as a Chart Template (on the Design
tab)
and then it's available in the Templates folder of the Change Chart Type
dialog box for other charts.
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook
Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
"joe_btfsplk" wrote in message
...
Thanks: I'd accessed this same menu previously by right-clicking on the
line.
Using this menu, it requires well over 20 mouse clicks to alter line
characteristics, as opposed to half that number with previous versions
of
Excel. This isn't identical to previous versions by any means, and I
can't
see how this an improvement. Why Microsoft didn't put all the line
characteristics (series options, marker options, marker colour, marker
line
colour, marker line style, line style, line colour, shadow, 3-D format)
in
a
single window is a mystery to me, particularly since they're all
interrelated. Perhaps the developers were trying to maintain a pure
adherence to "Fitt's Law", in which the mouse movements are minimized,
while
forgetting that the original objective was to make life easier for
users.
I
can't imagine anything more inefficient than doubling the number of
mouse
clicks to attain the same end product. Frankly, I can't see how the
ribbon
menus made it through Microsoft's approval process.
I'll continue using earlier versions of Office until Microsoft comes up
with
a fix. I'll continue telling other users not to upgrade until they do,
because they can always download the trial version and get frustrated
for
free.
__________________________________________________ _
"Beth Melton" wrote:
Sorry, Joe, I should have noted to access the dialog box you need to
click a
Dialog Box Launcher (small box in the bottom right corner) on the
Shape
Styles Group on the Format tab, or you can use the right-click, select
the
Format element command as you could in previous versions.
If you didn't discover the dialog box launchers, you'll see them in
various
groups and they provide access to the dialog boxes and most of them
are
identical to those from previous versions.
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook
Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
"joe_btfsplk" wrote in message
...
It came as a great surprize to hear that there was a "modeless
Format
dialog
box" with which multiple changes could be made to Excel 2007 charts.
I
was
so encouraged by your comment that I immediately opened up an Excel
2007
spreadsheet & chart to explore the possibilities. Unfortunately,
the
new
ribbon commands didn't include any obvious reference to said
functionality,
nor did the "help" function perform its duty in any combination or
subset
of
"modeless Format dialog box". I can only assume that this function
remains
"a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"; much like the
rationale
for the new ribbons, despite what is stated on
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/10/09/58 . Obviously, if an
experienced
user
can't find a function, there is a problem, and it doesn't lie with
the
user.
I had later purchased the third-party "classic" menus provided by
http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice after a few weeks of
floudering
with Excel 2007, and while their menus are a welcome respite to the
new
ribbons, they seem to provide about 90% of the previous
functionality
of
Excel. Reverting to an earlier version of Excel was more expedient
than
continuing to deal with Excel 2007.
"Every good idea deserves a decent burial", and while I don't expect
those
committed to the ribbons to kill off their invention, I'd truly
appreciate
the reinstatement of the efficient functionality of the menus. If
the
user
has to hunt for the occassional odd menu command, that's a small
price
to
pay
for overall effectiveness and efficiency.
"Beth Melton" wrote:
Did you find the modeless Format dialog box? It's the one you can
use
to
change multiple options, each change you make can be viewed
immediately
(which is great when you're not sure about the specific look you're
after)
and since it's modeless you can leave it open, select another
element
and
modify it as well - no need to open and close dialog boxes.
I've found this method to be far more efficient than
double-clicking
an
element, make my changes, click OK, find out I didn't like
something,
double-click the element again, make more changes, click OK and
repeat
the
process for each chart element I want to modify.
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook
Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
"joe_btfsplk" wrote in
message
...
As an example, in Excel the simple reformatting of a line on a
graph
used
to
be accomplished by double-clicking on the line, and adjusting all
line
characteristics at once. Now, the double-clicking doesn't work,
and
each
individual line characteristic must be changed individually, in a
number
of
different windows.