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#1
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area
back? |
#2
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
You can use Ctrl+F1 or double click on any of the ribbon tabs to put the ribbon in 'view on mouseover' mode. There isn't a classic interface choice available in the Ribboned apps. If it's a retail product version you may be able to return Office 2007 for a refund http://microsoft.com/mscorp/productrefund/refund.mspx and then use your prior version. If you still have a previous version of Word you can create a custom toolbar (Tools=Customize=Commands) and drag all of the Word 2003 commands onto it and many of those (there are some discontinued commands) will appear on the Add-ins tab in Word 2007. http://gmayor.com/Toolbars_in_word_2007.htm You can also use some of the free or paid 3rd party add-ins available that have a 'classic' interface. Toolbar Toggle This is the only that I recall that allows you to 'float' old style toolbars to have them in locations on your screen other than 'top row'. http://toggletoolbar.com Ribbon Customizer This product includes old style toolbar visibility as well as tools to customize the Ribbon instead/in addition to that http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribbon...izer/index.php Both of these products reverts from their full feature 'Professional' version to a free versions to lite/starter editions after 30 days that still allows you to use the old style toolbars. Another one is Shah Shailesh's Classic menu Add-in http://in.geocities.com/shahshaileshs/menuaddins I haven't checked into the details on this one. You'll find other 3rd party tools by clicking the 'Toolbars and Menus' category choice on http://office.microsoft.com/marketplace and more through searching on http://google.com or Microsoft's http://Live.com Note, that a lot of the keyboard shortcuts from the older versions still work in the 2007 versions. For example to get to what was Word's Tools=Options menu both of these keyboard shortcuts work in Word 2007 Word 2007's: Alt, F, I Word 2003's: Alt, T, O You'll find 'cheat sheets' on many of the was/is combinations in the downloads from Microsoft available here. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/tr...295841033.aspx ========= "ytbird" wrote in message ... How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? -- Bob Buckland ?:-) MS Office System Products MVP *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* |
#3
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Uninstall 2007 and reinstall 2003. The interface of 2007 is nothing like
that of 2003 and cannot be made to imitate it in any meaningful way. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org ytbird wrote: How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#4
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Thanks, I did just that. I am sure there are many benifits to the 2007 version, but none I so deperatly need that I have to suffer through its apperence. My 7 yr. old daughter likes it though. So maybe there is a place for it. "Graham Mayor" wrote: Uninstall 2007 and reinstall 2003. The interface of 2007 is nothing like that of 2003 and cannot be made to imitate it in any meaningful way. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org ytbird wrote: How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#5
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
I know the ribbon is a huge difference. Do yourself a favor and get
accustomed to it now. Sometime in the not too distant future more businesses will be using it. By then, you'll be an accomplished Word user and will be a huge asset to the company who employs you. ;-) -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" "ytbird" wrote in message ... How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#6
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
JoAnn, you tell the previous poster to do himself a favor, but I wish
Microsoft had done me a favor and not drastically changed something that already worked fine. I have used the new interface for six months now and although I -can- use it, I -hate- using it. Not only is it not necessarily intuitive but its very nature makes it difficult quickly to skim through all the options to find something you are looking for, something the traditional drop down menu system did perfectly. Moreover, it is also less user customizable, so far as I can see. And it takes up more space on the screen. I am hard pressed to understand what advantage it -does- offer, as a matter of fact. Since I use Windows XP at work and Vista at home, I am constantly reminded of how much better the old interface is. Regards, Mark Pitcavage "JoAnn Paules" wrote: I know the ribbon is a huge difference. Do yourself a favor and get accustomed to it now. Sometime in the not too distant future more businesses will be using it. By then, you'll be an accomplished Word user and will be a huge asset to the company who employs you. ;-) -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" "ytbird" wrote in message ... How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#8
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
To add to what JoAnn has said, your OS is (mostly) irrelevant to the Word
version you're using, since you can run Office 2007 on Windows XP or Office 2003 on Vista. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA "Mark Pitcavage" Mark wrote in message ... JoAnn, you tell the previous poster to do himself a favor, but I wish Microsoft had done me a favor and not drastically changed something that already worked fine. I have used the new interface for six months now and although I -can- use it, I -hate- using it. Not only is it not necessarily intuitive but its very nature makes it difficult quickly to skim through all the options to find something you are looking for, something the traditional drop down menu system did perfectly. Moreover, it is also less user customizable, so far as I can see. And it takes up more space on the screen. I am hard pressed to understand what advantage it -does- offer, as a matter of fact. Since I use Windows XP at work and Vista at home, I am constantly reminded of how much better the old interface is. Regards, Mark Pitcavage "JoAnn Paules" wrote: I know the ribbon is a huge difference. Do yourself a favor and get accustomed to it now. Sometime in the not too distant future more businesses will be using it. By then, you'll be an accomplished Word user and will be a huge asset to the company who employs you. ;-) -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" "ytbird" wrote in message ... How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#9
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
What was Microsoft thinking ? The GUI changes are too severe of a learning
curve. I just tried Ctrl-I to insert a column break. Its GONE !!! If it were me 1. Allow user to switch between the ribbon and the old menu/toolbar interface. Deafult to the ribbon 2. Keep all 2003 shortcuts. Again an option for #1 3. Upgrade ALL office apps at the SAME time. Outlook 2007 has the previous GUI. Now, users need to be familiar with both GUI's 4. Compatible file formats. Is there an add-on for 2003 that can read 2007 formats ? Let the user default the format so they do not have to select it all the time. You guys REALLY messed up on this one. I doubt many people are upgrading. I'm re-installing my 2003. "ytbird" wrote: How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#10
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Hello Markinro
MARKINRO wrote: [..] 1. Allow user to switch between the ribbon and the old menu/toolbar interface. Deafult to the ribbon while I sympathize with that feeling, I prefer them to get the ribbon right instead of having to juggle with both GUIs. 2. Keep all 2003 shortcuts. Again an option for #1 Most are kept, I'd say. 3. Upgrade ALL office apps at the SAME time. Outlook 2007 has the previous GUI. Now, users need to be familiar with both GUI's Fair enough. Doesn't bother me personally, because a) I'm not such a heavy Outlook user, and b) to me, Outlook is such a different type of application in contrast to the "big three" (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). 4. Compatible file formats. Is there an add-on for 2003 that can read 2007 formats ? Yes, there is, back to Word 2000. Indeed, all hell would break loose otherwise! :-) Let the user default the format so they do not have to select it all the time. Meaning? You guys REALLY messed up on this one. I doubt many people are upgrading. I'm re-installing my 2003. Most (SOHO) users are not upgrading anyway: if they are buying any Office version, it's usually the latest one with a new computer. Now, corporate users, that's a different story entirely. Only time will tell. 2cents Robert -- /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MSFT | \ / | MVP | Scientific Reports X Against HTML | for | with Word? / \ in e-mail & news | Word | http://www.masteringword.eu/ |
#11
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
2. The shortcut to insert a column break is Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
4. You can save in Word 97-2003 format, and you can choose that as the default Save format. And users of versions back to Word 2000 can download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA "MARKINRO" wrote in message ... What was Microsoft thinking ? The GUI changes are too severe of a learning curve. I just tried Ctrl-I to insert a column break. Its GONE !!! If it were me 1. Allow user to switch between the ribbon and the old menu/toolbar interface. Deafult to the ribbon 2. Keep all 2003 shortcuts. Again an option for #1 3. Upgrade ALL office apps at the SAME time. Outlook 2007 has the previous GUI. Now, users need to be familiar with both GUI's 4. Compatible file formats. Is there an add-on for 2003 that can read 2007 formats ? Let the user default the format so they do not have to select it all the time. You guys REALLY messed up on this one. I doubt many people are upgrading. I'm re-installing my 2003. "ytbird" wrote: How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#12
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Or come to work for a company like ours, where we scrap the whole 2007
versions to stop wasting time. "JoAnn Paules" wrote: I know the ribbon is a huge difference. Do yourself a favor and get accustomed to it now. Sometime in the not too distant future more businesses will be using it. By then, you'll be an accomplished Word user and will be a huge asset to the company who employs you. ;-) -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" "ytbird" wrote in message ... How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#13
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
JoAnn, I understand your point, and would generally agree. But I'm not
convinced this ribbon idea is the future, and here to stay. Too many people absolutely hate it. I work at a tech firm and all of our customers and staff hate it. In my opinion, the IT idiot who pushes to replace productive software with this garbage is the one who should be worried about keeping his job. If Microsoft insists on going down this road, they will start losing market share drastically. Our firm is one of many that have already switched to other vendors. And that's coming from strong supporters (for the most part) of Microsoft. When that happens, your company will be looking for people who can actually get work done with usable software apps. Of course there is always a learning curve, but after the user transitions to the new software, the new software should increase the productivity in the work place. We've been using this for more than 6 months now, and our productivity is still severely affected. The bottom line is that most people can do the same tasks much faster with Word 2003 than they can with Word 2007. So how in the heck is Word 2007 an improvement to anything? Not disagreeing with you JoAnn, just wanted to throw in my perspective. "JoAnn Paules" wrote: I understand what you mean but the truth is that they aren't going to go back to the old layout. That leaves us with a couple of options: Stay with an older version, use another program, or get used to the new format. In my industry, Microsoft Office is most commonly used. Eventually I'd end up using the ribbon. I'd rather learn how to use it now before my company upgrades to it. Those who avoid the ribbon may end up with lower productivity levels or missed deadlines. I can't afford that. I can be replaced. (Probably more easily than what I'd like to admit.) I have a few more years to work before I can retire and I don't want those years to be filled with taking orders at a fast-food establishment and dealing with a 19-yr old manager named Timmy. -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" "Mark Pitcavage" Mark wrote in message ... JoAnn, you tell the previous poster to do himself a favor, but I wish Microsoft had done me a favor and not drastically changed something that already worked fine. I have used the new interface for six months now and although I -can- use it, I -hate- using it. Not only is it not necessarily intuitive but its very nature makes it difficult quickly to skim through all the options to find something you are looking for, something the traditional drop down menu system did perfectly. Moreover, it is also less user customizable, so far as I can see. And it takes up more space on the screen. I am hard pressed to understand what advantage it -does- offer, as a matter of fact. Since I use Windows XP at work and Vista at home, I am constantly reminded of how much better the old interface is. Regards, Mark Pitcavage "JoAnn Paules" wrote: I know the ribbon is a huge difference. Do yourself a favor and get accustomed to it now. Sometime in the not too distant future more businesses will be using it. By then, you'll be an accomplished Word user and will be a huge asset to the company who employs you. ;-) -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" "ytbird" wrote in message ... How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#14
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
I've recently learned that the company I work for is looking to roll out
Office 2007 at the end of 2009. By then, I'm going to have enough time using it at home so that I'll be off and running. I fear I'm going to be called in to help the others in my area A LOT. They already see me as being an "in-department help desk". I wonder if I can retire in a year..................? -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" "Kevin" wrote in message ... JoAnn, I understand your point, and would generally agree. But I'm not convinced this ribbon idea is the future, and here to stay. Too many people absolutely hate it. I work at a tech firm and all of our customers and staff hate it. In my opinion, the IT idiot who pushes to replace productive software with this garbage is the one who should be worried about keeping his job. If Microsoft insists on going down this road, they will start losing market share drastically. Our firm is one of many that have already switched to other vendors. And that's coming from strong supporters (for the most part) of Microsoft. When that happens, your company will be looking for people who can actually get work done with usable software apps. Of course there is always a learning curve, but after the user transitions to the new software, the new software should increase the productivity in the work place. We've been using this for more than 6 months now, and our productivity is still severely affected. The bottom line is that most people can do the same tasks much faster with Word 2003 than they can with Word 2007. So how in the heck is Word 2007 an improvement to anything? Not disagreeing with you JoAnn, just wanted to throw in my perspective. "JoAnn Paules" wrote: I understand what you mean but the truth is that they aren't going to go back to the old layout. That leaves us with a couple of options: Stay with an older version, use another program, or get used to the new format. In my industry, Microsoft Office is most commonly used. Eventually I'd end up using the ribbon. I'd rather learn how to use it now before my company upgrades to it. Those who avoid the ribbon may end up with lower productivity levels or missed deadlines. I can't afford that. I can be replaced. (Probably more easily than what I'd like to admit.) I have a few more years to work before I can retire and I don't want those years to be filled with taking orders at a fast-food establishment and dealing with a 19-yr old manager named Timmy. -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" "Mark Pitcavage" Mark wrote in message ... JoAnn, you tell the previous poster to do himself a favor, but I wish Microsoft had done me a favor and not drastically changed something that already worked fine. I have used the new interface for six months now and although I -can- use it, I -hate- using it. Not only is it not necessarily intuitive but its very nature makes it difficult quickly to skim through all the options to find something you are looking for, something the traditional drop down menu system did perfectly. Moreover, it is also less user customizable, so far as I can see. And it takes up more space on the screen. I am hard pressed to understand what advantage it -does- offer, as a matter of fact. Since I use Windows XP at work and Vista at home, I am constantly reminded of how much better the old interface is. Regards, Mark Pitcavage "JoAnn Paules" wrote: I know the ribbon is a huge difference. Do yourself a favor and get accustomed to it now. Sometime in the not too distant future more businesses will be using it. By then, you'll be an accomplished Word user and will be a huge asset to the company who employs you. ;-) -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" "ytbird" wrote in message ... How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#15
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Yeah, they'll definitely need you. There is no doubt that anyone who is
familiar with this will be absolutely essential to any company upgrading all personnel to 2007. And for sure, there will be many companies who will do this....blindly upgrading MS products, whether they're useful or not. But I expect when they do, they will have the same reaction that we (and countless others on the Internet) have had. I understand more of your posts now that I know the context in which you are using this. But trust me, when you roll this thing out into a production environment, where many of your personnel and projects are based even moderately on 2003 or some other similar alternative, your IT team is in for a rude awakening. I know because we already tried it. And I am also aware that there is always some resistance to new versions of software, and there is always a learning curve. But most of the time, once people get used to the changes, they agree the new versions are better. This is not the case for Word 2007. Just because it is new, doesn't mean it is better. It is simply a horrible concept for a user interface. It doesn't make sense to anyone. Yes, we can learn it. But there is no reason to learn it, if there are alternatives that are much more intuitive (and cheaper). Google "hate word 2007" and see how thousands of people, in real world business environments, are struggling with this new software app. Most of them are very tech savvy. And Microsoft's argument that this is somehow better for non-technical users is completely wrong. I can't count the number of typical home users that are mortified about the thought of using their new PC. They feel stupid because they don't know how to use anything, or get Word to do what they want. We have to tell them, it's not their fault. So this UI isn't helping anyone. If Microsoft wants to change everything, fine. But make everything more intuitive, not less intuitive. It's like Windows ME...they'll never admit it, but even Microsoft must know this new UI was a catastrophic mistake. And when more businesses, such as yours, start adopting it, and realizing how much it is actually hurting their business, you'll start seeing a lot more posts like this one. "Microsoft Office" is supposedly intended for just that...an office productivity suite. But I don't know of one real world office that has become more productive with this new version. |
#16
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Also JoAnn,
I can't help but notice your affiliation with Microsoft. It seems that anyone saying anything good about Word 2007 has some affiliation with Microsoft. Coincidence? Hmm. |
#17
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Yes, I have an affiliation with Microsoft but I am not a Microsoft employee.
I am not thrilled with everything Microsoft does and if you looked, you'd see that I was one of the one who was unhappy with the new ribbon at first. Since it's not going away and I have about 15 years before I can retire, I could either get accustomed to the ribbon now or I could continue to b*tch about change. B*tching doesn't pay the mortgage nor does it change the 2007 interface to a "classic view". Please remember, there are alternatives to the ribbon. There are add-ins if you prefer to stay with updated versions of Microsoft Office or you can use other products. -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" "Kevin" wrote in message ... Also JoAnn, I can't help but notice your affiliation with Microsoft. It seems that anyone saying anything good about Word 2007 has some affiliation with Microsoft. Coincidence? Hmm. |
#18
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Unless enough people b*tch to Microsoft until they fix it. Or put 2003 back
on the shelves, and give us our money back for 07. I understand where you are coming from, but my complaints are not just emotional rants. Our office staff have invested years into learning and growing with microsoft, and many of our Information Resources are dependent on common and familiar features of all previous versions...not to mention doc types. It doesn't make any sense why Microsoft would completely disregard everything we (American companies) have done and learned in the past, without any way to easily bring that functionality back. Yes, I could pay a third party to fix it, but why should I have to. Yes, I can shift to some other vendor, as we are currently doing, but at a cost of a total loss of our prior and significant investments in Microsoft. This upgrade has cost my firm a significant amount of money, time, and resources. So of course I will complain to Microsoft. That is the only reason I am here now on this Microsoft website providing feedback about our experiences. It's never too late to fix a mistake! I really hate the attitude of, "oh well, it really sucks, but the whole world should just dump their investments and completely change their business practices, and spend a fortune to retrain everyone...to be less productive...because, well...it's a Microsoft upgrade, so we better just get used to it!" Don't get me wrong, I generally love Microsoft. But no one is perfect, and Word 2007 is a prime example of that. But that is no reason we can't voice our concerns to Microsoft and provide them with useful feedback so that they stop moving in the wrong direction. If Microsoft really cares about their customers, I believe they will listen...eventually. So I completely disagree when you say there is no use in complaining. And I'll continue to do so until they get it right, or at least reimburse me the 300 bucks or so and bid me fare well. And that raises another question...Microsoft said they didn't include (not even optionally) an intuitive menu bar for everyone that hates the ribbon because they said there was no practical way to incorporate that. Really!? Then how do the third-party vendors do it so easily?? Microsoft could easily release an add in to give back the functionality that most of us are accustomed to. I don't mind if this is not the default setting, since they want to obviously torture new users, but at least make this an option for the rest of us. I don't think, for the money we spent on this, that this is too much to ask for. Kevin |
#19
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Hi Kevin,
This is basically a peer support group for using Microsoft Word, so yes, folks here are more interested in figuring out how to get things done with that tool set, but if you read through postings you'll find that there are many cases where the frustration or problems are not limited to just the 2007 version and there are changes each of us would probably like Microsoft to make for the product to be better. Sometimes they listen (i.e. make the changes that are asked for) sometimes they go with their own instincts I don't think there were too many folks in the betas who when they first saw the Ribbon posted as a first reaction 'cool - much better'. Some like it better, some don't, for some it's now more comfortable (from daily use), for others, it's not. On refunds - if you're using retail copies of MS Office then there is a 45-day money back guarantee on their software licenses: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/prod...nd/refund.mspx If you acquired the product using a volume license purchase agreement then you'll need to contact your licensing rep or the Microsoft licensing folks through http://microsoft.com/licensing to see what the policy would be for your specific license agreement for either refund or downgrading to an earlier version. Prior to release of the product there was a long term beta that folks could use to evaluate Office 2007, and there was and is 60-day trial versions to evaluate the product before even starting the 45 day money back count. Presumably before your company rolled out the product 'company wide' they did deployment planning and testing of their own. If your company or any company is 'blindly upgrading' then those business decisions make little sense and would tend to be a business decisin poorly thought out - not by Microsoft - but by those companies that would choose to spend without study. You're right, not everyone needs to upgrade, not everyone will. The team that chose to drive the Office 2007 User Interface (Steven Sinofsky and Julie Larson-Greene) are heading up the Windows v7 (next version) products. Microsoft's position wasn't so much that "there was no practical way" to include the prior version interface, but rather that they made a business decision to go forward with a new design and to get the new product version tested and released to market in a certain time frame. Those business decisions and the parameters evaluated are similar to those of other manufacturing companies. Microsoft made a decision to not include the old user interface, but to make the ribbon customizable (rearrange/add/remove parts/hide it). It's that customization capability that is the basis for the free and paid 3rd party add-ins possible. If Microsoft's business decision is, perceived by Microsoft to be wrong then that can certainly impact the future product decisions, but the chances of putting an old version back on the shelf are probably about as likely as car manufacturers doing the same thing with an older model car From all reports I've seen Microsoft is well into the development of the next Office version. As with most products, whether bread, beverage, car, computer, television or cell phones, or appliances, not everyone likes the same thing, or finds the same make and model of the same thing to be useful. Wouldn't life be rather dull without some competition and differing points of view? Your local Home Depot sells many different brands and models of electric drills. For each brand there are folks who swear by it and folks who swear at it, that's why retailers carry more than one brand/version in the same product category . It's perception, and matching the right tool/purchase to the job and that's based on personal beliefs or company policies Microsoft Office 2007 includes a number of server & cloud products that go beyond the desktop and depending on your business needs you may or may not need those. If needed those features and integration aren't available in the older versions and future versions of Office will expand on the capabilities of those features. Office 2007 isn't needed by everyone and if you're using a 3rd party product and that's the right tool for your company, then why wouldn't you want to make that business decision to pick another tool. As to the new file formats, those are partly a continuation of Microsoft moving (along with other products on the market) to XML based documents and partly from speeding that schedule up a bit driven by market forces. Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2 will add built in support for the Open Office file formats (those are also XML based). The old binary formats were limiting adding some of the new capabilities due, in part, to their complexity in having others work with them, but the specs for them are now available for download from Microsoft for those that need that. With XML based formats folks can create and edit Microsoft Office documents without having Office installed, and there are companies doing that. Office is basically just one 'editing surface' approach for working with Office documents. Microsoft provided a retrofit for the 3 prior versions of Office (2000, 2002/XP, 2003) to be able to read/write the new file formats. For me, the new file formats have been a little easier to troubleshoot and fix damaged documents than those created in the old formats, but that doesn't say that either is problem free. However there are probably billions of documents out there created without a problem, but we rarely have folks dropping by here to talk about 'today nothing happened' Will there be revisions to the the Office 2007 UI in the next version? Probably. There are significant differences in the Office:mac 2008 version. Does anyone know for sure what those might be? No. Does Microsoft always get it right with their new product introductions, nope . In the Office family alone there have been many cases of new features or products added then have them go away a version or two later. but per the MS briefing for financial analysts given this month the sales of Office since the 2007 launch are 120-million and as with many products sales outside of the U.S. are increasing more rapidly than in the U.S. (not all of those are Office 2007, but Microsoft doesn't usually break out that type of business statistic). The adoption rate of Office 2007, according to the Microsoft statistics, exceeds that of Office 2003 over a similar period of time. There are transcripts of the latest presentations, webcasts and Powerpoint slides from those presentations available through http://www.microsoft.com/msft/speech...stMtg2008.mspx On that page, is link to the presentation by Stephen Elop, President of the Microsoft Business Division. That's the division that owns the Office products and he's a new hire to Microsoft this year, so it will be interesting to see what direction he takes things While the UI may not be perfect, those sales figures don't seem to support their perception of the new UI being a 'catastrophic mistake'. Googling anything for 'hate' will almost always yield more results than 'love' when talking about products, because it's a different context and mindset. Folks who are getting things done with the new version Trying to use that or trying to embrace 'everyone' as agreeing with you based on your experience and citing only generalities is basically a rant. Personally, I find life too short and full of other activities and concern to bother getting to the point of 'loving' or 'hating' a particular machine, tool or software. Challenging? Yes. Frustrating? I've found that to be true of not only every version of software that comes out (something always changes - some perceived improvements - some 'why did "they" do that), but of trying to figure out the same thing on putting together, on xmas eve, a product with 'some assembly required' g. By all means, do ,please, contact Microsoft to let them know the real world experiences you've had. They do want to know. But, please give them *specific examples* of how the new User Interface is responsible for loss productivity, or confusion etc. and how the product can be better, or why you're going with a different product. 'Me too' statistics, or trying to embrace 'everyone' together based on your experience, or statements like "they want to obviously torture new users", wont' get it done and can change the perception and value of your input from your experiences into being seen as a rant. Not what you say you want. FWIW, many users of Office do not use the product full time and the experiences I've seen are that folks who have never used Office before, or who use few of it's features, tend to be able to find out how to do things in Office 2007 more quickly and to provide peers support (be it to family members or co-workers) more readily. I've also found it true that in companies that tend to lock down Office (and have done so for prior versions as well) folks can get more done with the new UI [more is available by default] than they could in the old version where choices were turned off or left with some of Microsoft's [perceived as] odd defaults of the earlier versions such as the 'adaptive menus' Tools=Customize=Options For those folks, even when Microsoft has made improvements in the defaults, it's not uncommon for the IT/admin folks making the decisions for the company on deployment to not be more than casual users of the products, but want to make the products more uniform to decrease the types of support calls they get. Many users use mouse clicks over keyboard shortcuts these days, it's just the way web site, web forms, etc, have evolved. Microsoft saved the ability to use a great many of the older version keyboard shortcuts for Office. For many computer users Office is just one of the tools provided by the company. The company makes the business decision on what to buy and the investment they choose to make in continuing on with a specific version or moving to something else. I don't know of any company where everyone agrees with the changes or tools we're given, but they basically take the approach of 'this is the task/job - these are the resources, tools and assets you are being given to achieve the results' and that's pretty much 'go to work' and count the hours until Friday night g ============== "Kevin" wrote in message ... Unless enough people b*tch to Microsoft until they fix it. Or put 2003 back on the shelves, and give us our money back for 07. I understand where you are coming from, but my complaints are not just emotional rants. Our office staff have invested years into learning and growing with microsoft, and many of our Information Resources are dependent on common and familiar features of all previous versions...not to mention doc types. It doesn't make any sense why Microsoft would completely disregard everything we (American companies) have done and learned in the past, without any way to easily bring that functionality back. Yes, I could pay a third party to fix it, but why should I have to. Yes, I can shift to some other vendor, as we are currently doing, but at a cost of a total loss of our prior and significant investments in Microsoft. This upgrade has cost my firm a significant amount of money, time, and resources. So of course I will complain to Microsoft. That is the only reason I am here now on this Microsoft website providing feedback about our experiences. It's never too late to fix a mistake! I really hate the attitude of, "oh well, it really sucks, but the whole world should just dump their investments and completely change their business practices, and spend a fortune to retrain everyone...to be less productive...because, well...it's a Microsoft upgrade, so we better just get used to it!" Don't get me wrong, I generally love Microsoft. But no one is perfect, and Word 2007 is a prime example of that. But that is no reason we can't voice our concerns to Microsoft and provide them with useful feedback so that they stop moving in the wrong direction. If Microsoft really cares about their customers, I believe they will listen...eventually. So I completely disagree when you say there is no use in complaining. And I'll continue to do so until they get it right, or at least reimburse me the 300 bucks or so and bid me fare well. And that raises another question...Microsoft said they didn't include (not even optionally) an intuitive menu bar for everyone that hates the ribbon because they said there was no practical way to incorporate that. Really!? Then how do the third-party vendors do it so easily?? Microsoft could easily release an add in to give back the functionality that most of us are accustomed to. I don't mind if this is not the default setting, since they want to obviously torture new users, but at least make this an option for the rest of us. I don't think, for the money we spent on this, that this is too much to ask for. Kevin -- Bob Buckland ?:-) MS Office System Products MVP *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* |
#20
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
The problem is that you are not 'b*itching to Microsoft', but to fellow Word
users who have heard it all before. This is a user peer group and not Microsoft whose employees do not monitor it as a matter of course. Those of us who are MVPs do not work for, nor speak for Microsoft. The 'title' is merely a recognition of the work we put into servicing these forums, that gives us a little more access to the company. FWIW, Microsoft is aware of the disquiet that business users particularly feel about Word 2007. Whether something will be done about making it more like 2003 in a future release remains to be seen. My guess is probably not. As for the third party interface tools, they work by adapting the ribbon, not replacing it. You can program the ribbon, if you have the time and inclination. http://ribboncustomizer.com/ has a free version that will give you a semblance of the familiar menu bar and a paid for version that enables editing of the ribbon. Does it make 2007 any easier to learn? Probably not, but you will lose nothing by trying. -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Kevin wrote: Unless enough people b*tch to Microsoft until they fix it. Or put 2003 back on the shelves, and give us our money back for 07. I understand where you are coming from, but my complaints are not just emotional rants. Our office staff have invested years into learning and growing with microsoft, and many of our Information Resources are dependent on common and familiar features of all previous versions...not to mention doc types. It doesn't make any sense why Microsoft would completely disregard everything we (American companies) have done and learned in the past, without any way to easily bring that functionality back. Yes, I could pay a third party to fix it, but why should I have to. Yes, I can shift to some other vendor, as we are currently doing, but at a cost of a total loss of our prior and significant investments in Microsoft. This upgrade has cost my firm a significant amount of money, time, and resources. So of course I will complain to Microsoft. That is the only reason I am here now on this Microsoft website providing feedback about our experiences. It's never too late to fix a mistake! I really hate the attitude of, "oh well, it really sucks, but the whole world should just dump their investments and completely change their business practices, and spend a fortune to retrain everyone...to be less productive...because, well...it's a Microsoft upgrade, so we better just get used to it!" Don't get me wrong, I generally love Microsoft. But no one is perfect, and Word 2007 is a prime example of that. But that is no reason we can't voice our concerns to Microsoft and provide them with useful feedback so that they stop moving in the wrong direction. If Microsoft really cares about their customers, I believe they will listen...eventually. So I completely disagree when you say there is no use in complaining. And I'll continue to do so until they get it right, or at least reimburse me the 300 bucks or so and bid me fare well. And that raises another question...Microsoft said they didn't include (not even optionally) an intuitive menu bar for everyone that hates the ribbon because they said there was no practical way to incorporate that. Really!? Then how do the third-party vendors do it so easily?? Microsoft could easily release an add in to give back the functionality that most of us are accustomed to. I don't mind if this is not the default setting, since they want to obviously torture new users, but at least make this an option for the rest of us. I don't think, for the money we spent on this, that this is too much to ask for. Kevin |
#21
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
"ytbird" wrote: How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#22
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
I couldn't agree more with ytbird's posting. Too much of the top half of the
Word screen is taken up with the enormous and multiple 'Styles' toolbar which I'm pretty sure I will never, never use. My ribbon of commands (at the top of the page) that I do use and which are not included any the toolbar strips is getting longer and longer. Does anyone know how to at least get rid of Styles? Wouldn't be lovely if one could personalise the toolbars! "ytbird" wrote: How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#23
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Hi Hollyberry,
The Ribbon size can be toggled to minimiz and back (double click on a tab title or use Ctrl+F1). The Ribbon can be customized by working with the behind the scenes XML, or one of the 3rd party tools such as http://ribboncustomizer.com but not through a built in feature in the Ribbon and that was a business decision that Microsoft made. For the items on the Quick Access Toolbar you can have multiple sets by saving those you use all of the time, stored in .QAT files, or you can choose to save some in Word templates, or even in specific Word documents. One thing to try is to rename the Word.QAT file, then start Word and start putting back commands only as you find there not readily available on the Ribbon. I've found that doing this from time to time that I end up with fewer items on the QAT (and often not the same ones as before) when becoming more familiar with the Ribbon locations or using keyboard shortcuts, but this does assume you do use the Ribbon features at least some of the time g. You can create floating toolbars (actually they're taskpanes) using a 3rd party product such as http://toolbartoggle.com ============ "Hollyberry" wrote in message news I couldn't agree more with ytbird's posting. Too much of the top half of the Word screen is taken up with the enormous and multiple 'Styles' toolbar which I'm pretty sure I will never, never use. My ribbon of commands (at the top of the page) that I do use and which are not included any the toolbar strips is getting longer and longer. Does anyone know how to at least get rid of Styles? Wouldn't be lovely if one could personalise the toolbars! -- Bob Buckland ?:-) MS Office System Products MVP *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* |
#24
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
Amen. The 2007 Word software cripples the productivity of people who have
invested years in learning the intricacies of the older MS Word interfaces, culminating with 2003. No upgrade prior to 2007 was so drastic in its loss of productivity and lack of similarity to what had gone before. I agree with Kevins comments that Microsoft certainly CAN provide us with the 2003 interface. We should continue to ask them to do so. I dont care if I lose some of what they think is new functionality. I could do everything I wanted, quickly, with the 2003 interface the way it was. I keep both 2003 and 2007 on my pc and use 2003 when I have serious work to do. I use 2007 only when I am entering and working with basic text. Word 2007 just plain has a bad interface. The requirement to change ribbon tabs to get to a function means the user is doing more mouse work and will have carpal tunnel problems quicker. I can only imagine Microsoft gets a royalty on carpal tunnel surgery. This is bad news for everyone. "ytbird" wrote: How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#25
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
I STRONGLY AGREE, thats all i have to say about that!!!!
"euonymous" wrote: Amen. The 2007 Word software cripples the productivity of people who have invested years in learning the intricacies of the older MS Word interfaces, culminating with 2003. No upgrade prior to 2007 was so drastic in its loss of productivity and lack of similarity to what had gone before. I agree with Kevins comments that Microsoft certainly CAN provide us with the 2003 interface. We should continue to ask them to do so. I dont care if I lose some of what they think is new functionality. I could do everything I wanted, quickly, with the 2003 interface the way it was. I keep both 2003 and 2007 on my pc and use 2003 when I have serious work to do. I use 2007 only when I am entering and working with basic text. Word 2007 just plain has a bad interface. The requirement to change ribbon tabs to get to a function means the user is doing more mouse work and will have carpal tunnel problems quicker. I can only imagine Microsoft gets a royalty on carpal tunnel surgery. This is bad news for everyone. "ytbird" wrote: How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
#26
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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I like 2003 appearence much better.
I agree with everybody. I absolutely HATE, HATE, HATE Word 2007 and I can't
get my 2003 version back. It is now living somewhere in Canada and I'm in Oregon. "Frustrated" wrote: I STRONGLY AGREE, thats all i have to say about that!!!! "euonymous" wrote: Amen. The 2007 Word software cripples the productivity of people who have invested years in learning the intricacies of the older MS Word interfaces, culminating with 2003. No upgrade prior to 2007 was so drastic in its loss of productivity and lack of similarity to what had gone before. I agree with Kevins comments that Microsoft certainly CAN provide us with the 2003 interface. We should continue to ask them to do so. I dont care if I lose some of what they think is new functionality. I could do everything I wanted, quickly, with the 2003 interface the way it was. I keep both 2003 and 2007 on my pc and use 2003 when I have serious work to do. I use 2007 only when I am entering and working with basic text. Word 2007 just plain has a bad interface. The requirement to change ribbon tabs to get to a function means the user is doing more mouse work and will have carpal tunnel problems quicker. I can only imagine Microsoft gets a royalty on carpal tunnel surgery. This is bad news for everyone. "ytbird" wrote: How do I get rid of the god awful look of 2007, and get more of my work area back? |
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