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#81
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
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Another great example of how Word 2007 "brings commands closer to the surface"
Ok, I understand. You-all have done what you could.
But I still say, the more Microsoft hears serious, sustained criticisms of 2007, from whatever source, the more chance there is that they will see the badness of what they've done and change course. "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... Feedback from MVPs is never soft-spoken. The MVPs who provided feedback were mostly those who were using the beta. These include PPT MVP Echo Swinford, who identified and documented more bugs than anyone else in the entire Office beta (for those who don't know Echo, she's widely known around MS as "the 'It sucks' lady"). But the number of Word MVPs is quite small in proportion to the total number of Word users, and MS considers feedback from a wide variety of sources, including large corporations with volume licensing. In particular, many decisions were made based on CEIP data; those who did not participate in CEIP could be argued to have only themselves to blame, though, as mentioned here, CEIP data probably did not accurately represent user customization. MVPs are still providing outspoken feedback. We most recently did so at the MVP Summit (March 12-15). And the product team *does* listen. But our viewpoint is still a minority, no matter how vocal. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Larry" wrote in message ... So that's it? MVPs have provided feedback in the past, and MS did not heed them, so the subject is closed and there's nothing to do but accept the destruction of the Word interface? I don't know anything about the relations of MVPs and Microsoft. But I would guess that any feedback by MVPs during the testing period was on the softspoken side. I would suggest that if MVPs as a group spoke out more strongly now, really conveying the depth of unhappiness with Word 2007 and how unacceptable it is, that there would at least be a chance that MS will hear them and do something about it. It's the squeaky wheel that gets greased. You have nothing to lose, and a great deal to gain, for yourselves, and for all Word users. Larry something stronger is needed. "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... Word MVPs have provided feedback to MS, individually and collectively, throughout the development process. It's not as if this UI had burst upon an unsuspecting world: Jensen Harris started documenting it in his blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/) in September 2005. The only thing that will change Microsoft's direction is massive failure of corporate America to adopt the new version. But, given the reluctance of many corporations to upgrade early in the product life cycle, it may take a while for this failure to become evident. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Larry" wrote in message ... Mark's points are so important, and are worth re-reading and thinking about. I especially like Number 5: It's as though the main purpose of Word is fancy functions to manage fancy documents, rather than the basic task of typing and editing text. MS, in its desire for innovation for the sake of innovation, has lost sight of what most people spend their time doing with Word, which is typing, editing, and formatting text. Based on the unhappiness expressed by several respected MVPs, something I've never seen before in the eight years I've been frequenting the Word newsgroups, I think there is a basis for some kind of collective statement or petition to Microsoft from the newsgroups, led by the MVPs, pointing out the serious problems with Word 2007 and asking for a major retooling, including restoring basic features that have been taken away like the menus and toolbars. Terry said his own requests and suggestions had been rebuffed. But what if a bunch of MVPs and other interested Word users spoke together? We might not win, but Microsoft could not completely ignore us either. They would have to face the fact that intelligent people deeply interested in Word see serious problems here. Word experts of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your Microsoft Office Button. Larry wrote in message oups.com... I don't find that to be true at all. I coach a firm of 55 employees in 4 offices, most of whom were with the company when it switched from WP to Word a few weeks before I arrived, so their learning curve was unpleasant. Naturally with that mindset they'd been adapting slowly. The two most critical things that appealed to them and uplifted their collective viewpoint were macros and keyboard shortcuts. Once they were shown these things, they adored them, and were unnerved (often greatly) when a new or foreign PC didn't have them. Everyone seems to appreciate keyboard shortcuts and the ability to remap them. (Most never use the Bold or Italic buttons anymore. It's just easier not to move your hand from the keyboard.) I placed a menu-building add-in on each system to simplify over 70 procedures, often complex ones that no average user would bother to do manually. It runs each of these macros in 2 or 3 clicks or keystrokes, and the staff is now in love with it. Word 2007 will slow or stifle this. I think 5 concepts now being widely offered as fact are simply wrong at base: (1) the average user is too dumb & lazy to want to improve efficiency or reduce fatigue; (2) power users are close-minded curmudgeons who are resistant to any change on general principle; (3) users as a whole are such utter sheep that everyone will eventually submit to Microsoft's peverse rug-yank; (4) the ribbon is more inherently more efficient than the menus; and (5) clicks or keystrokes that invoke commands are a significant part of the document-creating or -editing experience. (They're not; most average users' time spent at the computer is used for typing or scrolling, not finding specific commands on menus or buttons. That much should be obvious.) Word 2007 may look cute to newbies or amusing for the idle or self- employed, but anyone who works in a standard office setting facing normal concerns about deadlines and overhead will be hopelessly injured if they upgrade. I'm with Larry. I think 2007 is an abomination that invites revolt. Yes, I'm a power user. Folks here seem almost willing to imply that's a bad thing. Mark |
#82
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
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Another great example of how Word 2007 "brings commands closer to the surface"
And I certainly intend to write a long letter to Microsoft, to all the
relevant parties I can find. If many others did the same, something might get through to them. "Larry" wrote in message ... Ok, I understand. You-all have done what you could. But I still say, the more Microsoft hears serious, sustained criticisms of 2007, from whatever source, the more chance there is that they will see the badness of what they've done and change course. "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... Feedback from MVPs is never soft-spoken. The MVPs who provided feedback were mostly those who were using the beta. These include PPT MVP Echo Swinford, who identified and documented more bugs than anyone else in the entire Office beta (for those who don't know Echo, she's widely known around MS as "the 'It sucks' lady"). But the number of Word MVPs is quite small in proportion to the total number of Word users, and MS considers feedback from a wide variety of sources, including large corporations with volume licensing. In particular, many decisions were made based on CEIP data; those who did not participate in CEIP could be argued to have only themselves to blame, though, as mentioned here, CEIP data probably did not accurately represent user customization. MVPs are still providing outspoken feedback. We most recently did so at the MVP Summit (March 12-15). And the product team *does* listen. But our viewpoint is still a minority, no matter how vocal. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Larry" wrote in message ... So that's it? MVPs have provided feedback in the past, and MS did not heed them, so the subject is closed and there's nothing to do but accept the destruction of the Word interface? I don't know anything about the relations of MVPs and Microsoft. But I would guess that any feedback by MVPs during the testing period was on the softspoken side. I would suggest that if MVPs as a group spoke out more strongly now, really conveying the depth of unhappiness with Word 2007 and how unacceptable it is, that there would at least be a chance that MS will hear them and do something about it. It's the squeaky wheel that gets greased. You have nothing to lose, and a great deal to gain, for yourselves, and for all Word users. Larry something stronger is needed. "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... Word MVPs have provided feedback to MS, individually and collectively, throughout the development process. It's not as if this UI had burst upon an unsuspecting world: Jensen Harris started documenting it in his blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/) in September 2005. The only thing that will change Microsoft's direction is massive failure of corporate America to adopt the new version. But, given the reluctance of many corporations to upgrade early in the product life cycle, it may take a while for this failure to become evident. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Larry" wrote in message ... Mark's points are so important, and are worth re-reading and thinking about. I especially like Number 5: It's as though the main purpose of Word is fancy functions to manage fancy documents, rather than the basic task of typing and editing text. MS, in its desire for innovation for the sake of innovation, has lost sight of what most people spend their time doing with Word, which is typing, editing, and formatting text. Based on the unhappiness expressed by several respected MVPs, something I've never seen before in the eight years I've been frequenting the Word newsgroups, I think there is a basis for some kind of collective statement or petition to Microsoft from the newsgroups, led by the MVPs, pointing out the serious problems with Word 2007 and asking for a major retooling, including restoring basic features that have been taken away like the menus and toolbars. Terry said his own requests and suggestions had been rebuffed. But what if a bunch of MVPs and other interested Word users spoke together? We might not win, but Microsoft could not completely ignore us either. They would have to face the fact that intelligent people deeply interested in Word see serious problems here. Word experts of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your Microsoft Office Button. Larry wrote in message oups.com... I don't find that to be true at all. I coach a firm of 55 employees in 4 offices, most of whom were with the company when it switched from WP to Word a few weeks before I arrived, so their learning curve was unpleasant. Naturally with that mindset they'd been adapting slowly. The two most critical things that appealed to them and uplifted their collective viewpoint were macros and keyboard shortcuts. Once they were shown these things, they adored them, and were unnerved (often greatly) when a new or foreign PC didn't have them. Everyone seems to appreciate keyboard shortcuts and the ability to remap them. (Most never use the Bold or Italic buttons anymore. It's just easier not to move your hand from the keyboard.) I placed a menu-building add-in on each system to simplify over 70 procedures, often complex ones that no average user would bother to do manually. It runs each of these macros in 2 or 3 clicks or keystrokes, and the staff is now in love with it. Word 2007 will slow or stifle this. I think 5 concepts now being widely offered as fact are simply wrong at base: (1) the average user is too dumb & lazy to want to improve efficiency or reduce fatigue; (2) power users are close-minded curmudgeons who are resistant to any change on general principle; (3) users as a whole are such utter sheep that everyone will eventually submit to Microsoft's peverse rug-yank; (4) the ribbon is more inherently more efficient than the menus; and (5) clicks or keystrokes that invoke commands are a significant part of the document-creating or -editing experience. (They're not; most average users' time spent at the computer is used for typing or scrolling, not finding specific commands on menus or buttons. That much should be obvious.) Word 2007 may look cute to newbies or amusing for the idle or self- employed, but anyone who works in a standard office setting facing normal concerns about deadlines and overhead will be hopelessly injured if they upgrade. I'm with Larry. I think 2007 is an abomination that invites revolt. Yes, I'm a power user. Folks here seem almost willing to imply that's a bad thing. Mark |
#83
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
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Another great example of how Word 2007 "brings commands closer to the surface"
Paste it into an image editor then Save As JPG or whatever format then
attach.... -- Paul Ballou MVP Office http://office.microsoft.com/home http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/ http://www.ballousgiftshop.com "Larry" wrote in message ... Attach a screen shot to an e-mail?? Again, I made a screen shot. It would not paste into an e-mail. So I pasted it into Word, and attached the Word document to an e-mail and sent the e-mail to Cicely. I hope I have passed muster. "Paul Ballou" wrote in message ... Attach it to the email -- Paul Ballou MVP Office http://office.microsoft.com/home http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/ http://www.ballousgiftshop.com "Larry" wrote in message ... Well, I couldn't paste it into an e-mail, so Word was the next alternative. What would you suggest that I have done? "Daiya Mitchell" wrote in message ... Larry wrote: I could paste it into a Word document and e-mail to you as an attachment if you like. The tendency of people to think that Word makes a good wrapper to exchange a single picture is symptomatic of the factors that landed us with Word 2007--the idea that Word can and should be able to do everything! |
#84
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
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Another great example of how Word 2007 "brings commands closer to the surface"
Thanks much.
Larry |
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