[starcat]

"Liontamer" wrote in message
...
JMB
I can relate to your frustrations. And I can offer you this piece of
advice. Everything takes time. Unfortunately, when it come to computers
everything is an exact science. There's always an answer for some issue
or
concern. Your prior experience will help you digest new stuff. It may
not
always work the same way. But at least you've got a sort-of head start.
You
know something about the language being used, so you might have some
insight
on how to proceed or what to look for in an answer. Look, I am also
dealing
with a learning curve too. And I just can't believe how much information
there is to learn and comprehend. However, here's something I find
helpful.
When things really start to "burn your brain" take a break! Get away from
it
all. Come back later. You'll be refreshed and feel better. I used to
teach
in the computer field a few years ago. And you don't lose stuff you've
learnt in the past. It just helps you learn new stuff in the future. Be
patient with yourself. You'll figure it out. It just takes time.

"JMB" wrote:

I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

Well I've been using Word since Word 3.0 and I am finally throwing in the
towel on Word 2007. I cannot express how disappointed I am in how
needlessly complicated Microsoft has made this program. I will stick with
Excel and PowerPoint 2007, although they didn't improve them either. Word,
however, is my bread and butter - it's what I work in all day and what I
work in at night. I just can't get it to customize appropriately, no matter
how many ways I try. I finally got the AutoText imported and AutoCorrect
entries, but my custom toolbars and menus are lost. I get them to appear
once in a while, but they never stick, no matter how many different
convoluted ways I tried to get them to show up.

My macros are okay - they were easy to find, but everything else, which I've
worked so hard to fine tune exactly the way I wanted them, is just buried
under way too many clicks in this new version. I love learning new
software, but I'm throwing in the towel for the first time ever. It's back
to Word 2003 for me both at home and at work.

I'm beat, done, finished. I've never cried "uncle" before with any new
software, even Vista, but I've wasted far too much time and come to the
conclusion that Word 2007 will never meet my needs. Ever.