Hi Gemini,
FWIW, there are add-ins that allow you to even have some floating toolbars in Office 2007 (
http://toolbarToggle.com) and you can
pretty much have it 'both ways' by having your old customizations appear in the Add-Ins tab
http://www.gmayor.com/Toolbars_in_word_2007.htm
Many of the support and Admin folks I've worked with like the Office 2007 approach to maintaining 'order' (makes there ongoing work
easier by not having to walk through trying to 'see' what the other folks are seeing, even though they get more initial calls on how
to use it, or need to do a bit of studying to deploy with a method other than using GPO). As with many news/discussion group
postings folks most often come here when they have an issue, not just to drop by to say how they like things <g>, so there is some
distortion built in as to views
Some of the things in that thread, such as moving collaboration features to the collaboration
app/server as the base rather than to individual desktops, have made collaboration more productive for places that have implented
that, but yes, it means adding another piece to the puzzle. Some folks need it, some don't.
FWIW, I've also seen an increase in workers willingness and ability to assist co-workers because the other person's screen is just
like theirs.
For elderly / occassional users, the larger icons on the ribbon have been helpful. Trying to accurately click or not right click
accidentally and end up 'all wrong' have been helpful. A lot of it depends on context and experience I suppose
Interestingly, to me anyway, is that while folks who have no trouble learning a new computer language to write a bit of
customization code have little trouble with the curve for doing so, many of those same folks have often not looked into customizing
the ribbon, which, while not in the UI isn't much different than the other coding in approach
For example, here's a short
walkthrough by one of the Word MVPs who starts off by pointing out he's not a big fan of the ribbon, that may be something to try
out just for the heck of it
http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Customize_Ribbon.htm
For 'power users' (if your definition is keyboard shortcuts vs mouse clicks) many of the keyboard shortcuts from the previous
versions still work in Word and the other apps. For example, while the Office keyboard shortcut to bring up what was the
Tools=>Options menu in Word is now
Alt, F, I the old one of Alt, T, O also still works.
When using older versions of the apps now, I sometimes find myself having to stop and remember that I had toolbars in places other
than 'at the top'
The Ribbon can also be toggled into minimized view through either Ctrl+F1 or double clicking on a tab.
While it can be interesting to rate or debate the points of the user interface, for many, who work in companies that have it the
goal is the same as in prior versions, it is what it is and 'get the job done with the tools they give you' is still the requirement
And with years and years of having folks complain that they can't find things in the 'classic' Windows menus, or that where
something was put in one of those menus was 'a dumb choice', I've found less folks complaining that they can't find things and many
who think that features in Office that have been there for at least ten years, are new in 2007, only because they never saw them
before
It's certainly not perfect, but then either was the older interface.
Open Office apps have some nice features I'd like to see in the Microsoft ones but it also has some things that just feel 'old' in
the interface such as the non resizable dialog boxes in, if memory serves, places like File=>Open.
=====================
Beth, thanks for your response. Sorry, for some reason, I had the impression
you worked for MS. I stand corrected.
Beth, the QAT is a very good addition. I added my most frequently used
functions to it right away. However, I haven't seen one feature (besides the
QAT) that actually helps me in my day to day activities. Like you, I've been
using Office apps since the mid-80s. I'd get excited about new functionality
too, if it was something that actually helped and/or improved efficiency. I
still maintain Jensen Harris has failed on those three points he himself
mentioned, esp. the third one. The positive addition of the QAT is more than
nullified with that ridiculous "Ribbon", which is far from intuitive. BTW, my
background includes (amongst other things) s/w arch/des/dev., including
designing UIs for some unique application domains.
I can assure you (and MS) that I'm getting rid of Office 2007 soon. Office
2003 is probably an intermediate step before moving to OpenOffice. Not
providing a "classic UI", despite the fact it may be represented a subset of
the functionality, was a critical error, IMHO.
I trust you read that link I posted earlier. Over on the TechRepublic site,
there are many screaming about Office 2007, esp. the unfortunates who fulfill
an admin role.
All in all, Jensen Harris has successfully lost a long time Office user,
along with many others, going by the posts I've seen here and on TechRepublic.
-- Gemini >>
--
Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP
*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*
