Is there a way to make Office 2007 emulate Office 2003?

[MicahV]

I greatly prefer the look and feel of Office 2003 when using Word and Excel;
I am just curious if there is an "upgrade" or something similar that can
cause Office 2007 to act like Office 2003. Thanks for any input.

 

[JoAnn Paules [MVP]]

There are third party add-ins available. Not sure if any are free tho. I
wouldn't count on them being completely what you want. My personal
suggestion would be to get used to the ribbon. It's not going to go away and
you may not always be able to rely on an add-in being available.

 

[Shailesh Shah]

You can download Office (Classic) menu addins from below site.

http://shahshaileshs.web.officelive.com/MenuAddins.aspx


For Excel with new features of Excel-2007:
http://shahshaileshs.web.officelive.com/Exshail_Classic_Menu.aspx



Regards,
Shailesh Shah
http://shahshaileshs.web.officelive.com/
If You Can't Excel with Talent, Triumph with Effort.

Free Addins Office Menu-2003 for Office-2007
http://shahshaileshs.web.officelive.com/MenuAddins.aspx

Free Exshail Classic Menu for Excel-2007
http://shahshaileshs.web.officelive.com/Exshail_Classic_Menu.aspx

 

[OldHand]

I'm sure numerous victims of this software do hope the ribbon will go away.
If it doesn't, M$ office will go away, sooner or later.

Did anyone try using these applications before releasing them, and if they
did, did they produce a report we can read?

These days we no longer expect routine software to be quite so irritating.
For example, if you want to insert a footnote or a legend in Word, you have
to remember that those sorts of insertion are not under Insertion, but they
go under 'References' (French term). A legend is not a reference, so you
tend to click around for a while till you find it.

Font characteristics are under 'Acceuil', but subscripts and superscripts
(which even schoolkids need) are nowhere easy to find. You can add them only
to the top menu, which is quite ridiculous.

Why can't we configure the menus ourselves?

It takes time to learn new habits with new software. This is a total waste
of time if the new software does nothing you need that you didn't have
already. Nobody is going to develop good plugins for an application that is
likely to be replaced quite soon by something else completely different.

There are third party add-ins available. Not sure if any are free tho. I
wouldn't count on them being completely what you want. My personal
suggestion would be to get used to the ribbon. It's not going to go away
and you may not always be able to rely on an add-in being available.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"

I greatly prefer the look and feel of Office 2003 when using Word and
Excel;
I am just curious if there is an "upgrade" or something similar that can
cause Office 2007 to act like Office 2003. Thanks for any input.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/the-story-of-the-ribbon.aspx
for the history of the ribbon.

The ribbon is NOT going away and many more non-Microsoft applications are
adapting the ribbon interface. As with going from command line to GUI,
there is a learning curve. And I say it is about time for a change - it has
me me more productive in the applications I use... and my attitude has a lot
to do with it.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, OldHand asked:

| I'm sure numerous victims of this software do hope the ribbon will go
| away. If it doesn't, M$ office will go away, sooner or later.
|
| Did anyone try using these applications before releasing them, and if
| they did, did they produce a report we can read?
|
| These days we no longer expect routine software to be quite so
| irritating. For example, if you want to insert a footnote or a legend
| in Word, you have to remember that those sorts of insertion are not
| under Insertion, but they go under 'References' (French term). A
| legend is not a reference, so you tend to click around for a while
| till you find it.
|
| Font characteristics are under 'Acceuil', but subscripts and
| superscripts (which even schoolkids need) are nowhere easy to find.
| You can add them only to the top menu, which is quite ridiculous.
|
| Why can't we configure the menus ourselves?
|
| It takes time to learn new habits with new software. This is a total
| waste of time if the new software does nothing you need that you
| didn't have already. Nobody is going to develop good plugins for an
| application that is likely to be replaced quite soon by something
| else completely different.
|
|
|
|
| "JoAnn Paules [MVP]" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le
| message de || There are third party add-ins available. Not sure if any are free
|| tho. I wouldn't count on them being completely what you want. My
|| personal suggestion would be to get used to the ribbon. It's not
|| going to go away and you may not always be able to rely on an add-in
|| being available.
||
|| --
|| JoAnn Paules
|| MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
|| Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"
||
||
||
|| ||| I greatly prefer the look and feel of Office 2003 when using Word
||| and Excel;
||| I am just curious if there is an "upgrade" or something similar
||| that can cause Office 2007 to act like Office 2003. Thanks for any
||| input.

 

[Bill Davy]

http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/the-story-of-the-ribbon.aspx
for the history of the ribbon.

The ribbon is NOT going away and many more non-Microsoft applications are
adapting the ribbon interface. As with going from command line to GUI,
there is a learning curve. And I say it is about time for a change - it
has
me me more productive in the applications I use... and my attitude has a
lot
to do with it.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, OldHand asked:

| I'm sure numerous victims of this software do hope the ribbon will go
| away. If it doesn't, M$ office will go away, sooner or later.
|
| Did anyone try using these applications before releasing them, and if
| they did, did they produce a report we can read?
|
| These days we no longer expect routine software to be quite so
| irritating. For example, if you want to insert a footnote or a legend
| in Word, you have to remember that those sorts of insertion are not
| under Insertion, but they go under 'References' (French term). A
| legend is not a reference, so you tend to click around for a while
| till you find it.
|
| Font characteristics are under 'Acceuil', but subscripts and
| superscripts (which even schoolkids need) are nowhere easy to find.
| You can add them only to the top menu, which is quite ridiculous.
|
| Why can't we configure the menus ourselves?
|
| It takes time to learn new habits with new software. This is a total
| waste of time if the new software does nothing you need that you
| didn't have already. Nobody is going to develop good plugins for an
| application that is likely to be replaced quite soon by something
| else completely different.
|
|
|
|
| "JoAnn Paules [MVP]" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le
| message de || There are third party add-ins available. Not sure if any are free
|| tho. I wouldn't count on them being completely what you want. My
|| personal suggestion would be to get used to the ribbon. It's not
|| going to go away and you may not always be able to rely on an add-in
|| being available.
||
|| --
|| JoAnn Paules
|| MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
|| Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"
||
||
||
|| ||| I greatly prefer the look and feel of Office 2003 when using Word
||| and Excel;
||| I am just curious if there is an "upgrade" or something similar
||| that can cause Office 2007 to act like Office 2003. Thanks for any
||| input.

But you don't use Word to edit your news postings or you wouldn't say "me
me" (and children should be discouraged from such solecisms too).



Personally, I loathe the ribbon, even if someone has managed to prove it is
better for me. I was not aware Microsoft has been elevated to a church yet.
I no longer go to church, and if I could avoid the ribbon, I would.

 

[Hyper Guy]

I totally agree with Old Hand. I went from being a confident power user of
Office 2003 to a frustrated novice of 2007. I can't even format basic
spreadsheets or documents. It is not intuitive to me. I simply avoid using
this product, and this has greatly damaged my productivity and self-esteem.
The MVP's somewhat snippy reply perhaps shows that the developers at
Microsoft are so taken by their own desires and attitudes that they lost
touch with their customer. I have not seen any other product using ribbons,
and just because Microsoft declares it the wave of the future does not make
it so. In fact, I purchased a cheapie Office suite from a competitor for $25
just to regain some productivity. Sorry Milly, but "New" does not equate
with "Better." The ribbons are visual clutter taking up huge amounts of
space displaying functions I rarely use. Your focus groups obviously include
people eager to please Microsoft but who are unconcerned about real users in
the real world. This is not a problem with Old Hand's attitude nor mine and I
resent your flippant comments. I have an MBA and a rather high IQ and I am
quite comfortable with constructive change. This was a radical change that
was completely unnecessary. Look within and stop insulting people who take
the time to write to you. Perhaps you need a vacation and that explains your
inappropriately condescending tone. Anyway, thanks very much for listening
to me whine, rant and ramble. I appreciate the opportunity (and hope I
posted this correctly--it is 3 am and I don't have my glasses!). Best wishes
to both Old Hand and Milly...

http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/the-story-of-the-ribbon.aspx
for the history of the ribbon.

The ribbon is NOT going away and many more non-Microsoft applications are
adapting the ribbon interface. As with going from command line to GUI,
there is a learning curve. And I say it is about time for a change - it has
me me more productive in the applications I use... and my attitude has a lot
to do with it.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, OldHand asked:

| I'm sure numerous victims of this software do hope the ribbon will go
| away. If it doesn't, M$ office will go away, sooner or later.
|
| Did anyone try using these applications before releasing them, and if
| they did, did they produce a report we can read?
|
| These days we no longer expect routine software to be quite so
| irritating. For example, if you want to insert a footnote or a legend
| in Word, you have to remember that those sorts of insertion are not
| under Insertion, but they go under 'References' (French term). A
| legend is not a reference, so you tend to click around for a while
| till you find it.
|
| Font characteristics are under 'Acceuil', but subscripts and
| superscripts (which even schoolkids need) are nowhere easy to find.
| You can add them only to the top menu, which is quite ridiculous.
|
| Why can't we configure the menus ourselves?
|
| It takes time to learn new habits with new software. This is a total
| waste of time if the new software does nothing you need that you
| didn't have already. Nobody is going to develop good plugins for an
| application that is likely to be replaced quite soon by something
| else completely different.
|
|
|
|
| "JoAnn Paules [MVP]" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le
| message de || There are third party add-ins available. Not sure if any are free
|| tho. I wouldn't count on them being completely what you want. My
|| personal suggestion would be to get used to the ribbon. It's not
|| going to go away and you may not always be able to rely on an add-in
|| being available.
||
|| --
|| JoAnn Paules
|| MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
|| Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"
||
||
||
|| ||| I greatly prefer the look and feel of Office 2003 when using Word
||| and Excel;
||| I am just curious if there is an "upgrade" or something similar
||| that can cause Office 2007 to act like Office 2003. Thanks for any
||| input.


.

 

[Yves Dhondt]

I totally agree with Old Hand. I went from being a confident power user of

No, you never were a power user. A real power user hardly cares about the
user interface. A real power user would stick to shortcuts (which haven't
changed). Having to move your hand from the keyboard to your mouse and then
having to navigate a menu or ribbon to select something trivial which you
could have achieved by pressing CTRL+<some letter> for example, is a pure
waste of time. You're an average user, just like most of us. There is no
shame in that. Just don't pretend to be better than you are.

Office 2003 to a frustrated novice of 2007. I can't even format basic
spreadsheets or documents. It is not intuitive to me. I simply avoid
using
this product, and this has greatly damaged my productivity and
self-esteem.
The MVP's somewhat snippy reply perhaps shows that the developers at
Microsoft are so taken by their own desires and attitudes that they lost
touch with their customer. I have not seen any other product using
ribbons,
and just because Microsoft declares it the wave of the future does not
make

WinZip, PowerArchiver, SnagIt, NitroPDF, AutoCAD, SolSuite, several Windows
7 applications, ... There are already hundreds of programs with a ribbon
interface. Even OpenOffice is prototyping with a ribbon interface.

it so. In fact, I purchased a cheapie Office suite from a competitor for
$25

Why did you pay $25? If you wanted classic menus, you could have either
installed OpenOffice, which is free, or downloaded one of the dozen free
addons which add a tab with classic menus to your Office user interface. For
example, see http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Ribbon_Menu_Controls.htm (last image
on that page)

just to regain some productivity. Sorry Milly, but "New" does not equate
with "Better." The ribbons are visual clutter taking up huge amounts of
space displaying functions I rarely use. Your focus groups obviously
include

Double click a tab and the ribbon takes up as much space as an ordinary
menu. Displaying the ribbon again is then done by simply clicking a tab ...
just like ordinary menus.

people eager to please Microsoft but who are unconcerned about real users
in
the real world. This is not a problem with Old Hand's attitude nor mine
and I
resent your flippant comments. I have an MBA and a rather high IQ and I
am
quite comfortable with constructive change. This was a radical change that
was completely unnecessary. Look within and stop insulting people who
take
the time to write to you. Perhaps you need a vacation and that explains
your
inappropriately condescending tone. Anyway, thanks very much for
listening
to me whine, rant and ramble. I appreciate the opportunity (and hope I
posted this correctly--it is 3 am and I don't have my glasses!). Best
wishes
to both Old Hand and Milly...

http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/the-story-of-the-ribbon.aspx
for the history of the ribbon.

The ribbon is NOT going away and many more non-Microsoft applications are
adapting the ribbon interface. As with going from command line to GUI,
there is a learning curve. And I say it is about time for a change - it
has
me me more productive in the applications I use... and my attitude has a
lot
to do with it.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, OldHand asked:

| I'm sure numerous victims of this software do hope the ribbon will go
| away. If it doesn't, M$ office will go away, sooner or later.
|
| Did anyone try using these applications before releasing them, and if
| they did, did they produce a report we can read?
|
| These days we no longer expect routine software to be quite so
| irritating. For example, if you want to insert a footnote or a legend
| in Word, you have to remember that those sorts of insertion are not
| under Insertion, but they go under 'References' (French term). A
| legend is not a reference, so you tend to click around for a while
| till you find it.
|
| Font characteristics are under 'Acceuil', but subscripts and
| superscripts (which even schoolkids need) are nowhere easy to find.
| You can add them only to the top menu, which is quite ridiculous.
|
| Why can't we configure the menus ourselves?
|
| It takes time to learn new habits with new software. This is a total
| waste of time if the new software does nothing you need that you
| didn't have already. Nobody is going to develop good plugins for an
| application that is likely to be replaced quite soon by something
| else completely different.
|
|
|
|
| "JoAnn Paules [MVP]" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le
| message de || There are third party add-ins available. Not sure if any are free
|| tho. I wouldn't count on them being completely what you want. My
|| personal suggestion would be to get used to the ribbon. It's not
|| going to go away and you may not always be able to rely on an add-in
|| being available.
||
|| --
|| JoAnn Paules
|| MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
|| Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"
||
||
||
|| ||| I greatly prefer the look and feel of Office 2003 when using Word
||| and Excel;
||| I am just curious if there is an "upgrade" or something similar
||| that can cause Office 2007 to act like Office 2003. Thanks for any
||| input.


.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Thank you for expressing what I have thought for many years...

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Yves Dhondt asked:

| || I totally agree with Old Hand. I went from being a confident power
|| user of
|
| No, you never were a power user. A real power user hardly cares about
| the user interface. A real power user would stick to shortcuts (which
| haven't changed). Having to move your hand from the keyboard to your
| mouse and then having to navigate a menu or ribbon to select
| something trivial which you could have achieved by pressing
| CTRL+<some letter> for example, is a pure waste of time. You're an
| average user, just like most of us. There is no shame in that. Just
| don't pretend to be better than you are.
|
|| Office 2003 to a frustrated novice of 2007. I can't even format
|| basic spreadsheets or documents. It is not intuitive to me. I
|| simply avoid using
|| this product, and this has greatly damaged my productivity and
|| self-esteem.
|| The MVP's somewhat snippy reply perhaps shows that the developers at
|| Microsoft are so taken by their own desires and attitudes that they
|| lost touch with their customer. I have not seen any other product
|| using ribbons,
|| and just because Microsoft declares it the wave of the future does
|| not make
|
| WinZip, PowerArchiver, SnagIt, NitroPDF, AutoCAD, SolSuite, several
| Windows 7 applications, ... There are already hundreds of programs
| with a ribbon interface. Even OpenOffice is prototyping with a ribbon
| interface.
|
|| it so. In fact, I purchased a cheapie Office suite from a
|| competitor for $25
|
| Why did you pay $25? If you wanted classic menus, you could have
| either installed OpenOffice, which is free, or downloaded one of the
| dozen free addons which add a tab with classic menus to your Office
| user interface. For example, see
| http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Ribbon_Menu_Controls.htm (last image on
| that page)
|
|| just to regain some productivity. Sorry Milly, but "New" does not
|| equate with "Better." The ribbons are visual clutter taking up huge
|| amounts of space displaying functions I rarely use. Your focus
|| groups obviously include
|
| Double click a tab and the ribbon takes up as much space as an
| ordinary menu. Displaying the ribbon again is then done by simply
| clicking a tab ... just like ordinary menus.
|
|| people eager to please Microsoft but who are unconcerned about real
|| users in
|| the real world. This is not a problem with Old Hand's attitude nor
|| mine and I
|| resent your flippant comments. I have an MBA and a rather high IQ
|| and I am
|| quite comfortable with constructive change. This was a radical
|| change that was completely unnecessary. Look within and stop
|| insulting people who take
|| the time to write to you. Perhaps you need a vacation and that
|| explains your
|| inappropriately condescending tone. Anyway, thanks very much for
|| listening
|| to me whine, rant and ramble. I appreciate the opportunity (and
|| hope I posted this correctly--it is 3 am and I don't have my
|| glasses!). Best wishes
|| to both Old Hand and Milly...
||
|| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
||
|||
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/the-story-of-the-ribbon.aspx
||| for the history of the ribbon.
|||
||| The ribbon is NOT going away and many more non-Microsoft
||| applications are adapting the ribbon interface. As with going from
||| command line to GUI, there is a learning curve. And I say it is
||| about time for a change - it has
||| me me more productive in the applications I use... and my attitude
||| has a lot
||| to do with it.
|||
||| --
||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
|||
||| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
||| ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
||| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
|||
|||
||| After furious head scratching, OldHand asked:
|||
|||| I'm sure numerous victims of this software do hope the ribbon will
|||| go away. If it doesn't, M$ office will go away, sooner or later.
||||
|||| Did anyone try using these applications before releasing them, and
|||| if they did, did they produce a report we can read?
||||
|||| These days we no longer expect routine software to be quite so
|||| irritating. For example, if you want to insert a footnote or a
|||| legend in Word, you have to remember that those sorts of insertion
|||| are not under Insertion, but they go under 'References' (French
|||| term). A legend is not a reference, so you tend to click around
|||| for a while till you find it.
||||
|||| Font characteristics are under 'Acceuil', but subscripts and
|||| superscripts (which even schoolkids need) are nowhere easy to find.
|||| You can add them only to the top menu, which is quite ridiculous.
||||
|||| Why can't we configure the menus ourselves?
||||
|||| It takes time to learn new habits with new software. This is a
|||| total waste of time if the new software does nothing you need that
|||| you didn't have already. Nobody is going to develop good plugins
|||| for an application that is likely to be replaced quite soon by
|||| something else completely different.
||||
||||
||||
||||
|||| "JoAnn Paules [MVP]" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le
|||| message de ||||| There are third party add-ins available. Not sure if any are free
||||| tho. I wouldn't count on them being completely what you want. My
||||| personal suggestion would be to get used to the ribbon. It's not
||||| going to go away and you may not always be able to rely on an
||||| add-in being available.
|||||
||||| --
||||| JoAnn Paules
||||| MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
||||| Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"
|||||
|||||
|||||
||||| |||||| I greatly prefer the look and feel of Office 2003 when using Word
|||||| and Excel;
|||||| I am just curious if there is an "upgrade" or something similar
|||||| that can cause Office 2007 to act like Office 2003. Thanks for
|||||| any input.
|||
|||
||| .