Microsoft Office 2007 programs

[Andrew]

I have used MS Office programs (Word, Powerpoint, Excel and Publisher) since
1997. I am quite familiar with them all. In versions 1997 & 2003 it was
extremely easy to do things such as close a document and to set default
folders you wish the programs to use when opening or saving a document. You
just clicked on the menu item titled TOOLS at the top of the program and in
30 seconds you have all you want.

Well in August 2009 my friend built a laptop for me with Vista and he had to
install Windows Office 2007. Since August 2009 I have been having a horrible
time with Word, Powerpoint, Excel and Publisher.

My problem is that there is no CLOSE button to close the document you have
open and I was sick of the program defaulting to C:/Users/andrew/Documents
because I have specific subfolders titled PowerPoint Presentations, Excel
Documents, and Publisher Documents but never could figure out how to
designate them as default locations for files.

So on May 27th my fiancee, who happens to be an IT Tech, called me and it
took her about 20 minutes to get me to the right place. The problem is that
in the 2007 versions you have to click on the Office 2007 Logo in the upper
left corner of the open program to get all the options I wanted.

Well guess what? I never had to go beyond the little diskette which is the
SAVE icon so I never thought that the Office 2007 Logo was actually a
clickable item that would give me all the options I have been desperately
searching for the past 9 months.

She finally told me to just click on the Office 2007 Logo and see what
happens and by golly there were all the options I have been trying to find
for 9 months. It took me about 2 minutes to change all my default folders in
all the Office 2007 programs.

Now I had to ask her who told her that you have to click on the Office 2007
Logo and she said "Nobody...I just happened to find it totally by accident
when my curser went over the Logo and I saw it brought up the menu of items."
She further told me it was about 3 months into using Office 2007 that she
"found that by accident."

So I have to throw this question out there for everyone to consider. If
someone like me who has used Office 1997 and 2003 programs for 13 years...had
a miserable time trying to find something as simple as a CLOSE button and the
default folders designation page, then how much harder is it for people to
find it when they are new to Office 2007 programs?

NINE MONTHS people! And I am a 13-year user of Office programs!

And why in the world would the people at Microsoft require you to click on
the Office 2007 Logo in the upper left hand corner to get the options
everyone needs, without ever telling them that is what the logo is for?

Yes, I did go into the help memu for Office 2007 and when I entered a search
for default folders and followed their links...it did remotely mention
something about the Office 2007 Logo on the program, but I had no clue what
they were talking about because who in their right mind would ever think of
clicking on a Logo instead of a menu item across the top to get the options
they wanted?

This is one of the reasons people get upset with Microsoft, especially users
like me with 13 years of experience with certain programs and then overnight
I have no clue how to use the program options.

 

[Ben M. Schorr, MVP]

That was a problem that was identified in the beta of Office 2007 which is
why when you install Office 2007 the "Office Button" as it's called pulses
at you until you click it. It does that to entice people to click it and
discover it's a button.

That was only marginally successful which is why Office 2010 does away with
the Office button in favor of the "File" tab which launches "Backstage".
Much more discoverable.

--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
http://www.officeforlawyers.com/outlook.htm
Author: The Lawyer's Guide to Microsoft Outlook 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/ol4law-amazon

 

[JoAnn Paules]

I would strongly suggest adding Close to the Quick Access Toolbar.

 

[BillyBob]

<Snip diatribe >

Andrew,

Yada, yada, yada.

You say you have been using MS Office for 13 years and it took you 9 months
to know to click on the Office button ??? You have to be kidding me. Then,
to make matters worse, you're pissed at Microsoft for your ignorance.

Geez, man. Have you ever heard of Google ? I believe I had 3,180,000,000
hits in 0.17 seconds on how to close office 2007 documents.

Here, let me help you

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+close+office+2007+documents

In addition, during your use of Office 2007 apps, do you recall coming
across something called the "Quick Access Toolbar" (QAT) ? You could have
added a 'Close' icon to it so you would not have to constantly deal with the
Office button menu.

I'm thinking you should go back to pencil, paper and a metal file cabinet.

OK, I'll answer your questions:

ANDREW QUESTION
"If someone like me who has used Office 1997 and 2003 programs for 13
years...had a miserable time trying to find something as simple as a CLOSE
button and the default folders designation page, then how much harder is it
for people to find it when they are new to Office 2007 programs?"

ANSWER
New users don't find it difficult at all. They have enough sense to search
and find the information they need.

ANDREW QUESTION
"And why in the world would the people at Microsoft require you to click on
the Office 2007 Logo in the upper left hand corner to get the options
everyone needs, without ever telling them that is what the logo is for?"

ANSWER
Did you expect Bill Gates to come to your house after purchasing MS Office
and personally tutor you in the basics of the new version ?

ANDREW QUESTION
"Yes, I did go into the help memu for Office 2007 and when I entered a
search
for default folders and followed their links...it did remotely mention
something about the Office 2007 Logo on the program, but I had no clue what
they were talking about because who in their right mind would ever think of
clicking on a Logo instead of a menu item across the top to get the options
they wanted?"

ANSWER
Well, at least you had enough sense to search for information. When you
didn't understand what the Office button was, did you search for information
about that ? No ! Just about all users were in their right minds and
clicked on the Office button and VOILA, options out the yin-yang.

Whatever ! Before you get married remember to Google "what does a groom
do to the bride the night he gets married".

BB