Removing the Ribbon

[pcawley]

How do I minimize, move or remove the ribbon. I need to have as much of the
page displayed as possible to do what I need to do with pictures and such on
office documents. The grid in Word 2007 helps, but not as much as seeing
more of the page while having print large enough to read. Is there any way I
can; A- Go back to the old menu system (Not as intuitive but MUCH more space
efficent), B- Make the ribbon go vertical like you can with the taskbar
(Would use the waisted space on a widescreen display), C- Make the ribbon
much smaller by shrinking or removing the 'pretty' pictures that take up so
much space. The floating windows that appear are a great idea that I love,
but the ribbon just sucks. Or should I just get an apple.

 

[Gemini]

LOL! pcawley, I do believe there's a way to minimize the Ribbon. I don't
remember it, since after using the trial version of Office 2007 for a few
weeks, I chose to uninstall it and revert to Office 2003. I'm sure someone
else will post about how to minimize the Ribbon.

So long as you're using Office 2007, the only way to get the classic UI back
is to get third part add-ons that add one more tab with the classic UI in
them. If you search these discussion groups, you'll find that question
answered many times over. Some of these add-ons are free and you'll have to
shell out more $$$s for some. I recall trying out one of these. Per my
recollection, when the classic UI tab was displayed, the keyboard shortcuts
didn't work any more.

I do not believe you can make the Ribbon vertical.

As far as switching to a Mac is concerned, you might want to try it out at
your nearest Apple store. Office 2008 for the Mac retains the classic UI.

hth!


-- Gemini

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Control+F1 will minimize the ribbon. The same combo will get you back to
the normal ribbon.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

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


After furious head scratching, pcawley asked:

| How do I minimize, move or remove the ribbon. I need to have as much
| of the page displayed as possible to do what I need to do with
| pictures and such on office documents. The grid in Word 2007 helps,
| but not as much as seeing more of the page while having print large
| enough to read. Is there any way I can; A- Go back to the old menu
| system (Not as intuitive but MUCH more space efficent), B- Make the
| ribbon go vertical like you can with the taskbar (Would use the
| waisted space on a widescreen display), C- Make the ribbon much
| smaller by shrinking or removing the 'pretty' pictures that take up
| so much space. The floating windows that appear are a great idea
| that I love, but the ribbon just sucks. Or should I just get an
| apple.

 

[Bob I]

As with previous versions, r-clicking on the menu area brings up the
Options.

 

[pcawley]

Thanks, that helped a lot. What I really need are the menus back. I guess
the ribbon replaces the toolbars and it appears fine for that, but I almost
never used the toolbars as the menu was always there and much quicker. Is
there any way to get the menu bar back (it would easily fit on the same row
as the reduced ribbon). The one thing I really liked aboit Internet Explorer
vs Firefox at least up to release 7 is that you could eliminate most icons
and reduce it to just the menu bar and the address bar (F11 keeps the wrong
things). I wish that I could still do that with IE7, maybe the new google
browser will do that. MENU BAR FOREVER!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bob I]

Put your most used buttons/icons on the Quick Access Toolbar.

Thanks, that helped a lot. What I really need are the menus back. I guess
the ribbon replaces the toolbars and it appears fine for that, but I almost
never used the toolbars as the menu was always there and much quicker. Is
there any way to get the menu bar back (it would easily fit on the same row
as the reduced ribbon). The one thing I really liked aboit Internet Explorer
vs Firefox at least up to release 7 is that you could eliminate most icons
and reduce it to just the menu bar and the address bar (F11 keeps the wrong
things). I wish that I could still do that with IE7, maybe the new google
browser will do that. MENU BAR FOREVER!!!!!!!!!

:

Control+F1 will minimize the ribbon. The same combo will get you back to
the normal ribbon.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

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


After furious head scratching, pcawley asked:

| How do I minimize, move or remove the ribbon. I need to have as much
| of the page displayed as possible to do what I need to do with
| pictures and such on office documents. The grid in Word 2007 helps,
| but not as much as seeing more of the page while having print large
| enough to read. Is there any way I can; A- Go back to the old menu
| system (Not as intuitive but MUCH more space efficent), B- Make the
| ribbon go vertical like you can with the taskbar (Would use the
| waisted space on a widescreen display), C- Make the ribbon much
| smaller by shrinking or removing the 'pretty' pictures that take up
| so much space. The floating windows that appear are a great idea
| that I love, but the ribbon just sucks. Or should I just get an
| apple.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi P.,

There are several add-ins you can try out that will provide you with various features of the old UI. The article here covers a
couple of them
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CustomizeRibbon.htm
http://rondebruin.nl/ribbon.htm

Google's Chrome browser has no menu bar It does have an icon that includes a Menu drop down with Print, etc on it. Most
surprising thing on it for me was that even though it imports history, favorites/bookmarks, etc, it set the default behavior for
cookies to allow them all, which wasn't what was in the other browsers It does have an Easter egg though

In the address bar type
about:internets

===================
Thanks, that helped a lot. What I really need are the menus back. I guess
the ribbon replaces the toolbars and it appears fine for that, but I almost
never used the toolbars as the menu was always there and much quicker. Is
there any way to get the menu bar back (it would easily fit on the same row
as the reduced ribbon). The one thing I really liked aboit Internet Explorer
vs Firefox at least up to release 7 is that you could eliminate most icons
and reduce it to just the menu bar and the address bar (F11 keeps the wrong
things). I wish that I could still do that with IE7, maybe the new google
browser will do that. MENU BAR FOREVER!!!!!!!!! >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[ddpcad]

LOL! pcawley, I do believe there's a way to minimize the Ribbon. I don't
remember it, since after using the trial version of Office 2007 for a few
weeks, I chose to uninstall it and revert to Office 2003.

just out of curiosity, if you don't use Office 2007, why are you here?
Other than to just stir up the s**t with your never ending anti ribbon
posts?? FYI there are plenty of users who have no problem with the
ribbon...count me as one of them

flame away 2003 user
Dave
DDP

 

[ddpcad]

just out of curiosity, if you don't use Office 2007, why are you here?
Other than to just stir up the s**t with your never ending anti ribbon
posts?? FYI there are plenty of users who have no problem with the
ribbon...count me as one of them

flame away 2003 user
Dave
DDP

well, I apologize for my misconception that this is an Office 2007 only
group, so stay if you like. I still like the Ribbon

 

[Gemini]

ddpcad, apology accepted. I initially came here to find out if there was a
way to revert to the classic UI, since I found the Ribbon to be illogical,
non-intuitive and slow (and hence a productivity killer). I was using the
Office 2007 trial version. The fact that Excel kept crashing intermittently
didn't help one little bit.

There are many who don't like the Ribbon, for one reason or another.
However, some pro-Ribbon posters here don't seem to understand the fact that
no matter how much they argue or deride those who don't share their
enthusiasm about the Ribbon, they're not going to win over those who don't
like the Ribbon.

BTW, when I used the trial version, I had absolutely no preconceived notions
about the new UI. Having done plenty of UI and software design during my
software design/development days, I can see how the Ribbon might be helpful
to some, esp. novice users. However, imho, it does not suit me at all.

Perhaps that'll explain why I visit this group.

-- Gemini

 

[Dave Jones]

Gemini wrote:
(snip)

Perhaps that'll explain why I visit this group.

-- Gemini

as the old saying goes..."to each their own" As an aside, I make my
living using AutoCAD, which in the latest version has gone to the Ribbon
UI concept. But Autodesk was kind enough to provide a way to revert
back to the traditional interface. As I have been using AutoCAD since
'90 I couldn't bring myself to go to the Ribbon and changed the
interface back to what I was used to. I was forced to use the ribbon in
Office and now I like it because I became used to it but I probably
would have opted out given the opportunity
Dave
DDP

 

[Gemini]

"to each his own"
I couldn't agree more. Had the Ribbon not been such a productivity killer
for me, I might have continued with it. The fact that Excel kept crashing
didn't exactly help matters. Hence I decided not to shell out the $$s MS
wanted for Office 2007. In my case, the ROI was extremely low.

Oh well! As you said, to each his own.

-- Gemini

 

[Gordon]

I was forced to use the ribbon in Office and now I like it because I became
used to it

But surely that's the point isn't it? I just wonder how many of these
ranters against the Ribbon have really given it any sort of chance, rather
than just "Oh I don't like the look of THAT so I wall NOT even try to use
it...."

 

[Dave Jones]

But surely that's the point isn't it? I just wonder how many of these
ranters against the Ribbon have really given it any sort of chance,
rather than just "Oh I don't like the look of THAT so I wall NOT even
try to use it...."

most of the dissenters I would guess Btw, I use Word, Excel, and
Access a lot. And while I wouldn't consider myself a power user I can
get around and get things done. I have never had a crash associated with
the use of any of these programs
Dave
DDP

 

[Gemini]

"I just wonder how many of these ranters against the Ribbon have really given
it any sort of chance..."

In my experience, pretty much all people are willing to try something new.
How long someone will continue using a UI that they don't like, that slows
them down, etc., depends both on the person and their specific situation. For
someone who's used the classic UI for many years and have developed above
average proficiency with it, they may not have the patience to learn a whole
new UI because someone at MS thinks that's a good idea. Someone who faces
heavy deadlines and finds the Ribbon slows things down, isn't going to be
very inclined to invest the resources necessary to learn the new UI, merely
because someone at MS thinks it's a good idea. Furthermore, they may not have
the luxury to sit and learn the new UI before they can develop the necessary
proficiency AND complete their work on time.

If you read the various responses on www.exceluser.com, you'll notice quite
a few users DID use the Ribbon for a while and then decided it wasn't worth
their while.

Obviously, someone at AutoCAD cares about their customers. Someone made the
smart, customer focused decision to provide their users with both UIs and let
the users select, as opposed to MS's arrogant attitude.

-- Gemini

 

[Dave Jones]

Gemini wrote:
(snip)

Obviously, someone at AutoCAD cares about their customers. Someone made the
smart, customer focused decision to provide their users with both UIs and let
the users select, as opposed to MS's arrogant attitude.

-- Gemini

fyi, Autodesk, the company created AutoCAD, the program. It's funny that
no matter what forum one is on, it's a common thread that the Big Bad
Corporate guys don't care about us lowly users, and are considered
arrogant and uncaring. And yet here I am, almost 40 years removed from
my beginning of drafting on the boards, cranking out technically
(almost) perfect drawings that have so much intelligent data in them
that it makes my head swim just trying to keep up. I now extract much of
that data to Excel spreadsheets or Access databases and create output in
seconds that used to take days of manual counting of the parts and
pieces. And, I appreciate the ability to be able to do that. Sure,
neither Autodesk or Microsoft are perfect but they both make some pretty
darned good software that works for a multitude of people, like me...

The ribbon is not going to go away IMO so we must decide for ourselves:
keep up, or, fall behind.
Dave
DDP

 

[Gemini]

"The ribbon is not going to go away IMO so we must decide for ourselves: keep
up, or, fall behind."

There's a third choice: use an alternative to Office! MS couldn't have come
up with anything better to promote the use of alternatives.

-- Gemini

 

[Dave Jones]

"The ribbon is not going to go away IMO so we must decide for ourselves: keep
up, or, fall behind."

There's a third choice: use an alternative to Office! MS couldn't have come
up with anything better to promote the use of alternatives.

-- Gemini

True, but I've tried the alternatives to the Office Suite and AutoCAD
and not found them particularly user friendly, I'll stick with the
originals and live with the Ribbon where required.
Dave
DDP

 

[Gemini]

I have no opinion about AutoCAD. I haven't done any drafting since my
engineering school days and then it was a manual process. However, there's at
least a choice of UI where AutoCAD's concerned.

As for the Office suite alternatives, I'm working on
simplifying/re-architecting my spreadsheet set-up. Since I've been busier
than a one-legged man in a fanny kicking contest and Office 2003 is working
just fine, I haven't placed any urgency on moving away from Office. However,
if someone at MS doesn't see the light and come up with an alternative to the
Ribbon, migrating away from Office is the chosen path for yours truly.
Thankfully, I am not beholden in any way, shape or form to using or shelling
out $$$s to MS for products that are not suitable for my purposes.

-- Gemini

 

[turndownthemusicnow]

The Ribbon sucks and and for all you retards that like it and think i
is progress you suck too