M
Margolotta
Whilst I will freely admit that, usually, I use the Mac version of Office, I
have downloaded and installed the latest Public Beta of 2007 and installed it
on my PC, just to see what all the fuss and hype is about.
Well, I have to say that, superficially, I'm impressed. I like the new 'live
preview' feature and hope that MS incorporates it into the next Mac Office
release. I'm not sure I like the 'ribbon', however; I much preferred the good
ol' fashioned menu system. You know what they say, if it ain't broke...
Anyway, that's by the by. I have a letter I need to type this morning and,
usually, I use the letter wizard to help me accomplish my letter writing
tasks. But, for the love of sanity, where in Hades has MS hidden it?! I've
spent the past 15 minutes calling down every pox imaginable of the
developers' heads because it's just not where I think it, logically, /ought/
to be; i.e. in the 'letters' section of the box that pops up when you click
'New' from the Office logo menu. It was under the 'letters' category in 2003,
just as it should have been. But it friggin' well isn't! I used the 'help'
(ahem!) and searched for 'letter wizard' and all I got were a long list of
pre-designed templates - all on letter paper and all Americanised. Whilst I'm
sure that there are many 'over there' that use them, they're pretty much
useless to all of us 'over here' (I'm in the UK).
All I wish to do is to use the letter wizard to layout my letter, like I have
been doing since I first began using Office well over 15 years ago.
Yes, I could use the Mac version, but I'd like to put the beta through its
paces. If it can't do what I want to do, then it's absolutely no good for my
- and I'm sure many others' - purposes.
There is a rule that states that that, for software to be 'fit for purpose',
the user has to find the tool(s) to accomplish their goal(s) within the first
2-5 minutes. If they cannot, then the software has been badly designed. I'm
afraid Office (well Word, certainly) falls afoul of this rule. I'm an
experienced (albeit lazy) Word user and I cannot find what I need after
searching for 15 minutes!
I apologise if I'm just being incredibly dense, but I've searched and
searched and I cannot locate it.
I guess I could always lay it out by hand, but that doesn't get away from the
fact the wizard is missing. M$ hasn't done something stupid and ditched the
wizard system in favour of totally useless (to anyone who isn't American)
predesigned templates, have they? If so, they'\ve been very, very, very,
silly and will, probably, alienate a lot of loyal users.
Could someone, please, give me a damned good hard shove in the right
direction? It'd be very much appreciated.
Cheers, folks!
have downloaded and installed the latest Public Beta of 2007 and installed it
on my PC, just to see what all the fuss and hype is about.
Well, I have to say that, superficially, I'm impressed. I like the new 'live
preview' feature and hope that MS incorporates it into the next Mac Office
release. I'm not sure I like the 'ribbon', however; I much preferred the good
ol' fashioned menu system. You know what they say, if it ain't broke...
Anyway, that's by the by. I have a letter I need to type this morning and,
usually, I use the letter wizard to help me accomplish my letter writing
tasks. But, for the love of sanity, where in Hades has MS hidden it?! I've
spent the past 15 minutes calling down every pox imaginable of the
developers' heads because it's just not where I think it, logically, /ought/
to be; i.e. in the 'letters' section of the box that pops up when you click
'New' from the Office logo menu. It was under the 'letters' category in 2003,
just as it should have been. But it friggin' well isn't! I used the 'help'
(ahem!) and searched for 'letter wizard' and all I got were a long list of
pre-designed templates - all on letter paper and all Americanised. Whilst I'm
sure that there are many 'over there' that use them, they're pretty much
useless to all of us 'over here' (I'm in the UK).
All I wish to do is to use the letter wizard to layout my letter, like I have
been doing since I first began using Office well over 15 years ago.
Yes, I could use the Mac version, but I'd like to put the beta through its
paces. If it can't do what I want to do, then it's absolutely no good for my
- and I'm sure many others' - purposes.
There is a rule that states that that, for software to be 'fit for purpose',
the user has to find the tool(s) to accomplish their goal(s) within the first
2-5 minutes. If they cannot, then the software has been badly designed. I'm
afraid Office (well Word, certainly) falls afoul of this rule. I'm an
experienced (albeit lazy) Word user and I cannot find what I need after
searching for 15 minutes!
I apologise if I'm just being incredibly dense, but I've searched and
searched and I cannot locate it.
I guess I could always lay it out by hand, but that doesn't get away from the
fact the wizard is missing. M$ hasn't done something stupid and ditched the
wizard system in favour of totally useless (to anyone who isn't American)
predesigned templates, have they? If so, they'\ve been very, very, very,
silly and will, probably, alienate a lot of loyal users.
Could someone, please, give me a damned good hard shove in the right
direction? It'd be very much appreciated.
Cheers, folks!