Word 2004 request: get rid of the "Do you want to revert the saved..." window

[tuqqer]

Just got a call from a newly converted Word user (from Appleworks). He
asked about a window that has irked me for years: the "Do you want to
rever to the saved xyz?"

If you have a Word doc open; it gets buried under other open windows,
you forget that it's open; and you then double click this doc's icon.
This Revert window then pops up.

I still don't know what it means. Which saved version? The last time
you hit Command-S? The last time the auto-save saved it? The last time
you opened it? Furthermore, if I guess wrong, will the changes I made
disappear forever?

But these questions aren't even the point. No other application does
this when you double click a doc icon that is already open. The
message is way too cryptic, and the results (I think) are too damaging
if you guess wrong. The message just isn't needed. If I want to revert
back to some other point in the save process, then there should be a
menu item for this. Not when you double click its icon. And even this
menu item should be very clearly laid out, something like "choose
which saved version you would like to revert to."

Been needing to get this one off my chest for years Am I the only
one who thinks this window simply needs to disappear?

 

[Bill Weylock]

Yeah.

If there is a good reason for it, I don't know what it would be.

I think it's impossible to make the wrong choice anyway, so maybe it just
raises blood pressure.

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Revert to saved means that it will go from the version you have open to the
last saved version on your drive (I think), or in other words, erase the
recent changes you made. Generally you want to say no. So I think it is
possible to make the wrong choice, Bill.

You make a good point about it being unnecessary, tuqqer. Do send in your
complaint via Help | Feedback.

DM

 

[Phillip M. Jones, CE.T.]

"Do you want to rever to the saved xyz?"

Is telling you do you want to "Revert" to the last saved edition of the file your
working on.

Say you worked a file for half an hour, and you decided after that half hour, to
proofread everything. You decide you haven't drank enough coffee, or Tea to awaken
you and you've put in gobeldee gook. If you "HAVE NOT" used the "SAVE AS" command
choosing "rever to last eddition of the file ..." Allow you to go back to square
one, and save major face.

"IF" however; at any point you used "SAVE AS" and you used the same name. "YOU ARE
TOAST."

Just using "Save" all changes although showing in there proper places to you in the
document or print like you have changed; the cahnges are actually appended to the
end of the document. So when using the revert command it delete anything appended to
the end that has not been saved.

However; if you use "Save As" then a completely new document is created and all
appended changes are placed in the correct position in the document. So there are no
appended changes for Revert to read.

because of all this appending this cause file bloat, and the posibility for file
corruption with each append operation.

Save as on the other hand removes all the excess crude need to append changes and
makes for a more compact document - BUT, you cannot revert to revisions made before
the "SAVE AS" command.

Yeah.

If there is a good reason for it, I don't know what it would be.

I think it's impossible to make the wrong choice anyway, so maybe it
just raises blood pressure.

--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |MEMBER:VPEA (LIFE) ETA-I, NESDA,ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112-1809 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://home.kimbanet.com/~pjones/birthday/index.htm>
<http://vpea.exis.net>

 

[Jeffrey Weston]

Hello!

Thanks for the comments. I've documented it, and we'll look into this for
future releases of MacWord.

(I have to say I've wondering about that Alert too.

Jeffrey Weston
Mac Word Test
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft

 

[Beth Rosengard]

I find the dialog annoying too but ... If you're working on a document and
make changes without saving (hey, it happens!), then switch to another
document, etc., etc., you *could* make the wrong choice. If you revert to
the previously saved version, you would lose any subsequent changes that you
forgot to save. So I guess it does have a practical purpose.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Bill Weylock]

Sure!

But it seems to me it is offering to make that mistake for you.

Probably one of those ideas that would make sense if the dialog were
rewritten. How, I have no idea.


Best,


- Bill

 

[Elliott Roper]

Sure!

But it seems to me it is offering to make that mistake for you.

Probably one of those ideas that would make sense if the dialog were
rewritten. How, I have no idea.

Another toy I have here, when confronted with Word's fear inducing
situation says:

mumble.jpg is already open. Open as "Untitled"?

Somewhere in my pile of books is a delightful booklet by Gerry Weinberg
of "Psychology of Computer Programming" fame.

It is called "Are your lights on?"
That was the answer to a puzzle of what to put on road signs at each
end of a long tunnel in Switzerland. It was really about understanding
your problems before solving them. Should I send a copy to...?

Word (and lots of other programs) has another that scares me shitless.
In all the millions of set up panels and prefs is the dread phrase
"default..." How much of the hard work setting up the software the way
I like it will be destroyed if I press this button?

 

[Phillip M. Jones, CE.T.]

Another toy I have here, when confronted with Word's fear inducing
situation says:

mumble.jpg is already open. Open as "Untitled"?

Somewhere in my pile of books is a delightful booklet by Gerry Weinberg
of "Psychology of Computer Programming" fame.

It is called "Are your lights on?"
That was the answer to a puzzle of what to put on road signs at each
end of a long tunnel in Switzerland. It was really about understanding
your problems before solving them. Should I send a copy to...?

Word (and lots of other programs) has another that scares me shitless.
In all the millions of set up panels and prefs is the dread phrase
"default..." How much of the hard work setting up the software the way
I like it will be destroyed if I press this button?

How about sending a free copy of the book to everyone that post on this list <grin>

Half the time I don't know whether my lights are on or off. Guess its working with
all these MS products.

--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |MEMBER:VPEA (LIFE) ETA-I, NESDA,ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112-1809 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://home.kimbanet.com/~pjones/birthday/index.htm>
<http://vpea.exis.net>

 

[Elliott Roper]

Half the time I don't know whether my lights are on or off. Guess its working with
all these MS products.

That's the psychology. B F Skinner would call using Word "variable
ratio conditioning"
In other words, it is a mistake to work properly every time. You can
set up much stronger conditioning by rewarding the user randomly.
</cynicism>