Word 2007 not working like Word 2003

[Bill]

We are having enormous problems with Word 2007. We are running XP Pro with
all updates and service packs. Office 2007 was installed last Friday
(15/12/06). Apart from all the other issues about 'ribbons' (which we believe
Microsoft has made a terrible design blunder with this), we are having a
nightmare producing our normal daily reports in Word. In Word 2003 we created
a landscape orientated document each morning with 2 pages, and chose
different odd and even for our headers ((This is now far too long winded in
Word 2007 and we continue to not be able to find the commands we are looking
for)). Once we have done this we insert a Wordart header into the new blank
header template and format it (this is also now very clumsy compared to what
it used to be). This is then followed by inserting an object from a file e.g.
an Excel spreadsheet with a block of data and a chart on the worksheet page.
In the past this has come across as a single object and then we resized it as
required to fit onto the Word page. This, apparently no longer works whether
you are doing it as word/excel (doc/xls) or word/excel (docx/xlsx files). The
only way to do this is a very long winded copy each object, paste special and
choose either the Excel workbook or the Excel graphic. How can this be
considered an increase in productivity? We believe Office 2007 will be
rejected by most people. Some of the new features are okay (except the
ribbon), the frustrations, learning curve (and cost behind that) are far too
excessive to justify the change. It is a well known fact in our industry that
every other version of Office is the way to go. Office 2000 was superb, we
skipped XP and moved to 2003 which has been a real workhorse - short on lots
of functionality but very stable and usable. Looks like Office 2007 has
fallen into the 'skip one cycle'. The comments that we have been reading
about Office 2007 from the pros all seem to suggest that it has been
redesigned to suit the non-power user - make it easier for those who only use
it sparingly - why is that - surely Microsoft need to cater for the people
who are demanding and power users as they use the product the most.

----------------
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http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-6584b8e38e24&dg=microsoft.public.office.misc

 

[C. Moya]

I agree that this is definately a "skip one cycle" release. I think that's
true of Office 2007, IE7, and even Vista. This is the first time in my
career as a Windows developer that I've said this sort of thing with any
vehemence (heck, I even liked WinME).

I've been using Office 2007 for over a month... and while I love the
improvements in Outlook 2007(actually they're bug fixes)... the rest of the
suite is just a big PIA on many many many levels.

 

[NewFox]

which we believe Microsoft has made a terrible design blunder with this

Wait till you see vista... lol

 

[NewFox]

You are correct.. at last some people with brains are posting!

 

[Bill]

We are having enormous problems with Word 2007. We are running XP Pro with
all updates and service packs. Office 2007 was installed last Friday
(15/12/06). Apart from all the other issues about 'ribbons' (which we believe
Microsoft has made a terrible design blunder with this), we are having a
nightmare producing our normal daily reports in Word. In Word 2003 we created
a landscape orientated document each morning with 2 pages, and chose
different odd and even for our headers ((This is now far too long winded in
Word 2007 and we continue to not be able to find the commands we are looking
for)). Once we have done this we insert a Wordart header into the new blank
header template and format it (this is also now very clumsy compared to what
it used to be). This is then followed by inserting an object from a file e.g.
an Excel spreadsheet with a block of data and a chart on the worksheet page.
In the past this has come across as a single object and then we resized it as
required to fit onto the Word page. This, apparently no longer works whether
you are doing it as word/excel (doc/xls) or word/excel (docx/xlsx files). The
only way to do this is a very long winded copy each object, paste special and
choose either the Excel workbook or the Excel graphic. How can this be
considered an increase in productivity? We believe Office 2007 will be
rejected by most people. Some of the new features are okay (except the
ribbon), the frustrations, learning curve (and cost behind that) are far too
excessive to justify the change. It is a well known fact in our industry that
every other version of Office is the way to go. Office 2000 was superb, we
skipped XP and moved to 2003 which has been a real workhorse - short on lots
of functionality but very stable and usable. Looks like Office 2007 has
fallen into the 'skip one cycle'. The comments that we have been reading
about Office 2007 from the pros all seem to suggest that it has been
redesigned to suit the non-power user - make it easier for those who only use
it sparingly - why is that - surely Microsoft need to cater for the people
who are demanding and power users as they use the product the most.

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-6584b8e38e24&dg=microsoft.public.office.misc

We have now discovered the reasoning behind all of this and a quick
workaround. Firstly teh reasoning. Microsoft have changed the charting
process in Office 2007. When you create a chart in Excel 2007 you are
creating a separate object to the data that you used to generate the chart,
therefore to insert object in Word, and choose the Excel spreadsheet you will
get the first object only. Not sure this was a good or bad idea, but that is
how it is.

The workaround requires more steps thatn in 2003 but it works and isnt too
complex. When in word, open the Excel workbook that has the chart and its
data - copy all of the data in Excel with Edit Copy or Ctl C or whatever way
you copy your data - make sure both the graphic and data are highlighted. Go
back to Word and choose Paste Special. The Paste Special dialogue box appears
and it defaults into HTML object. If you say okay you get your chart and its
data - no it isn't the Excel file it was in 2003 but the HTML file has its
benefits as well.

Apart from the productivity issue mentioned in the earlier point, this item
is now closed from our point of view.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Bill,

Glad you found another workaround The method I posted in a reply to your original message appears (after the 3rd try) in the web
interface for the MS discussion groups

but for some reason hasn't appeared in the newsreader interface through news://msnews.microsoft.com. Must be something that the
spam filters didn't like <g>.

==============

We have now discovered the reasoning behind all of this and a quick
workaround. Firstly teh reasoning. Microsoft have changed the charting
process in Office 2007. When you create a chart in Excel 2007 you are
creating a separate object to the data that you used to generate the chart,
therefore to insert object in Word, and choose the Excel spreadsheet you will
get the first object only. Not sure this was a good or bad idea, but that is
how it is.

The workaround requires more steps thatn in 2003 but it works and isnt too
complex. When in word, open the Excel workbook that has the chart and its
data - copy all of the data in Excel with Edit Copy or Ctl C or whatever way
you copy your data - make sure both the graphic and data are highlighted. Go
back to Word and choose Paste Special. The Paste Special dialogue box appears
and it defaults into HTML object. If you say okay you get your chart and its
data - no it isn't the Excel file it was in 2003 but the HTML file has its
benefits as well.

Apart from the productivity issue mentioned in the earlier point, this item
is now closed from our point of view.>>

--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Courtney]

I'm throwing my two cents in about the ribbons. As the CIO for a state with
40,000 PC/Microsoft users, I have nightmares about the training needed for
those thousands of users to move from Word 2002/2003 to 2007.
I won't even attempt it. I don't have now, nor will I ever have the
resources and support desk personnel to handle those problems.

Office 2007s ribbons strikes me as a case of having to do something,
anything, to push out a new version. Our current versions of Words are just
fine for the forseeable future. <sigh>

 

[C. Moya]

(Although I'm not a huge fan of Office 2007), I think that what you say is a
little shortsighted. If you sit down and look at the apps, you'll see that
the ribbon is essentially an "exploded" version of the classic Office menus.
They are pretty intuitive... and I think prove themselves A LOT more
productivity-inducing in the long-run.

But, yeah, I don't think Office 2007 is worth the hassle. Maybe the next
version will iron out the issues.

 

[Courtney]

C -

Your point is well taken but it took us 2 years to move the civil servants
from Word Perfect to MS Word and even then, too many cheated by keeping WP on
their system and using it when no one was looking. People don't like change
and changing word processors can be very tramatic to many people, especially
those who barely are able to use what they have now. Any CIO of a large
organization will say the same thing: 50% will make a good faith effort to
learn something new. 30% will struggle and eat up 90% of your resources and
the last 20% will fight it til the end.
I'm not saying the ribbons are "bad", I'm saying they are different enough
that this will cut short-to-medium term productivity, cause some frustration
and cost us a lot in training. With budget constraints in government these
days I can not be content with just long-term productivity gains. I can not
afford a 1% productivity now given staffing levels and workload on our
employees.

The bottom line is there is nothing that new in 2007 that requires a massive
switch-over. The average (government) Word user pounds out reports and memos
and letters. 2003 does that just fine. 2007 doesn't bring anything new to the
table that would require the effort needed to retrain thousands of users.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[C. Moya]

Point taken. I guess what I was trying to say is that I believe that Office
users will find Office 2007's ribbon instantly intuitive. I just don't
really see "the training" involved. Basically, the Ribbon is not as "new" as
it appears at first blush. In fact, all it does is make functions that used
to be buried in submenus and dialog boxes, instantly available....

The buttons still bring up the *same* exact dialog boxes that have always
been there (like the super-UNintuitive Envelopes and Labels dialog). This is
actually a pet-peeve of mine. I expected Office 2007 to be MORE of an
advance and overhaul than it actually is.

Having said that, I understand what you mean. I think MS "broke" enough
things (custom toolbars) and failed to address longstanding quirks and
deficiencies to warrant serious skepticism.

 

[tflipt]

I realize this is an older post but I have just got Word 2007 installed on my
computer at work (July 2008). There are quite a few issues I have with it but
really my main problem is working with templates created in a Word 2003
program that includes headers and footers created within the template. My
text jumps around and prints wrong, etc. You can literally watch the text
drop on the screen. I understand the concept of this being a program that is
not user friendly for people who really work with Word on a daily basis, all
day. It is just not good. It is hard to find people with the same problems
who have posted as well. Hope your issues turned out okay, Bill.

 

[Fishmidi]

Bob,
Please advise on the step when you click INSERT CHART and select chart type.
The error message : "Close dialogue boxes and CANCEL EDITING MODE OF EXCEL"
No dialogue boxes open; would EXCEL 2003 be causing this? Fishmidi

 

[Peter Foldes]

Office 2007 was installed last Friday (15/12/06). Apart from all the other issues

You are posting to a 4yr old post and asking a question which is next to impossible
to follow with all the old copies of post that you inserted .