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A suggestion for Microsoft!
A suggestion for Microsoft!
- Hey,
I'm gonna try to be as polite as possible here.
I grew up using Office 97 and Office 2000, and got to know and love them. When Office 2003 came out, I got used to that as well.
Well, when Office 2007 came out, I was very disappointed because the new Ribbon interface seemed to be more counter-productive than helpful. For that reason I've avoided buying it and still use 2000/2003. Well, I notice that with Office 2010, Microsoft is "refining" the Ribbon interface, which may be well-received by fans of the new user interface, but to me it just seems like more of the same.
What would be a really useful idea, IMHO, is to make it possible to turn the Ribbon on and off. And I don't mean like 2007 where you could "hide" it - as that leaves absolutely nothing there! What I mean is the option to turn off the Ribbon interface and have the usual File, Edit, Insert, etc. menus like before. That way people who like the old versions would have no reason to avoid the newest one (like how I avoid 2007), and people who already use 2007 wouldn't mind since the Ribbon is still there.
As I can say this for certain - if 2010 also has a Ribbon like 2007 that can't be switched to something a little more useful I'll avoid IT too. Please, Microsoft, for the sake of vintage software lovers around the world, PLEASE make it possible to turn the Ribbon back into a more recognized interface as an option!
Thanks!- Changed TypeJoe DEliaMSFT, OwnerTuesday, November 03, 2009 5:50 PM
All Replies
Hey,
The 2010 ribbon is (pretty much) completely customizable. As far as having an option to go back to the old menu system, it is just not going to happen. This subject has just been talked up and down again and again, and the response remains the same. The customizable ribbon is the interface and there is no interest on Microsoft's part on going back. Personally, I also happen to prefer it that way. I am sure, however, that once 2010 is released (much like 2007) someone will develop an add-on to do what you want.
I'm gonna try to be as polite as possible here.
I grew up using Office 97 and Office 2000, and got to know and love them. When Office 2003 came out, I got used to that as well.
Well, when Office 2007 came out, I was very disappointed because the new Ribbon interface seemed to be more counter-productive than helpful. For that reason I've avoided buying it and still use 2000/2003. Well, I notice that with Office 2010, Microsoft is "refining" the Ribbon interface, which may be well-received by fans of the new user interface, but to me it just seems like more of the same.
What would be a really useful idea, IMHO, is to make it possible to turn the Ribbon on and off. And I don't mean like 2007 where you could "hide" it - as that leaves absolutely nothing there! What I mean is the option to turn off the Ribbon interface and have the usual File, Edit, Insert, etc. menus like before. That way people who like the old versions would have no reason to avoid the newest one (like how I avoid 2007), and people who already use 2007 wouldn't mind since the Ribbon is still there.
As I can say this for certain - if 2010 also has a Ribbon like 2007 that can't be switched to something a little more useful I'll avoid IT too. Please, Microsoft, for the sake of vintage software lovers around the world, PLEASE make it possible to turn the Ribbon back into a more recognized interface as an option!
Thanks!Stephen- Um... is there an addon for 2007? I wasn't aware of such.
In order to put the new Ribbon back to how the old versions used to be, I don't think anything short of a registry hack/general program hack is gonna do it.
And that's one thing I hate about Microsoft - trying to ram stuff down their customers' throats. I mean, I consider myself more of a Microsoft fanboy than most people, I have a Zune (Soon to be getting a Zune HD in addition), an Xbox 360 with the HD-DVD addon, etc... but forced upgrades are an entirely different story. I already had to putz with Windows Live Messenger 8.1 to get that to let me on, since I refuse to use their new bloated excuse for a messenger (and hey, at least I'm not one of those people who just switches to Pidgin after getting fed up with WLM)
Once they release a public beta of Office 2010 I might try it (I didn't find out about the Technical Preview in time, unfortunately)... but if it's as annoying as 2007 I'm definitely not gonna buy it when it's released. All I could figure out how to do in 2007 was hide and unhide the ribbon, nothing else (Same with that forsaken Windows 7 Paint...), if you can move everything around that might be nice, as I could at least make it look like the traditional toolbars in Word 2000.
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2486/worda.png <-- Something like that. Looking at Wikipedia's screenshot of Word 2010 TP, I saw some of those icons there (like the left/center/right alignment) but if it could be flattened out and rearranged like mine is laid out, that would be awesome. Um... is there an addon for 2007? I wasn't aware of such.
A company released an add on for 2007 back in 2007, see: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/msoffice/?p=116. As to other issues, I won't get into a debate with anyone about Microsoft's approach to software development since that is really a matter of perspective. You view them as not being responsive to the consumer because you don't like the decisions. The fact is, however, that things like the ribbon originated in focus groups. One can also stick with 2003 if one wants. Granted, more government agencies are requiring 2007 formats for deliverables every time I submit a proposal. I generally just advise people to accept that things change and move forward and even some of the most computer challenged people in my profession successfully transitioned to 2007. It is hardly the case that even the menus have been static over the past 15 - 20 years anyway. To each their own but the old menus are really not going to come back, any more than Microsoft put the XP start menu back in Vista or Windows 7.
In order to put the new Ribbon back to how the old versions used to be, I don't think anything short of a registry hack/general program hack is gonna do it.
And that's one thing I hate about Microsoft - trying to ram stuff down their customers' throats. I mean, I consider myself more of a Microsoft fanboy than most people, I have a Zune (Soon to be getting a Zune HD in addition), an Xbox 360 with the HD-DVD addon, etc... but forced upgrades are an entirely different story. I already had to putz with Windows Live Messenger 8.1 to get that to let me on, since I refuse to use their new bloated excuse for a messenger (and hey, at least I'm not one of those people who just switches to Pidgin after getting fed up with WLM)
Once they release a public beta of Office 2010 I might try it (I didn't find out about the Technical Preview in time, unfortunately)... but if it's as annoying as 2007 I'm definitely not gonna buy it when it's released. All I could figure out how to do in 2007 was hide and unhide the ribbon, nothing else (Same with that forsaken Windows 7 Paint...), if you can move everything around that might be nice, as I could at least make it look like the traditional toolbars in Word 2000.
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2486/worda.png <-- Something like that. Looking at Wikipedia's screenshot of Word 2010 TP, I saw some of those icons there (like the left/center/right alignment) but if it could be flattened out and rearranged like mine is laid out, that would be awesome.Stephen- Oh wow, I can't believe I didn't hear about that.
I'm gonna get that trial right away for my Office 2007.
You don't happen to know of one for like, Paint and Wordpad in Windows 7, do you?
As for the menus in Vista/7... you can put it in Windows Classic theme and that does 99% of the job, good enough for some people. I don't mind Windows 7 Aero, as I actually like the fast-search bar, but it's not like they totally got rid of it - for example, it's just one quick checkbox to put back the menus in Explorer. See, the option is there, not completely gone. Which is fine by me. - Also have you tried the interactive guides that MS has for download. It will help you to use Office 2007 as it is. It will open the application (say Word) in the 2003 guide and you do what you would do with the File, Edit menus then this will dissolve into Office 2007 and will show you exactly how to do what you wanted in Office 2007. Also in Office 2010 the ribbons are customizable. You can actually make your own ribbon with all the things you use the most all on one ribbon right in front of you. In Office 2007 I keep my ribbons minimized and have put my most used commands on the Quick Access Bar.
