Office 2007

[dasadler]

I'm sure many of us have thought... "If only Microsoft had asked me..." but, of course, it didn't happen. The fact is that is it different... not bad.. just different. Some love it and others do not. If there are tools or menu choices you user regularly and you don't care for the number of clicks to get to them, you can always add it to the Quick Access bar that is atop the ribbon.

While it is imperfect (and honestly, do you really think they can ever satisfy EVERYONE?), I am convinced they have taken appropriate steps to move the application in the right direction and are receptive to enhancements and ideas. I just wish I knew where to send suggestions. I find that the more I work with it, the more I like it (except for the frustrations as mentioned earlier).

[HansV]

Hah! WordPad, like the Notepad application explicitly mentioned by Jensen in the video, is a good example of an application for which the menu/toolbar interface was perfectly appropriate - there's a limited number of commands that can easily be grouped into File, Edit, etc. menus, each with a limited number of items. The ribbon interface doesn't really make the application easier to use, and it takes up much more space. So it's just a demonstration of "we can do it, so we'll shove it down the customers' throats!"

All this makes me sound like a Microsoft basher, which I'm not! I admire many things they're doing, and I like Windows 7 very much!

[LadyRef]

I'm new to this group. What does FWIW mean???? If anyone finds access to a comment page for Windows applications, please let me know. I've been looking since day one to add my thoughts to their changes.

[HansV]

FWIW = For What It's Worth

Some other frequently used acronyms:

BTW = By The Way
FYI = For Your Information
IMO = In My Opinion
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion

[StuartR]

...IMHO = In My Humble Opinion

and of course, IMNSHO = In my not so humble opinion

[Samantha]

There is also

        IIRC = if I recall correctly

(which I should use more often, as my recaller isn't as sharp as it used to be)

[pi-eater]

I have been using it for about two years now at work and I HATE IT! I have had time to get past the learning curve, but still spend hours of my time trying to figure out what I could do instantly in 2003. The Ribbon is a good idea implemented extremely poorly. Perhaps one of my main complaints is that to customize a Ribbon takes as much effort as I used to spend creating an entire database. And no I cannot use any tools to make things easier; like many places, everything is locked down. I don't think I'll ever write another Access database again.

[Wendell]

I've been using it off and on for most of the last 4 years, and I share your frustrations - and unfortunately, I have to jump back and forth between it and older versions - and I'm still faster in most cases on the older version. BTW it is nice to have another Coloradoan here in the Lounge.

[agibsonsw]

Hello.
In Office 2007 I often open a file (top-left), change the zoom (bottom right) sort a table (top right) and switch sheets
(bottom left); I'm getting cross-eyed.
I believe in Office 2010 (beta) we have the ability to customize the ribbon? Which I take as an admission by Microsoft that
they got it wrong. Andy.

[HansV]

I believe in Office 2010 (beta) we have the ability to customize the ribbon? Which I take as an admission by Microsoft that
they got it wrong. Andy.

They probably wanted easy-to-use customizability for Office 2007, but simply didn't have enough time to program it.