Office 2010

[AtW]

If you can't keep up, get out of the game. A negative attitude to change is invariably unhelpful.

I don't think I'll be needing your view whether to get in or out of any game.

There is no excuse whatsoever not to keep old interface even if it's off by default - I was forced to upgrade to Outlook 2010 and year later I still think those stupid buttons are in totally wrong places.

WTF should I be forced to spend another 20 years to learn intuitively horrible new interface when I've spend last 20 years learning old one?

There are NO practical benefits of this tulip ribbon - NONE at all.

The only single reason they went for it was to make new version look different enough to make people upgrade.

[Spacecadet]

I don't think I'll be needing your view whether to get in or out of any game.

There is no excuse whatsoever not to keep old interface even if it's off by default - I was forced to upgrade to Outlook 2010 and year later I still think those stupid buttons are in totally wrong places.

WTF should I be forced to spend another 20 years to learn intuitively horrible new interface when I've spend last 20 years learning old one?

There are NO practical benefits of this tulip ribbon - NONE at all.

The only single reason they went for it was to make new version look different enough to make people upgrade.

20 years to learn the new one?? Do you play the banjo by any chance?
Took me 6 months to get comfortable

Advantages:
Everyone now has the same menu which makes life a lot easier than all the customised variations people used to have.
Nothing is buried in a tree menu so all options are 1 click away (or 0 clicks away if you use the scroll wheel )
There is actually a fairly logic grouping to the whole thing

Disadvantages:
Old fart luddites getting easily confused

[TykeMerc]

I found it easy enough to swap, yes I often have to search for menu items, but that's a decreasing irritant with familiarity. I've got Office 2007 on my client work Laptop (Project 2003 though).

The one thing I really dislike is I can't make the ribbon narrower (or if I can I haven't found out how) and there are times when I want the screen space. The old menu bar was better in that regard especially on a laptop screen.

[Spacecadet]

right click on the ribbon and select "Minimise the ribbon"

[SueEllen]

Disadvantages:
Old fart luddites getting easily confused

To be fair when you are designing user interfaces for a new version of pre-existing software and a fair number of your target audience are not technical or young, then you need to ensure the interface is as similar as possible.

[Ignis Fatuus]

What's people impressions of office 2010 so far?

It gives me the impression of having more levels to step down through to get to what you want. Actually I don't think there are more levels, but I find it harder to navigate down them. But then I'm working with a German version so I don't always know which ribbon to start with, and I even if I google to find what corresponds to what, it doesn't necessarily help if the results are in English.

[Sysman]

But then I'm working with a German version so I don't always know which ribbon to start with, and I even if I google to find what corresponds to what, it doesn't necessarily help if the results are in English.

This is why I invested in Windows 7 Ultimate rather than Professional. I can swap user languages to see what is what (well I don't have Office, but it works for the rest of the system).

Does the German version of Office have bits where the German text doesn't fit into the boxes? That's certainly the case in some of the admin areas.

[escapeUK]

Tulip - whoever removed proper menues should have been fired out of a cannon.

What I didnt understand, was why they didnt make the ribbon an option. Kinda like classic menus, and ribbon menus.

What Microsoft have achieved, is that people carry on using their old versions and dont buy their new software. Great move.

They have really lost the plot lately, Vista... Rubbish. Office 2007 & 2010, everything you knew how to do, you now dont. VS 2010 slow as sludge.

[d000hg]

There is no excuse whatsoever not to keep old interface even if it's off by default

WTF should I be forced to spend another 20 years to learn intuitively horrible new interface when I've spend last 20 years learning old one?

There are NO practical benefits of this tulip ribbon - NONE at all.

The only single reason they went for it was to make new version look different enough to make people upgrade.

What I didnt understand, was why they didnt make the ribbon an option. Kinda like classic menus, and ribbon menus.

What Microsoft have achieved, is that people carry on using their old versions and dont buy their new software. Great move.

It's pretty blindingly obvious from the reaction of people like AtW why they didn't make it optional. People would try it once, say "I can use the old way easier" and switch it off forever. It wouldn't matter how amazingly brilliant any new system is, this is what would happen for the vast majority of people... like those who try to make Vista/W7 look like Win95 because that was the last OS they understood properly. You have to force people and just hope that they come to realise the new system is better. In the case of the ribbon, most people who use it and don't deliberately not learn it seem to end up liking it, so MS probably have got it right. For people like AtW who take 20 years to learn how to use menus, well there is no helping such people.

I bet you both have gone through big changes in OS and other tech in your working life and found it easy, now you suddenly reach a point you're not as able to cope with change and it becomes a sticking point. It seems to happen to lots of people... my Dad was fine jumping from Dos & Novell to Windows 3 but simply couldn't 'get' Win95, his brain's elasticity had worn out it seemed. It'd be the same if we switched to the Euro... some people would never be able to stop internally converting costs back to pounds.
Accept it and put a little time in to learn rather than complaining and starting along the path to being a dinosaur. The ribbon is not complicated or scary. Regular menus didn't take long to learn with the aid of a book, nor does this. Get over it or prepare for the scrap heap.

[escapeUK]

It's pretty blindingly obvious from the reaction of people like AtW why they didn't make it optional. People would try it once, say "I can use the old way easier" and switch it off forever. It wouldn't matter how amazingly brilliant any new system is, this is what would happen for the vast majority of people... like those who try to make Vista/W7 look like Win95 because that was the last OS they understood properly. You have to force people and just hope that they come to realise the new system is better. In the case of the ribbon, most people who use it and don't deliberately not learn it seem to end up liking it, so MS probably have got it right. For people like AtW who take 20 years to learn how to use menus, well there is no helping such people.

I bet you both have gone through big changes in OS and other tech in your working life and found it easy, now you suddenly reach a point you're not as able to cope with change and it becomes a sticking point. It seems to happen to lots of people... my Dad was fine jumping from Dos & Novell to Windows 3 but simply couldn't 'get' Win95, his brain's elasticity had worn out it seemed. It'd be the same if we switched to the Euro... some people would never be able to stop internally converting costs back to pounds.
Accept it and put a little time in to learn rather than complaining and starting along the path to being a dinosaur. The ribbon is not complicated or scary. Regular menus didn't take long to learn with the aid of a book, nor does this. Get over it or prepare for the scrap heap.

Oh, so the developers knew better than the customers. If I coded like that I would be out of work.

I dont find it "difficult" I find it stupid and pointless. Pointless change for the sake of change to sell a new version, sell more books and training courses. People like you who think you must keep up cost business millions and make Microsoft lots of money.

When I buy new PCs for users, they dont tend to ask about speed or memory, they say I want XP, I dont want office 2007. I now have one director of the place I contract for telling me how good he thinks Open Office is... Just like the old office but free!