Comments on: Microsoft Office Fluent - Official Name for MS Office 2007 Ribbon-based User Interface

By: Overview of the Features and Benefits of Word 2007 » My Digital Life

Overview of the Features and Benefits of Word 2007 » My Digital Life — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:40:43 +0000

[...] access commands or items with much more easier Word 2007 has a new, intuitive user interface called Ribbon that can help you to create documents much quicker than you could in previous version of Word. By [...]

By: John

John — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:52:09 +0000

MS are usually quite good at listening to customer feedback, so is there any word on a fix for this insanely annoying ribbon? 20 years of working with Excel and I am now made to look like a newbie everytime I try to find the simplest thing. Surely they could have a “Classic view” option like XP kept when they realised how irritated old hands were with the new “Mac-Clone” look.
First they scrap VB6 and relegate VBA then they destroy MS Office. What ARE they thinking?

By: KingSoft Office 2007 Personal English Edition Free Download as Complete Familiar Microsoft Office Replacement Alternative » My Digital Life

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:31:23 +0000

[...] lot of users feeling completely piss off with the new Office Fluent ribbon interface in Microsoft Office 2007, and prefer the classic user interface in Microsoft Office 2003. Beside, [...]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:00:20 +0000

I don’t know which Microsoft employees came up with the Ribbon idea but they should be fired at once. It’s a hassle for both the users and the overworked support staff.
At work, my colleagues and I have to fend off angry secretaries on a weekly basis. “When will you reinstall the old version (Office 2003)”, that’s the main request we’ve been receiving for the last months.
I can’t believe Microsoft designed an interface that’s a maze and takes up almost a third of the screen. It looks even worse on a laptop, you know, the ultra-light ones.
In order to install software like Classic Menu or Toolbar Toggle, we have to overcome the reluctance of a boss who believes that using Microsoft latest stunt is a sign of progress and that employees must adapt or perish.

By: S/D

S/D — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 19:20:15 +0000

Office Fluent Ribbon should be renamed for the Office 14 release to “View our application our way, not your way”.

I’ve given up on Office 2007. The user interface is less than outstanding. I can’t change it. I don’t want to see what the change will do to my data or document as I hover over the button or formatting tab.

True, behind the UI Office appears to be better. But what use is a stronger system if the user can’t change how it s/he uses it?

I’m sure Microsoft ran the numbers and decided that the majority of users don’t change how buttons/or menus are used, but for the rest of us it is very dissappointing.

For the true “power users”, whipping up some XML to edit the Ribbon will be no sweat…but is that what it has come down to? For us middle of the road (technically speaking) users, where does that leave us? I don’t have the time to learn how to write code to make it the way that I like it.

Please write an add-in that will truly give me the ability to change the user interface to the 2003 format.

There are add ins that will display the basic menus, but you can’t mode the buttons around and add the ones that you use most to it.

Microsoft Office 14 Project Team, fix this!

Give me the option to go with a classic user interface that I can add and delete buttons for the commands that I use all the time!

By: Charles Steinhardt

Charles Steinhardt — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 04:45:30 +0000

We totally empathize with your experience which is why we created ToolbarToogle.

ToolbarToggle is an Office 2007 Add-In utility that brings back the original 2003 classic menus and toolbars into Office 2007 (Word / Excel PowerPoint).

After downloading and installing the free trial at http://WWW.TOOLBARTOGGLE.COM, Office 2007 will display the original Office 2003 toolbars and menus with or without the “fluent” Office 2007 Ribbon. Bottom line - we not only bring back the toolbars but also the ability to float, dock, crate new and customize any items with your office application’s macros and auto text.

Lastly, you can save any toolbar changes on a per document / spreadsheet / presentation.

Would love to get your feedback, thanks.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 22:54:40 +0000

Hmmmm… this new ribbon in Office 2007 is supposed to make us more productive? We can find what we need more easily and quicker?

Well, I have been trying to get to grips with it for several weeks on a test server at work. Nothing fancy… just wanted to set the style of Heading 2 at the top of a simple paragraph. In Word 2000 and Word 2003, I just go up to the toolbar and select it.

In Word 2007… I don’t see it. So I move around the tabs in the ribbon… is it here? Nope… here? Nope…. in fact, I still have not found it. I can’t find a lot of the things I used to be able to get at.

I used to be able to build myself a custom toolbar that I could load with the commands I use often. I could tear it off and position it anywhere I like on the Word working area so it was right there when I needed it.

Microsoft now slaps me on the wrist and tells me they know better than I as to how I want to work. My custom toolbars no longer float where I need them. They get hidden away in the Add-Ins tab. Takes me more time to find them (when I need to take a break from looking for Heading 2).

And why call the first tab “Home”? Doesn’t tellme anything about the commands contained in there. How can making the user interface more obscure, frustrating, and difficult to use be an improvement?

I have Office 2003 on one computer at home, and it is likely the last version for which Microsoft will get any money from me. I will NOT shell out for Office 2007 or any later version unless they fix the ribbon bug (andI do consider it a bug because it renders the software much less usable). At the very least, give me the choice… let me use the menus and toolbars which I am comfortable with and can be productive with.