Word 2007 is "More intuitive??"

Okay, I've posted a template at
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/CustomToolbar.dot. Note that when you
click on this URL and get the usual Save or Open dialog, the file will be
named CustomToolbar.doc and will want to be saved as a Word document. If you
save the file as a document, I suspect it will still act like a template,
and I've confirmed that if you change the extension to .dot before saving,
it will look like and behave like a template. Since you want to open the
file for editing, anyway, perhaps saving as a .doc is the right thing to do.

If you like (and IE will let you), you can open it first and read it, then
save as desired.

Eventually I'll get around to putting up a Web page explaining all this and
providing a link to the template, but for now at least the custom buttons
are in the template.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

"DeanH" <DeanH RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:79111BEC-631F-4C92-A66F-1FD616F2450E@microsoft.com...
> That is the website I was alluding to with "your website" and not one of
> the
> multitude of other sites you are connected to.
> Greatly appreciated.
> Thanks again
> DeanH
>
>
> "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
>
>> Yes, I'll post them somewhere at my WordFAQs site. The hard part is
>> remembering to do it! I'll put that on my To Do list for today so I won't
>> forget.
>>
>> --
>> Suzanne S. Barnhill
>> Microsoft MVP (Word)
>> Words into Type
>> Fairhope, Alabama USA
>>
>> "DeanH" <DeanH RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:1AFEA4AF-70B3-4A8E-BD76-9258E2AE3307@microsoft.com...
>> > Many thanks.
>> > Would somewhere on your website be best?
>> > Look forward, as always, to hearing from you.
>> > DeanH
>> >
>> > "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
>> >
>> >> I copied him by email, and he gave his permission for me to share.
>> >> I'll
>> >> figure out a way to do it and let you know where they can be found.
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Suzanne S. Barnhill
>> >> Microsoft MVP (Word)
>> >> Words into Type
>> >> Fairhope, Alabama USA
>> >>
>> >> "DeanH" <DeanH RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:9E2FD87E-6561-48DE-A8C3-5746AA467868@microsoft.com...
>> >> > Thanks for that Ms Barnhill.
>> >> > Lets hope Mr Franz reads this and is agreeable.
>> >> > I have always had KWN and KLT on my toolbar and use them constantly.
>> >> > As
>> >> > you
>> >> > say the toogle effect is very handy. Unfortunately I have them as
>> >> > Text
>> >> > buttons and a nice little icon or two would be very handy, even only
>> >> > to
>> >> > save
>> >> > toolbar space.
>> >> > Best regards
>> >> > DeanH
>> >> >
>> >> > "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> Bob either sent them to me privately or posted them in a private
>> >> >> binaries
>> >> >> forum--I forget which. It's possible he could be persuaded to share
>> >> >> them
>> >> >> more generally. I'll warn you, though: his have some purple (or at
>> >> >> least
>> >> >> magenta) in them--rather gaudy; I changed the color to red. <g>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> These are among the half-dozen or so custom buttons I moved to Word
>> >> >> 2007
>> >> >> as
>> >> >> part of a custom toolbar. They're one click less accessible from
>> >> >> the
>> >> >> QAT
>> >> >> but
>> >> >> still better than having to open a dialog.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> --
>> >> >> Suzanne S. Barnhill
>> >> >> Microsoft MVP (Word)
>> >> >> Words into Type
>> >> >> Fairhope, Alabama USA
>> >> >>
>> >> >> "DeanH" <DeanH RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> >> news:040D554D-0E9A-4321-93B7-F01AEE23E562@microsoft.com...
>> >> >> > "buttons for "Keep with next" and "Keep lines together" (and
>> >> >> > thanks,
>> >> >> > Robert
>> >> >> > Franz for the attractive button icons)."
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Hi Ms Barnhill, in the previous posting you mentioned the above.
>> >> >> > Where
>> >> >> > can
>> >> >> > I
>> >> >> > get these icons or are they a closely guarded secret?
>> >> >> > I have searched Mr Franz's website (Scientific guide) but cannot
>> >> >> > find
>> >> >> > such
>> >> >> > icons.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Many thanks in advance
>> >> >> > DeanH
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>
>

All done, the condense 0.1pt is an added bonus, many thanks.
All the best to you and yours.
DeanH

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

> Okay, I've posted a template at
> http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/CustomToolbar.dot. Note that when you
> click on this URL and get the usual Save or Open dialog, the file will be
> named CustomToolbar.doc and will want to be saved as a Word document. If you
> save the file as a document, I suspect it will still act like a template,
> and I've confirmed that if you change the extension to .dot before saving,
> it will look like and behave like a template. Since you want to open the
> file for editing, anyway, perhaps saving as a .doc is the right thing to do.
>
> If you like (and IE will let you), you can open it first and read it, then
> save as desired.
>
> Eventually I'll get around to putting up a Web page explaining all this and
> providing a link to the template, but for now at least the custom buttons
> are in the template.
>
> --
> Suzanne S. Barnhill
> Microsoft MVP (Word)
> Words into Type
> Fairhope, Alabama USA
>
> "DeanH" <DeanH.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:79111BEC-631F-4C92-A66F-1FD616F2450E@microsoft.com...
> > That is the website I was alluding to with "your website" and not one of
> > the
> > multitude of other sites you are connected to.
> > Greatly appreciated.
> > Thanks again
> > DeanH
> >
> >
> > "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
> >
> >> Yes, I'll post them somewhere at my WordFAQs site. The hard part is
> >> remembering to do it! I'll put that on my To Do list for today so I won't
> >> forget.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Suzanne S. Barnhill
> >> Microsoft MVP (Word)
> >> Words into Type
> >> Fairhope, Alabama USA
> >>
> >> "DeanH" <DeanH.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:1AFEA4AF-70B3-4A8E-BD76-9258E2AE3307@microsoft.com...
> >> > Many thanks.
> >> > Would somewhere on your website be best?
> >> > Look forward, as always, to hearing from you.
> >> > DeanH
> >> >
> >> > "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> I copied him by email, and he gave his permission for me to share.
> >> >> I'll
> >> >> figure out a way to do it and let you know where they can be found.
> >> >>
> >> >> --
> >> >> Suzanne S. Barnhill
> >> >> Microsoft MVP (Word)
> >> >> Words into Type
> >> >> Fairhope, Alabama USA
> >> >>
> >> >> "DeanH" <DeanH.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> >> news:9E2FD87E-6561-48DE-A8C3-5746AA467868@microsoft.com...
> >> >> > Thanks for that Ms Barnhill.
> >> >> > Lets hope Mr Franz reads this and is agreeable.
> >> >> > I have always had KWN and KLT on my toolbar and use them constantly.
> >> >> > As
> >> >> > you
> >> >> > say the toogle effect is very handy. Unfortunately I have them as
> >> >> > Text
> >> >> > buttons and a nice little icon or two would be very handy, even only
> >> >> > to
> >> >> > save
> >> >> > toolbar space.
> >> >> > Best regards
> >> >> > DeanH
> >> >> >
> >> >> > "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
> >> >> >
> >> >> >> Bob either sent them to me privately or posted them in a private
> >> >> >> binaries
> >> >> >> forum--I forget which. It's possible he could be persuaded to share
> >> >> >> them
> >> >> >> more generally. I'll warn you, though: his have some purple (or at
> >> >> >> least
> >> >> >> magenta) in them--rather gaudy; I changed the color to red. <g>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> These are among the half-dozen or so custom buttons I moved to Word
> >> >> >> 2007
> >> >> >> as
> >> >> >> part of a custom toolbar. They're one click less accessible from
> >> >> >> the
> >> >> >> QAT
> >> >> >> but
> >> >> >> still better than having to open a dialog.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> --
> >> >> >> Suzanne S. Barnhill
> >> >> >> Microsoft MVP (Word)
> >> >> >> Words into Type
> >> >> >> Fairhope, Alabama USA
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> "DeanH" <DeanH.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> >> >> news:040D554D-0E9A-4321-93B7-F01AEE23E562@microsoft.com...
> >> >> >> > "buttons for "Keep with next" and "Keep lines together" (and
> >> >> >> > thanks,
> >> >> >> > Robert
> >> >> >> > Franz for the attractive button icons)."
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > Hi Ms Barnhill, in the previous posting you mentioned the above.
> >> >> >> > Where
> >> >> >> > can
> >> >> >> > I
> >> >> >> > get these icons or are they a closely guarded secret?
> >> >> >> > I have searched Mr Franz's website (Scientific guide) but cannot
> >> >> >> > find
> >> >> >> > such
> >> >> >> > icons.
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > Many thanks in advance
> >> >> >> > DeanH
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>
>
>

Glad you are pleased. The Condense 0.1 pt. was one of the buttons I was most
panicked about losing in Word 2007; thank heavens for Graham's instructions
on how to import custom toolbars! Now if MS would just give us a way to add
those custom buttons directly to the QAT...

One custom button I didn't include was one to run the TableCellHelper macro
(I figured including the macro would complicate matters). For it I had used
the question mark icon that's included in the limited set you get when you
choose Change Button Image. In Word 2007, rather confusingly, this is
rendered as the white question mark in a blue circle that is also used for
the Help button.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

"DeanH" <DeanH.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0E5B9F0A-0806-4679-94CD-EF2E35E2F51A@microsoft.com...
> All done, the condense 0.1pt is an added bonus, many thanks.
> All the best to you and yours.
> DeanH
>
> "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
>
>> Okay, I've posted a template at
>> http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/CustomToolbar.dot. Note that when you
>> click on this URL and get the usual Save or Open dialog, the file will be
>> named CustomToolbar.doc and will want to be saved as a Word document. If
>> you
>> save the file as a document, I suspect it will still act like a template,
>> and I've confirmed that if you change the extension to .dot before
>> saving,
>> it will look like and behave like a template. Since you want to open the
>> file for editing, anyway, perhaps saving as a .doc is the right thing to
>> do.
>>
>> If you like (and IE will let you), you can open it first and read it,
>> then
>> save as desired.
>>
>> Eventually I'll get around to putting up a Web page explaining all this
>> and
>> providing a link to the template, but for now at least the custom buttons
>> are in the template.
>>
>> --
>> Suzanne S. Barnhill
>> Microsoft MVP (Word)
>> Words into Type
>> Fairhope, Alabama USA
>>
>> "DeanH" <DeanH.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:79111BEC-631F-4C92-A66F-1FD616F2450E@microsoft.com...
>> > That is the website I was alluding to with "your website" and not one
>> > of
>> > the
>> > multitude of other sites you are connected to.
>> > Greatly appreciated.
>> > Thanks again
>> > DeanH
>> >
>> >
>> > "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Yes, I'll post them somewhere at my WordFAQs site. The hard part is
>> >> remembering to do it! I'll put that on my To Do list for today so I
>> >> won't
>> >> forget.
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Suzanne S. Barnhill
>> >> Microsoft MVP (Word)
>> >> Words into Type
>> >> Fairhope, Alabama USA
>> >>
>> >> "DeanH" <DeanH.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:1AFEA4AF-70B3-4A8E-BD76-9258E2AE3307@microsoft.com...
>> >> > Many thanks.
>> >> > Would somewhere on your website be best?
>> >> > Look forward, as always, to hearing from you.
>> >> > DeanH
>> >> >
>> >> > "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> I copied him by email, and he gave his permission for me to share.
>> >> >> I'll
>> >> >> figure out a way to do it and let you know where they can be found.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> --
>> >> >> Suzanne S. Barnhill
>> >> >> Microsoft MVP (Word)
>> >> >> Words into Type
>> >> >> Fairhope, Alabama USA
>> >> >>
>> >> >> "DeanH" <DeanH.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> >> news:9E2FD87E-6561-48DE-A8C3-5746AA467868@microsoft.com...
>> >> >> > Thanks for that Ms Barnhill.
>> >> >> > Lets hope Mr Franz reads this and is agreeable.
>> >> >> > I have always had KWN and KLT on my toolbar and use them
>> >> >> > constantly.
>> >> >> > As
>> >> >> > you
>> >> >> > say the toogle effect is very handy. Unfortunately I have them as
>> >> >> > Text
>> >> >> > buttons and a nice little icon or two would be very handy, even
>> >> >> > only
>> >> >> > to
>> >> >> > save
>> >> >> > toolbar space.
>> >> >> > Best regards
>> >> >> > DeanH
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> Bob either sent them to me privately or posted them in a private
>> >> >> >> binaries
>> >> >> >> forum--I forget which. It's possible he could be persuaded to
>> >> >> >> share
>> >> >> >> them
>> >> >> >> more generally. I'll warn you, though: his have some purple (or
>> >> >> >> at
>> >> >> >> least
>> >> >> >> magenta) in them--rather gaudy; I changed the color to red. <g>
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> These are among the half-dozen or so custom buttons I moved to
>> >> >> >> Word
>> >> >> >> 2007
>> >> >> >> as
>> >> >> >> part of a custom toolbar. They're one click less accessible from
>> >> >> >> the
>> >> >> >> QAT
>> >> >> >> but
>> >> >> >> still better than having to open a dialog.
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> --
>> >> >> >> Suzanne S. Barnhill
>> >> >> >> Microsoft MVP (Word)
>> >> >> >> Words into Type
>> >> >> >> Fairhope, Alabama USA
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> "DeanH" <DeanH.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> >> >> news:040D554D-0E9A-4321-93B7-F01AEE23E562@microsoft.com...
>> >> >> >> > "buttons for "Keep with next" and "Keep lines together" (and
>> >> >> >> > thanks,
>> >> >> >> > Robert
>> >> >> >> > Franz for the attractive button icons)."
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> > Hi Ms Barnhill, in the previous posting you mentioned the
>> >> >> >> > above.
>> >> >> >> > Where
>> >> >> >> > can
>> >> >> >> > I
>> >> >> >> > get these icons or are they a closely guarded secret?
>> >> >> >> > I have searched Mr Franz's website (Scientific guide) but
>> >> >> >> > cannot
>> >> >> >> > find
>> >> >> >> > such
>> >> >> >> > icons.
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> > Many thanks in advance
>> >> >> >> > DeanH
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>>
>>
>>

Being a relative power user of Word myself, I am like a lot of others that
find 2007 quite difficult to use as I have trouble finding anything in it.
Only last night, I was asked by a neighbour to help her out with some issues
she was having doing relatively simple things with Word 2007. Although I
managed to help her out, it was a struggle.

Admittedly, I have hardly used 2007 at all, so this could be why I had
trouble finding things. The point here is that my neighbour has not really
used any of the other versions of Word much and found 2007 very difficult to
use. To call it intuitive is therefore wrong.

Although by the end of the session, I was starting to get to grips with it a
bit better, I was not impressed at all. I shall be sticking with 2003 for as
long as possible.

For instance, to spend such a long time to find the print preview and giving
up is not a good sign.

Martin


"Bob Buckland ?" <75214.226(At Beautiful Downtown)compuserve.com> wrote
in message news:edXnbI2yIHA.4808@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Hi Terry,
>
> To an extent I agree, for support folks and corporate types who locked
> down everything anyway, for many users the Ribbon is 'more
> predictable' and they probably don't see that anything has been lost. In
> too many companies the 'show menus after a short delay')
> is what folks live with after each log in when they're in prior versions.
> That was pretty much taken away.
>
> As to customizing the ribbon, it's true that there there isn't the drag
> and drop UI built in, but customizing the ribbon via the
> RibbonX tools and 'language' to rearrange everything is probably not any
> higher degree of difficulty than it would be to write a
> macro in VBA (in fact it's easier for me to follow the outline structure
> of the RibbonX <g>), but surprisingly very few folks seem
> to have jumped into that. There is even at least one MS tool, although
> it's not a WYSIWYG one
>
> What is 'fun' is to start Word in Safe Mode (hold ctrl key when starting
> for those reading who may not be familiar with it) and
> seeing the 'regular' ribbon if you have customized positions <g>. Then you
> can really get confused.
>
> Over time, I've noted that there is a definite pause now when I start a
> prior version and go looking for things as the 'muscle
> memory' now 'fights' to want to go to the Word 2007 places as first choice
> when using the mouse <g>.
>
> ============
> >>"Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell.DeleteThis@msn.com> wrote in message
> news:68688B11-5D77-4215-96AD-B8C7B6768234@microsoft.com...
> I don't think anyone will argue that the transition is far more difficult
> than previous versions. It does get better the more familiar you become
> but
> I am convinced that it is NOT easier or more intuitive to use than
> previous
> versions. However, this may be because I have been a Word user since Word
> 2
> which is making me prejudiced against this major interface change.
>
> The way I see this is that the old interface was like the steering wheel
> of
> a car: it is intuitive and works well for everyone whether you are an old
> granny out shopping or an F1 ace winning the Monaco Grand Prix. A joy
> stick
> or a drive-by-wire touch pad would be a disaster for the majority of
> normal
> drivers. I think of the ribbon as the latter.
>
> Given a 'once and for all' choice between Office 2003 and Office 2007, I
> have no doubts that I would choose the former because I am concerned that
> the developers will not resolve the gaping holes they have made of the
> latter's interface implementation.
>
> Yes, I like the look and idea of the Ribbon, but I don't like the choice
> of
> tools that have been added in each group. As far as I am concerned, until
> a
> user is able to change the layout and tools on the ribbons and create a
> custom ribbon straight out of the box without need for third party tools,
> it
> is a failure. To me the QAT is just a last minute panic measure to
> overcome
> the inflexibilities of the Ribbons. >>
> --
>
> Bob Buckland ?
> MS Office System Products MVP
>
> *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*
>
>

Hi Martin - I understand where you're coming from, but it does get better
with exposure - like building up calluses:-) If you haven't discovered them
already these are a few things that have helped for me:

1- Get familiar with the Word Options> Customize capabilities & take
advantage of the Quick Access Toolbar,

2- Look for the Dialog Launchers (little square buttons at the right end of
the title bar of some of the Groups on each tab of the Ribbon). In most
cases they take you into familiar "Classic" dialogs or provide Task Panes,

3- Get in the habit of using Contextual (Right-Click) menus if you don't
already do so. They seem to do a much better job of consolidating related
features which would otherwise have to be found on various Ribbon tabs.

4- And, of course, climb into the Wayback Machine to revisit the use of
keyboard shortcuts for as much as your memory will support:-)

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 6/13/08 9:47 AM, in article 4852766c$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net, "Martin
C" <martinC RemoveThis @invalid.com> wrote:

> Being a relative power user of Word myself, I am like a lot of others that
> find 2007 quite difficult to use as I have trouble finding anything in it.
> Only last night, I was asked by a neighbour to help her out with some issues
> she was having doing relatively simple things with Word 2007. Although I
> managed to help her out, it was a struggle.
>
> Admittedly, I have hardly used 2007 at all, so this could be why I had
> trouble finding things. The point here is that my neighbour has not really
> used any of the other versions of Word much and found 2007 very difficult to
> use. To call it intuitive is therefore wrong.
>
> Although by the end of the session, I was starting to get to grips with it a
> bit better, I was not impressed at all. I shall be sticking with 2003 for as
> long as possible.
>
> For instance, to spend such a long time to find the print preview and giving
> up is not a good sign.
>
> Martin
>
>
> "Bob Buckland ?" <75214.226(At Beautiful Downtown)compuserve.com> wrote
> in message news:edXnbI2yIHA.4808@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> Hi Terry,
>>
>> To an extent I agree, for support folks and corporate types who locked
>> down everything anyway, for many users the Ribbon is 'more
>> predictable' and they probably don't see that anything has been lost. In
>> too many companies the 'show menus after a short delay')
>> is what folks live with after each log in when they're in prior versions.
>> That was pretty much taken away.
>>
>> As to customizing the ribbon, it's true that there there isn't the drag
>> and drop UI built in, but customizing the ribbon via the
>> RibbonX tools and 'language' to rearrange everything is probably not any
>> higher degree of difficulty than it would be to write a
>> macro in VBA (in fact it's easier for me to follow the outline structure
>> of the RibbonX <g>), but surprisingly very few folks seem
>> to have jumped into that. There is even at least one MS tool, although
>> it's not a WYSIWYG one
>>
>> What is 'fun' is to start Word in Safe Mode (hold ctrl key when starting
>> for those reading who may not be familiar with it) and
>> seeing the 'regular' ribbon if you have customized positions <g>. Then you
>> can really get confused.
>>
>> Over time, I've noted that there is a definite pause now when I start a
>> prior version and go looking for things as the 'muscle
>> memory' now 'fights' to want to go to the Word 2007 places as first choice
>> when using the mouse <g>.
>>
>> ============
>>>> "Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell RemoveThis @msn.com> wrote in message
>> news:68688B11-5D77-4215-96AD-B8C7B6768234@microsoft.com...
>> I don't think anyone will argue that the transition is far more difficult
>> than previous versions. It does get better the more familiar you become
>> but
>> I am convinced that it is NOT easier or more intuitive to use than
>> previous
>> versions. However, this may be because I have been a Word user since Word
>> 2
>> which is making me prejudiced against this major interface change.
>>
>> The way I see this is that the old interface was like the steering wheel
>> of
>> a car: it is intuitive and works well for everyone whether you are an old
>> granny out shopping or an F1 ace winning the Monaco Grand Prix. A joy
>> stick
>> or a drive-by-wire touch pad would be a disaster for the majority of
>> normal
>> drivers. I think of the ribbon as the latter.
>>
>> Given a 'once and for all' choice between Office 2003 and Office 2007, I
>> have no doubts that I would choose the former because I am concerned that
>> the developers will not resolve the gaping holes they have made of the
>> latter's interface implementation.
>>
>> Yes, I like the look and idea of the Ribbon, but I don't like the choice
>> of
>> tools that have been added in each group. As far as I am concerned, until
>> a
>> user is able to change the layout and tools on the ribbons and create a
>> custom ribbon straight out of the box without need for third party tools,
>> it
>> is a failure. To me the QAT is just a last minute panic measure to
>> overcome
>> the inflexibilities of the Ribbons. >>
>> --
>>
>> Bob Buckland ?
>> MS Office System Products MVP
>>
>> *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*
>>
>>
>
>

I don't think "intuitive" was exactly what MS was shooting for. The term the
developers kept using was "discoverable." The problem with the old menu
structure (especially adaptive menus) was that there were so many commands
and features that users never discovered (if you read these NGs regularly,
you'll be amazed at the number of questions about the very existence of a
way to produce, say, footnotes). The idea here was to make everything
in-your-face. The other premise of the design (which I think we later
demonstrated was based on incorrectly interpreted CEIP data*) was that some
hugely high percentage of users never customize anything in the UI. MS
concluded that consistency was a desirable goal: that everything should
always be in the same place--for all users. This theoretically makes support
easier because you can confidently assume that every user has the same
buttons in the same groups on the same tabs all the time.

I agree that making Print Preview so hard to get to was a step backward.
That was one of the first buttons I added to my QAT. I also am still
primarily using Word 2003, dipping into 2007 only to attempt to answer
users' questions and to try to update my WordFAQs articles. So I also do a
lot of wandering around looking for things. I'm sure the placement of
features was carefully thought out (and even agonized over), and it is
certainly more logical than the "junk drawer" that the Tools menu had
become, but it is definitely a huge paradigm shift.

*CEIP in Word 2003 reported users' use of commands. I'm not sure it
distinguished between clicking buttons and using keyboard shortcuts, hence
the continued prominence of the Cut, Copy, and Paste buttons. But the main
problem was that a customization was reported, if at all, only once (when
the user added a button or menu item). If a user started using Word 2003
with customized toolbars and menus inherited from an earlier version, no
customization was reported at all. AIUI, there was no way to reflect that,
every time a user used a certain command, it was via an added toolbar button
rather than by going through a dialog or choosing from a menu, or that the
user had created a custom menu or toolbar or whatever. While I am quite
willing to believe that most users *don't* customize, and it is also perhaps
true that the users who customize most may well have declined to participate
in CEIP, I also believe that customization (including that done by means of
custom templates) was vastly underreported.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

"Martin C" <martinC.RemoveThis@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:4852766c$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
> Being a relative power user of Word myself, I am like a lot of others that
> find 2007 quite difficult to use as I have trouble finding anything in it.
> Only last night, I was asked by a neighbour to help her out with some
> issues she was having doing relatively simple things with Word 2007.
> Although I managed to help her out, it was a struggle.
>
> Admittedly, I have hardly used 2007 at all, so this could be why I had
> trouble finding things. The point here is that my neighbour has not really
> used any of the other versions of Word much and found 2007 very difficult
> to use. To call it intuitive is therefore wrong.
>
> Although by the end of the session, I was starting to get to grips with it
> a bit better, I was not impressed at all. I shall be sticking with 2003
> for as long as possible.
>
> For instance, to spend such a long time to find the print preview and
> giving up is not a good sign.
>
> Martin
>
>
> "Bob Buckland ?" <75214.226(At Beautiful Downtown)compuserve.com> wrote
> in message news:edXnbI2yIHA.4808@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> Hi Terry,
>>
>> To an extent I agree, for support folks and corporate types who locked
>> down everything anyway, for many users the Ribbon is 'more
>> predictable' and they probably don't see that anything has been lost. In
>> too many companies the 'show menus after a short delay')
>> is what folks live with after each log in when they're in prior versions.
>> That was pretty much taken away.
>>
>> As to customizing the ribbon, it's true that there there isn't the drag
>> and drop UI built in, but customizing the ribbon via the
>> RibbonX tools and 'language' to rearrange everything is probably not any
>> higher degree of difficulty than it would be to write a
>> macro in VBA (in fact it's easier for me to follow the outline structure
>> of the RibbonX <g>), but surprisingly very few folks seem
>> to have jumped into that. There is even at least one MS tool, although
>> it's not a WYSIWYG one
>>
>> What is 'fun' is to start Word in Safe Mode (hold ctrl key when starting
>> for those reading who may not be familiar with it) and
>> seeing the 'regular' ribbon if you have customized positions <g>. Then
>> you can really get confused.
>>
>> Over time, I've noted that there is a definite pause now when I start a
>> prior version and go looking for things as the 'muscle
>> memory' now 'fights' to want to go to the Word 2007 places as first
>> choice when using the mouse <g>.
>>
>> ============
>> >>"Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell.RemoveThis@msn.com> wrote in message
>> news:68688B11-5D77-4215-96AD-B8C7B6768234@microsoft.com...
>> I don't think anyone will argue that the transition is far more difficult
>> than previous versions. It does get better the more familiar you become
>> but
>> I am convinced that it is NOT easier or more intuitive to use than
>> previous
>> versions. However, this may be because I have been a Word user since Word
>> 2
>> which is making me prejudiced against this major interface change.
>>
>> The way I see this is that the old interface was like the steering wheel
>> of
>> a car: it is intuitive and works well for everyone whether you are an old
>> granny out shopping or an F1 ace winning the Monaco Grand Prix. A joy
>> stick
>> or a drive-by-wire touch pad would be a disaster for the majority of
>> normal
>> drivers. I think of the ribbon as the latter.
>>
>> Given a 'once and for all' choice between Office 2003 and Office 2007, I
>> have no doubts that I would choose the former because I am concerned that
>> the developers will not resolve the gaping holes they have made of the
>> latter's interface implementation.
>>
>> Yes, I like the look and idea of the Ribbon, but I don't like the choice
>> of
>> tools that have been added in each group. As far as I am concerned, until
>> a
>> user is able to change the layout and tools on the ribbons and create a
>> custom ribbon straight out of the box without need for third party tools,
>> it
>> is a failure. To me the QAT is just a last minute panic measure to
>> overcome
>> the inflexibilities of the Ribbons. >>
>> --
>>
>> Bob Buckland ?
>> MS Office System Products MVP
>>
>> *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*
>>
>>
>
>