Get rid of the ribbon!

If wishes were fishes, we would be Chicken of the Sea.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Kraig asked:

| Thanks Bob, Ive done that! And also a thanks to everybody else who
| wants the old UI back....
|
| "Bob Buckland ?:-)" wrote:
|
|| Hi Kraig,
||
|| You can send feedback, including screenshots and the reason for your
|| suggestions directly to the 2007 Microsoft Office Product team using
|| the 2007 feedback tool from the link below.
||
|| ======
|| "Kraig" wrote in message
|| ...
|| Get rid of the ribbon!
||
|| --
|| I hope this helped you,
||
|| Bob Buckland ?:-)
|| MS Office system products MVP
||
|| *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends
||
|| LINKS for the 2007 Office System
||
|| 1. Read about it, try it, or watch the movie
|| the 2007 Microsoft Office system iinfo is at
|| http://microsoft.com/office/preview
||
|| 2. Already have 2007 Office System Beta 2?
|| Send Microsoft your feedback (with pictures)
|| http://sas.office.microsoft.com/
||
|| 3. Use the 2007 OfficeOnline website without Office2007
||
|| a. Install the ActiveX access control
||
||
|| http://office.microsoft.com/search/r...XT101650581033
|| b. then visit http://officebeta.iponet.net

Hi Everybody!

I have to agree with Kraig. I am not your average Word user. I consider
myself ... the ultimate Word user. As far as I know, nobody knows all the
functions of Word as much as I do ... not even the Japanese or the Microsoft
support personnel, for that matter. Perhaps the only ones who know it as
well as I do are the developers and even they themselves are fragmented in
their knowledge because they work on different segments of the programming
and they never seem to converge to a point where they know the system
entirely. I possess and have worked on versions 4.3 all the way to 2003 in
the English, French, Italian and Russian versions.

I thought that I would give you this background information because, like in
court, an expert identifies and justifies his expertise before giving his
opinion so as to ensure that he is given a certain amount of credibility. My
expertise therefore having been given, I submit to you the following:

On all versions of Microsoft Word preceeding that version of 2003, I have
customized the menu bar and the toolbars to such an extent that they are at
least double, if not triple the size of those given when opening Microsoft
Word /a. In the toolbars, I have added tons of hidden functions and my own
custom-designed macroautomation subroutines to both the toolbars and menubar,
especially.

Contrary to those against the ribbon, I do not necessarily mind it, were it
not for it being inflexible to customizations. I have not been able to
determine if the ribbon cannot be customized because we are still in the beta
stages or if this is by design.

I have to be able to add my own customizations for macroautomation
subroutines and other functions that I use that the rest of the 99.9% of the
world does not use. Furthermore, while my normal.dot template contains the
customized toolbars and the menu bar additions and my macroautomation
subroutines adjust them as necessary, Microsoft should ensure that its new
product will convert the customized and added functions into the 2007
equivalent.

If Microsoft were to restrict such flexibility with its new product, it
would be like taking a step back in time to Microsoft Word 2.0 or, worse yet,
Word Pad! Put the ribbon? If you got to, you got to, I say, but do not
regress; progress!

I would be remiss to omit my main observation, though: That while the ribbon
is okay, albeit nothing spectacular, it is, an insult to the literate people
of this world. Microsoft is slowing down progress in order to accommodate
the illiterate by taking away the words that used to make up the menu bar and
using the pictograms on the ribbon instead. I think that that is disgraceful
and will make it the laughing stock of the whole world. I myself could not
stop myself from laughing until I thought to myself that I may eventually be
using such program in the future.

Like Kraig, I would be disinclined to purchase Office 2007 if it were not
customizable, but I would still buy it only to make sure that I am one step
ahead of everybody else, if my employer were to incorporate it in the
workplace. Personally, though, I would either stick with Microsoft Word
2003, which I am currently using, or I would revert to Corel Word Perfect XE3.

What I like about Corel, is that it upgrades its products by adding new
functions and not by changing the product altogether. That is not to say
that I do not like change, but not when the price that it comes at is a
complete annihilation of the functions that made the product so perfect in
the first place. This would be like taking the brakes off of a new
revolutionary automobile that will automatically stop when it detects in its
electronic eye the red light of a traffic signal.

I would suggest that Microsoft look to Windows Media Player 11 for
inspiration. That product allows users to hide or show the menu bar,
according to their wishes.

Microsoft should also learn that diplomacy means subscribing the "50+1
majority-rules" rule. When it first came out with Word, nobody liked it.
From what I understand, because WordPerfect already had the market cornered.
Then everybody got used to it. So in upgrading, it should simply add new
functions and leave well enough alone ... or at least make it accessible.

I hope my comments will be seriously taken into consideration. I have
expended around an hour giving them.

Thank you,

Neal Bangia )
Telephone: +1-(514)-344-2701

"Kraig" wrote:

I just tried the test drive of Office 2007. The programs are all good except
for the damn "ribbon". I had heard about this but I was hoping it was just a
rumor. I am extremly dissapointed with you for this reason. I want to be
able to customze as well as hide my toolbars, yes, I want toolbars! I do not
need or use half the features on the "ribbon" in Word yet there are some
features that I do use that were not on the ribbon (Word Count?). Make the
damn thing customizable! If there are not some drastic changes to the
"ribbon" in the final release then I will NOT be purchasing this peice of
junk!

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...ic.office.misc

Hi there, again!

Just as an addition, I meant by the "50+1 majority-rules" rule is that
Microsoft should be content that the majority of the world enjoys Microsoft
Office Word and it should not try to get 100% of everybody to like it because
in doing so it angers those of us who have already pledged our love to the
product.

Sincerely,

Neal Bangia )
Telephone: +1-(514)-344-2701

"Kraig" wrote:

I just tried the test drive of Office 2007. The programs are all good except
for the damn "ribbon". I had heard about this but I was hoping it was just a
rumor. I am extremly dissapointed with you for this reason. I want to be
able to customze as well as hide my toolbars, yes, I want toolbars! I do not
need or use half the features on the "ribbon" in Word yet there are some
features that I do use that were not on the ribbon (Word Count?). Make the
damn thing customizable! If there are not some drastic changes to the
"ribbon" in the final release then I will NOT be purchasing this peice of
junk!

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...ic.office.misc

Hi Neal,

If you're using, from the 'Get the Beta' link below, either the online test drive of Office 2007 beta 2 or the installed Office
2007 beta 2 on your PC be sure to use the 2007 feedback tool from link #2 below to also send your feedback directly to the MS Office
2007 product team.

The daata layout you see for each item on the Ribbon can vary based on your screen resolution setting (the individual task groups
under each ribbon tab size to fit the available screen space). In 1024 or better you should see text with all of the larger/major
icons) and usually with the smaller/minor icons as well.

The ribbon is customizable. The basic show/hide functionallity is Ctrl+F1 or double clicking on the tab you're on. Beyond that,
the Ribbon is created from XML files and you can remove or add your own groups. MS calls the XML customizations 'RibbonX'.

You can also have the tools from prior version custom toolbars or menus you created (rather than modifications to the built in ones)
appear in the Ribbon 'add-ins' tab when you open a legacy (97-2003) template or document in the Office 2007 app. At least one 3rd
party tool for customizing the Ribbon is being prototyped
http://pschmid.net

Most of the keyboard shortcuts from Office 2003 apps continue to work in Office 2007, along with its own 2007 shortcut keytips (tap
the Alt key to show the 'next letter to use' shortcuts).

You may also want to visit and participate in the User Interface discussions at the MS Office 2007 User Interface team blog at
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh

In one of last weeks Team blog entries the discussion was about power users. If I recall, it mentions that while only 2% of users
customize (some don't because they didn't know the could, some don't because they thought they could but either didn't know how or
couldn't get it to work quite the way they wanted, some don't because it's not worth the trouble for them and some don't because
they can't [locked down in a 'corporate' environment g) the 2% is still over 1 million users.

==========
"Neal bangia" bangia m wrote in message
...
Hi Everybody!

I have to agree with Kraig. I am not your average Word user. I consider myself ... the ultimate Word user. As far as I know,
nobody knows all the functions of Word as much as I do ... not even the Japanese or the Microsoft support personnel, for that
matter. Perhaps the only ones who know it as well as I do are the developers and even they themselves are fragmented in their
knowledge because they work on different segments of the programming and they never seem to converge to a point where they know the
system
entirely. I possess and have worked on versions 4.3 all the way to 2003 in the English, French, Italian and Russian versions.

I thought that I would give you this background information because, like in court, an expert identifies and justifies his expertise
before giving his opinion so as to ensure that he is given a certain amount of credibility. My expertise therefore having been
given, I submit to you the following:

On all versions of Microsoft Word preceeding that version of 2003, I have
customized the menu bar and the toolbars to such an extent that they are at
least double, if not triple the size of those given when opening Microsoft
Word /a. In the toolbars, I have added tons of hidden functions and my own
custom-designed macroautomation subroutines to both the toolbars and menubar,
especially.

Contrary to those against the ribbon, I do not necessarily mind it, were it
not for it being inflexible to customizations. I have not been able to
determine if the ribbon cannot be customized because we are still in the beta
stages or if this is by design.

I have to be able to add my own customizations for macroautomation
subroutines and other functions that I use that the rest of the 99.9% of the
world does not use. Furthermore, while my normal.dot template contains the
customized toolbars and the menu bar additions and my macroautomation
subroutines adjust them as necessary, Microsoft should ensure that its new
product will convert the customized and added functions into the 2007
equivalent.

If Microsoft were to restrict such flexibility with its new product, it
would be like taking a step back in time to Microsoft Word 2.0 or, worse yet,
Word Pad! Put the ribbon? If you got to, you got to, I say, but do not
regress; progress!

I would be remiss to omit my main observation, though: That while the ribbon
is okay, albeit nothing spectacular, it is, an insult to the literate people
of this world. Microsoft is slowing down progress in order to accommodate
the illiterate by taking away the words that used to make up the menu bar and
using the pictograms on the ribbon instead. I think that that is disgraceful
and will make it the laughing stock of the whole world. I myself could not
stop myself from laughing until I thought to myself that I may eventually be
using such program in the future.

Like Kraig, I would be disinclined to purchase Office 2007 if it were not
customizable, but I would still buy it only to make sure that I am one step
ahead of everybody else, if my employer were to incorporate it in the
workplace. Personally, though, I would either stick with Microsoft Word
2003, which I am currently using, or I would revert to Corel Word Perfect XE3.

What I like about Corel, is that it upgrades its products by adding new
functions and not by changing the product altogether. That is not to say
that I do not like change, but not when the price that it comes at is a
complete annihilation of the functions that made the product so perfect in
the first place. This would be like taking the brakes off of a new
revolutionary automobile that will automatically stop when it detects in its
electronic eye the red light of a traffic signal.

I would suggest that Microsoft look to Windows Media Player 11 for
inspiration. That product allows users to hide or show the menu bar,
according to their wishes.

Microsoft should also learn that diplomacy means subscribing the "50+1
majority-rules" rule. When it first came out with Word, nobody liked it.
From what I understand, because WordPerfect already had the market cornered.
Then everybody got used to it. So in upgrading, it should simply add new functions and leave well enough alone ... or at least
make it accessible.

I hope my comments will be seriously taken into consideration. I have expended around an hour giving them.

Thank you,

Neal Bangia
--
I hope this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?:-)
MS Office system products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends

LINKS to the 2007 Office System

1. Read about it, try it, or watch the movie
the 2007 Microsoft Office system info,
online Test Drive, or downloadable beta is at
http://microsoft.com/office/preview

2. Already have 2007 Office System Beta 2?
Send Microsoft your feedback (with pictures)
http://sas.office.microsoft.com/

3. Use the 2007 OfficeOnline website without Office2007

a. Install the ActiveX access control
http://office.microsoft.com/search/r...XT101650581033
b. then visit http://officebeta.iponet.net

Thank you very much Neal! Its great to have some support out there! Bob,
you need to stop, seriously, I have tried both the online and the download
and I DON'T LIKE IT! My decision is made and if you like to be screwed with
by Microsoft, fine, but don't try to get other people into beliving that
limits are good.

"Neal bangia )" wrote:

Hi there, again!

Just as an addition, I meant by the "50+1 majority-rules" rule is that
Microsoft should be content that the majority of the world enjoys Microsoft
Office Word and it should not try to get 100% of everybody to like it because
in doing so it angers those of us who have already pledged our love to the
product.

Sincerely,

Neal Bangia )
Telephone: +1-(514)-344-2701

"Kraig" wrote:

I just tried the test drive of Office 2007. The programs are all good except
for the damn "ribbon". I had heard about this but I was hoping it was just a
rumor. I am extremly dissapointed with you for this reason. I want to be
able to customze as well as hide my toolbars, yes, I want toolbars! I do not
need or use half the features on the "ribbon" in Word yet there are some
features that I do use that were not on the ribbon (Word Count?). Make the
damn thing customizable! If there are not some drastic changes to the
"ribbon" in the final release then I will NOT be purchasing this peice of
junk!

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...ic.office.misc

Dear Bob:

Something is not right here. Microsoft Word 2007 does not do anything when
I double click a tab. Moreover, I have not discovered a single way to
customize groups. If you are certain that it can be done, then perhaps you
would want to give me step-by-step directions because I am simply stranded.

You need not write to me about the quick access toolbar, because I know how
to customize it and that is not the problem that I am trying to resolve. For
me it is the ribbon and the groups. I want to have my own groups and my own
menu bar headings. I repeat that my Microsoft Word 2003 is so, and I mean
SO, customized, that one may not even recognize it at first glance.

Thank you.

"Bob Buckland ?:-)" wrote:

Hi Neal,

If you're using, from the 'Get the Beta' link below, either the online test drive of Office 2007 beta 2 or the installed Office
2007 beta 2 on your PC be sure to use the 2007 feedback tool from link #2 below to also send your feedback directly to the MS Office
2007 product team.

The daata layout you see for each item on the Ribbon can vary based on your screen resolution setting (the individual task groups
under each ribbon tab size to fit the available screen space). In 1024 or better you should see text with all of the larger/major
icons) and usually with the smaller/minor icons as well.

The ribbon is customizable. The basic show/hide functionallity is Ctrl+F1 or double clicking on the tab you're on. Beyond that,
the Ribbon is created from XML files and you can remove or add your own groups. MS calls the XML customizations 'RibbonX'.

You can also have the tools from prior version custom toolbars or menus you created (rather than modifications to the built in ones)
appear in the Ribbon 'add-ins' tab when you open a legacy (97-2003) template or document in the Office 2007 app. At least one 3rd
party tool for customizing the Ribbon is being prototyped
http://pschmid.net

Most of the keyboard shortcuts from Office 2003 apps continue to work in Office 2007, along with its own 2007 shortcut keytips (tap
the Alt key to show the 'next letter to use' shortcuts).

You may also want to visit and participate in the User Interface discussions at the MS Office 2007 User Interface team blog at
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh

In one of last weeks Team blog entries the discussion was about power users. If I recall, it mentions that while only 2% of users
customize (some don't because they didn't know the could, some don't because they thought they could but either didn't know how or
couldn't get it to work quite the way they wanted, some don't because it's not worth the trouble for them and some don't because
they can't [locked down in a 'corporate' environment g) the 2% is still over 1 million users.

==========
"Neal bangia" bangia m wrote in message
...
Hi Everybody!

I have to agree with Kraig. I am not your average Word user. I consider myself ... the ultimate Word user. As far as I know,
nobody knows all the functions of Word as much as I do ... not even the Japanese or the Microsoft support personnel, for that
matter. Perhaps the only ones who know it as well as I do are the developers and even they themselves are fragmented in their
knowledge because they work on different segments of the programming and they never seem to converge to a point where they know the
system
entirely. I possess and have worked on versions 4.3 all the way to 2003 in the English, French, Italian and Russian versions.

I thought that I would give you this background information because, like in court, an expert identifies and justifies his expertise
before giving his opinion so as to ensure that he is given a certain amount of credibility. My expertise therefore having been
given, I submit to you the following:

On all versions of Microsoft Word preceeding that version of 2003, I have
customized the menu bar and the toolbars to such an extent that they are at
least double, if not triple the size of those given when opening Microsoft
Word /a. In the toolbars, I have added tons of hidden functions and my own
custom-designed macroautomation subroutines to both the toolbars and menubar,
especially.

Contrary to those against the ribbon, I do not necessarily mind it, were it
not for it being inflexible to customizations. I have not been able to
determine if the ribbon cannot be customized because we are still in the beta
stages or if this is by design.

I have to be able to add my own customizations for macroautomation
subroutines and other functions that I use that the rest of the 99.9% of the
world does not use. Furthermore, while my normal.dot template contains the
customized toolbars and the menu bar additions and my macroautomation
subroutines adjust them as necessary, Microsoft should ensure that its new
product will convert the customized and added functions into the 2007
equivalent.

If Microsoft were to restrict such flexibility with its new product, it
would be like taking a step back in time to Microsoft Word 2.0 or, worse yet,
Word Pad! Put the ribbon? If you got to, you got to, I say, but do not
regress; progress!

I would be remiss to omit my main observation, though: That while the ribbon
is okay, albeit nothing spectacular, it is, an insult to the literate people
of this world. Microsoft is slowing down progress in order to accommodate
the illiterate by taking away the words that used to make up the menu bar and
using the pictograms on the ribbon instead. I think that that is disgraceful
and will make it the laughing stock of the whole world. I myself could not
stop myself from laughing until I thought to myself that I may eventually be
using such program in the future.

Like Kraig, I would be disinclined to purchase Office 2007 if it were not
customizable, but I would still buy it only to make sure that I am one step
ahead of everybody else, if my employer were to incorporate it in the
workplace. Personally, though, I would either stick with Microsoft Word
2003, which I am currently using, or I would revert to Corel Word Perfect XE3.

What I like about Corel, is that it upgrades its products by adding new
functions and not by changing the product altogether. That is not to say
that I do not like change, but not when the price that it comes at is a
complete annihilation of the functions that made the product so perfect in
the first place. This would be like taking the brakes off of a new
revolutionary automobile that will automatically stop when it detects in its
electronic eye the red light of a traffic signal.

I would suggest that Microsoft look to Windows Media Player 11 for
inspiration. That product allows users to hide or show the menu bar,
according to their wishes.

Microsoft should also learn that diplomacy means subscribing the "50+1
majority-rules" rule. When it first came out with Word, nobody liked it.
From what I understand, because WordPerfect already had the market cornered.
Then everybody got used to it. So in upgrading, it should simply add new functions and leave well enough alone ... or at least
make it accessible.

I hope my comments will be seriously taken into consideration. I have expended around an hour giving them.

Thank you,

Neal Bangia
--
I hope this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?:-)
MS Office system products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends

LINKS to the 2007 Office System

1. Read about it, try it, or watch the movie
the 2007 Microsoft Office system info,
online Test Drive, or downloadable beta is at
http://microsoft.com/office/preview

2. Already have 2007 Office System Beta 2?
Send Microsoft your feedback (with pictures)
http://sas.office.microsoft.com/

3. Use the 2007 OfficeOnline website without Office2007

a. Install the ActiveX access control
http://office.microsoft.com/search/r...XT101650581033
b. then visit http://officebeta.iponet.net

Sorry I like the new interface a lot as do others. I have read a lot of
positive reviews.

"Kraig" wrote:

Thank you very much Neal! Its great to have some support out there! Bob,
you need to stop, seriously, I have tried both the online and the download
and I DON'T LIKE IT! My decision is made and if you like to be screwed with
by Microsoft, fine, but don't try to get other people into beliving that
limits are good.

"Neal bangia )" wrote:

Hi there, again!

Just as an addition, I meant by the "50+1 majority-rules" rule is that
Microsoft should be content that the majority of the world enjoys Microsoft
Office Word and it should not try to get 100% of everybody to like it because
in doing so it angers those of us who have already pledged our love to the
product.

Sincerely,

Neal Bangia )
Telephone: +1-(514)-344-2701

"Kraig" wrote:

I just tried the test drive of Office 2007. The programs are all good except
for the damn "ribbon". I had heard about this but I was hoping it was just a
rumor. I am extremly dissapointed with you for this reason. I want to be
able to customze as well as hide my toolbars, yes, I want toolbars! I do not
need or use half the features on the "ribbon" in Word yet there are some
features that I do use that were not on the ribbon (Word Count?). Make the
damn thing customizable! If there are not some drastic changes to the
"ribbon" in the final release then I will NOT be purchasing this peice of
junk!

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...ic.office.misc

Hi Neal,

Something is not right here. Microsoft Word 2007 does not do anything when
I double click a tab. Moreover, I have not discovered a single way to
It should do something when you double click a tab. Does CTRL-F1 work?

customize groups. If you are certain that it can be done, then perhaps you
would want to give me step-by-step directions because I am simply stranded.
Check my blog: http://pschmid.net
As a user you can't do it with an UI, you need to do it
programmatically. I have the steps for that on my blog. My add-in to let
you do some UI based customization is forthcoming though.

You need not write to me about the quick access toolbar, because I know how
to customize it and that is not the problem that I am trying to resolve. For
me it is the ribbon and the groups. I want to have my own groups and my own
menu bar headings. I repeat that my Microsoft Word 2003 is so, and I mean
SO, customized, that one may not even recognize it at first glance.
You can only hide the MS groups and reproduce them in your customized
fashion. There is no way to actually alter MS groups. I can't remember
right now whether MS tab labels can be changed or not.

Patrick Schmid
--------------
http://pschmid.net


Hi Neal,

If you're using, from the 'Get the Beta' link below, either the online test drive of Office 2007 beta 2 or the installed Office
2007 beta 2 on your PC be sure to use the 2007 feedback tool from link #2 below to also send your feedback directly to the MS Office
2007 product team.

The daata layout you see for each item on the Ribbon can vary based on your screen resolution setting (the individual task groups
under each ribbon tab size to fit the available screen space). In 1024 or better you should see text with all of the larger/major
icons) and usually with the smaller/minor icons as well.

The ribbon is customizable. The basic show/hide functionallity is Ctrl+F1 or double clicking on the tab you're on. Beyond that,
the Ribbon is created from XML files and you can remove or add your own groups. MS calls the XML customizations 'RibbonX'.

You can also have the tools from prior version custom toolbars or menus you created (rather than modifications to the built in ones)
appear in the Ribbon 'add-ins' tab when you open a legacy (97-2003) template or document in the Office 2007 app. At least one 3rd
party tool for customizing the Ribbon is being prototyped
http://pschmid.net

Most of the keyboard shortcuts from Office 2003 apps continue to work in Office 2007, along with its own 2007 shortcut keytips (tap
the Alt key to show the 'next letter to use' shortcuts).

You may also want to visit and participate in the User Interface discussions at the MS Office 2007 User Interface team blog at
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh

In one of last weeks Team blog entries the discussion was about power users. If I recall, it mentions that while only 2% of users
customize (some don't because they didn't know the could, some don't because they thought they could but either didn't know how or
couldn't get it to work quite the way they wanted, some don't because it's not worth the trouble for them and some don't because
they can't [locked down in a 'corporate' environment g) the 2% is still over 1 million users.

==========
"Neal bangia" bangia m wrote in message
...
Hi Everybody!

I have to agree with Kraig. I am not your average Word user. I consider myself ... the ultimate Word user. As far as I know,
nobody knows all the functions of Word as much as I do ... not even the Japanese or the Microsoft support personnel, for that
matter. Perhaps the only ones who know it as well as I do are the developers and even they themselves are fragmented in their
knowledge because they work on different segments of the programming and they never seem to converge to a point where they know the
system
entirely. I possess and have worked on versions 4.3 all the way to 2003 in the English, French, Italian and Russian versions.

I thought that I would give you this background information because, like in court, an expert identifies and justifies his expertise
before giving his opinion so as to ensure that he is given a certain amount of credibility. My expertise therefore having been
given, I submit to you the following:

On all versions of Microsoft Word preceeding that version of 2003, I have
customized the menu bar and the toolbars to such an extent that they are at
least double, if not triple the size of those given when opening Microsoft
Word /a. In the toolbars, I have added tons of hidden functions and my own
custom-designed macroautomation subroutines to both the toolbars and menubar,
especially.

Contrary to those against the ribbon, I do not necessarily mind it, were it
not for it being inflexible to customizations. I have not been able to
determine if the ribbon cannot be customized because we are still in the beta
stages or if this is by design.

I have to be able to add my own customizations for macroautomation
subroutines and other functions that I use that the rest of the 99.9% of the
world does not use. Furthermore, while my normal.dot template contains the
customized toolbars and the menu bar additions and my macroautomation
subroutines adjust them as necessary, Microsoft should ensure that its new
product will convert the customized and added functions into the 2007
equivalent.

If Microsoft were to restrict such flexibility with its new product, it
would be like taking a step back in time to Microsoft Word 2.0 or, worse yet,
Word Pad! Put the ribbon? If you got to, you got to, I say, but do not
regress; progress!

I would be remiss to omit my main observation, though: That while the ribbon
is okay, albeit nothing spectacular, it is, an insult to the literate people
of this world. Microsoft is slowing down progress in order to accommodate
the illiterate by taking away the words that used to make up the menu bar and
using the pictograms on the ribbon instead. I think that that is disgraceful
and will make it the laughing stock of the whole world. I myself could not
stop myself from laughing until I thought to myself that I may eventually be
using such program in the future.

Like Kraig, I would be disinclined to purchase Office 2007 if it were not
customizable, but I would still buy it only to make sure that I am one step
ahead of everybody else, if my employer were to incorporate it in the
workplace. Personally, though, I would either stick with Microsoft Word
2003, which I am currently using, or I would revert to Corel Word Perfect XE3.

What I like about Corel, is that it upgrades its products by adding new
functions and not by changing the product altogether. That is not to say
that I do not like change, but not when the price that it comes at is a
complete annihilation of the functions that made the product so perfect in
the first place. This would be like taking the brakes off of a new
revolutionary automobile that will automatically stop when it detects in its
electronic eye the red light of a traffic signal.

I would suggest that Microsoft look to Windows Media Player 11 for
inspiration. That product allows users to hide or show the menu bar,
according to their wishes.

Microsoft should also learn that diplomacy means subscribing the "50+1
majority-rules" rule. When it first came out with Word, nobody liked it.
From what I understand, because WordPerfect already had the market cornered.
Then everybody got used to it. So in upgrading, it should simply add new functions and leave well enough alone ... or at least
make it accessible.

I hope my comments will be seriously taken into consideration. I have expended around an hour giving them.

Thank you,

Neal Bangia
--
I hope this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?:-)
MS Office system products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends

LINKS to the 2007 Office System

1. Read about it, try it, or watch the movie
the 2007 Microsoft Office system info,
online Test Drive, or downloadable beta is at
http://microsoft.com/office/preview

2. Already have 2007 Office System Beta 2?
Send Microsoft your feedback (with pictures)
http://sas.office.microsoft.com/

3. Use the 2007 OfficeOnline website without Office2007

a. Install the ActiveX access control
http://office.microsoft.com/search/r...XT101650581033
b. then visit http://officebeta.iponet.net

So, we can safely assume that you will be sticking with your current version
of Office?

A perfectly valid decision, but let others make their own, which may include
using Office 2007. Note the use of choice, nor forced.

--�
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Kraig asked:

| Thank you very much Neal! Its great to have some support out there!
| Bob, you need to stop, seriously, I have tried both the online and
| the download and I DON'T LIKE IT! My decision is made and if you
| like to be screwed with by Microsoft, fine, but don't try to get
| other people into beliving that limits are good.
|
| "Neal bangia )" wrote:
|
|| Hi there, again!
||
|| Just as an addition, I meant by the "50+1 majority-rules" rule is
|| that Microsoft should be content that the majority of the world
|| enjoys Microsoft Office Word and it should not try to get 100% of
|| everybody to like it because in doing so it angers those of us who
|| have already pledged our love to the product.
||
|| Sincerely,
||
|| Neal Bangia )
|| Telephone: +1-(514)-344-2701
||
|| "Kraig" wrote:
||
||| I just tried the test drive of Office 2007. The programs are all
||| good except for the damn "ribbon". I had heard about this but I
||| was hoping it was just a rumor. I am extremly dissapointed with
||| you for this reason. I want to be able to customze as well as hide
||| my toolbars, yes, I want toolbars! I do not need or use half the
||| features on the "ribbon" in Word yet there are some features that I
||| do use that were not on the ribbon (Word Count?). Make the damn
||| thing customizable! If there are not some drastic changes to the
||| "ribbon" in the final release then I will NOT be purchasing this
||| peice of junk!
|||
||| ----------------
||| This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to
||| the suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion,
||| click the "I Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see
||| the button, follow this link to open the suggestion in the
||| Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then click "I Agree" in the
||| message pane.
|||
|||
http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...ic.office.misc

Hello!

"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote in message
...
So, we can safely assume that you will be sticking with your current version
of Office?

A perfectly valid decision, but let others make their own, which may include
using Office 2007. Note the use of choice, nor forced.


I still use Word 2000 (with service pack 3) - it works OK for me.
But there will be a problem - MS Awareness Update (KB 910474 and
910473) and Compatibility Pack for Office 2007 formats work only in
Office XP and 2003:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/prev...ter.mspx#step4
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910474
I hope that will add support for Word 2000 ...

Regards, Roman