First the idiots at Redmond forget to include classic mode, (never mind actually skinning office). And then they put the idiot who developed the ribbon in charge of the NT 7 UI!

Steve Jobs and Tux will be laughing – if I am going to learn a new UI it’s _not_ going to be on Windows

“…I have learned that it is the rare person that actually uses custom toolbars, non-default floating toolbar windows, dockable panels, etc….”

Wow, what a monkey – and what a complete, misleading falasy. Written like a true programmer. Maybe Chris should go back to his locked, dark, windowless room and continue programming without any sense of the end user who will ultimately have to use it. The Programmer always knows best, right Chris? What a Dick.

Office 2007 is HORRIBLE!! What a gigantic leap backwards.

…I have learned that it is the rare person that actually uses custom toolbars, non-default floating toolbar windows, dockable panels, etc….

If there really is a 10% that actually customizes toolbars, that should be reason enough to keep the option available (so says the person who knows nothing about business).
I mean, for those who don’t use it, the option to customize is certainly low priority. But for those of us who do, it is important enough to influence purchasing decisions.

Look, I created an entire Word template, for use mainly with my fiction, but I also use it occasionally when working on homework.
Isn’t the idea of a toolbar to have the commands we use most readily available at all times…rather than sifting through menus and dialog boxes to find them?
That template depends heavily on the four or five toolbars I created for it (plus something like three different styles, but they’re less of an issue).

We don’t have to be a majority to be very loud. The fact that some people want the ability to customize should be reason enough to make it available; the rest of the world, who doesn’t want to use it, doesn’t have to.
As a for instance…I’m using Office 97 on my computer, all so that I can still use my customized toolbars. I would be using Office XP, but the license on my dad’s copy isn’t good for two computers.
For me, that’s reason enough NOT to use Office 2007. And I know I’m just one consumer…but we don’t have to be a majority to be very loud. And from the looks of this webpage, those of us who dislike the 2007 layout are very loud indeed.

From Classic VB 6.0 i’m unable to put my icon on the command button on office 2007.
Could you please guide us? Your prompt reply would be appreciated

Looking forward your reply.

Thanks & Regards
Ashokkumar P

I just wish they would provide more choice in changing their color schemes for Office 2007. Right now I think all that is available is black, silver and blue. None of which I think look real good.

Sometimes, you need to clean house, get rid of the old junk before you can move forward into the future. That is what MS has done here. I wish they would do this with Windows! Write a whole new code base from zero. I bet the system would be 1/3 the size of what Windows is now and orders of magnitude faster.

You create a product and a service system that produces even more revenue. It’s got nothing to do with actually ’satisfying’ people. The only satisfaction is the bank account for Bill Gates swelling even larger.

Windows XP Pro and Office 2003 Pro are difficult to improve upon (for Windows users). They then release a confusing OS (Vista) and office package (2007) that requires even the experts to have to plunk down the dollars and register for new and updated training. (side note: the new OS is so bloated that IT departments even have to plunk down dollars on new hardware).

Hey people.. It’s nothing personal.. It’s business!!

All that having been said, however, I find the Custom UI Editor to be really clunky. That, in conjunction with the Save As facility of Office (or at least PowerPoint, for sure) makes working on VBA kind of cumbersome. Every time you do the Save As *.ppam, it wipes out the custom UI xml that was paart of the previous .ppam file. Then you have to load the Cusdtom UI Editor, copy in your own custom XML (you *did* save it, didn’t you?) and resave the .ppam. None of that seems to be very well-thought out. Or am I missing something obvious here?

Can’t customise anything anymore – Microsoft know better than you.
Autotext cannot be turned off, leading to repeated mistakes especially – the wrong date.
Menu items MS deems “unpopular” are buried deep and take ages to find.
The page jumps around in Web view.
Cursor won’t move when it comes to a XML separation point.
Can’t see dark buttons on the Quick access toolbar when using the black colour scheme.
Printed characters are now always thinner than they should be.
You have to be online for help now. (If your on your laptop in a cafe, then no help for you.)
Ribbon takes up the top of the screen which is the most important area for horizontal screen laptops.

I can list a hundred more problems if I set myself the task of noting them when they happen. Having said that, beginners love it.

Using a car analogy, Microsoft’s idea went something like this:

“Since people don’t use 3rd and 4th gear, we’ll remove 3rd and 4th gear and insert 1.5 gear and 2.5 gear. The proper answer was to teach people to use 3rd gear and 4th gear. A bit to obvious I guess.

Martin Gifford.

HUGE learning curve, but on the other side it’s much better.

I’m a 12-year Office pro, including macro development in VBA.

Unfortunately I am stuck with this piece of garbage to remain compatible with my peers. Something about Office 2003 no longer being offered on new business hardware. I guess there’s a reason for that.

The good thing is that Microsoft will surely come out with Office 2008 or 2009 that will improve on the shortcomings, just like with Windows 95 – another imfamous piece of Microsoft garbage. It will only cost us another $600 for the upgrade. What a scam.

If you don’t absolutely need Office 2007 stick with 2003.