Office 2007 frustrates me so!

[Sakrysta]

I am a keyboard shortcut junkie. The ALT key is my best friend when it comes to navigating a document.

SO, the fact that the Office 2007 suite monkeyed with several of my commonly-used shortcuts is just really starting to annoy me. I use Print Preview as a reflex akin to breathing. My fingers execute ALT+F+V before my brain even remembers that it doesn't work anymore. Or rather it works, but for this new function called Convert that (I assume) converts an older version document to the new version. I haven't yet had any remote need to use this function. Now, in order to Print Preview, I have to remember to throw a W between the F and V in the sequence. I'd say I'm about up to a 40% success rate remembering the extra letter. More often, I end up having to ESC out of the stupid warning and redo the sequence.

You know, if my brain were just more easily re-wired, this wouldn't be a problem. Or, you know, if Microsoft had maybe chosen a letter for their new function that wasn't one that had been assigned to an actually USEFUL function for over a decade...

The Print Preview thing is just one of the many objections I have to the changes they made to the Office suite. I'm sorry, but seriously, what were they thinking, completely rearranging tools that people use for their livelihood? For me, if I had had to switch to the new version at work, it would have cut my productivity significantly just trying to get accustomed to the new design.

Anyone else as annoyed by it as I am?

(Okay, I realize it's been out for 3 years and I'm way behind. I've fought upgrading this long, and now I'm having to use it and I just hate it.)

 

[Count Zero]

You have my sympathies, though I don't use Office 2007.

I've been using Open Office for years, since version 1.0, and it hasn't made any changes like that (though it has improved in a lot of things since then, thankfully). I sometimes get annoyed at work where we use MS Office 2003, which is slightly different from Open Office, so that sometimes I first have to find out/remember how things work there.

 

[Gertch]

Anyone else as annoyed by it as I am?

I am. I have 2003 at home and maybe it's because I'm more used to it but it seems a lot easier to find options than that darned ribbon.

At least Excel hasn't changed too much for what I use it for.

 

[Cornholio]

I got rid of Microsoft altogether after XP was introduce. I've been using Linux and Open Office ever since.

Open Office is the way to go. and yeah, MS Office annoys me.

 

[clint g]

I've tried using Open Office and for the most part I like it. It doesn't seem to have the ability to save in docx format from what I can tell, so I dont really use it much

 

[John Clark]

I haven't used Office 2007 personally, but some people have converted to it at work. Generally, they dislike it.

A work, I use 03 and I'm ok with it. At home, I use Open Office but I can almost guarantee that we'll never use that at work. We've been trending towards Microsoft for the last few years.

We used to use mostly Lotus Software (123, Amipro and Notes), but now it's all MS and Word, at least on my work system is a dog (As an example, click on save as and it takes 5 minutes to ask you where you want to save it to) As much as others at work dislike 2007, I'm almost hoping they install it on mine. It may fix that issue, but I doubt it.

 

[StolenThunder]

I think Print Preview has become a less vital function as time has progressed. Screens are bigger now, and I tend to write things with nearly the whole page visible. I guess they decided that was the way things were going.

 

[Jadzia]

When these new versions of word/office come out, do they add many new and useful functions? Or are the differences mostly cosmetic and/or improved security?

 

[TrekkieMonster]

I'm right there with ya, Sakrysta. After using the previous versions for something like 15 years, these modifications that supposedly "simplify" thing are really just annoying. I can't find anything anymore.

I hate change sometimes.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I've been using Office since the mid-90's, all the way up to 2007. Personally, I love the ribbon. It took some getting used to but all the most common functions are just right there where I need them. The styling system in Word is also a substantial improvement over previous versions. I use both Word and Excel very heavily, and have for the last 10 years (job requirements.)

That said, I also love OpenOffice, and use it frequently. The Base application is pretty nice--I have set it up for small businesses to use for data entry, since it's so easy to set up a form, some reports, and just turn them loose.

 

[Sakrysta]

^I'm curious to know whether you use the mouse a lot, or the keyboard when retrieving menu functions.

For me, the ribbon is hugely cluttered with functions I never use and buries the ones I do use in new and strange positions that it takes me 5x as long to find as it did before. Another thing I miss desperately is the option of customizing the menu bar. My Word and Excel button bars in Office XP were extensively modified with functions that I use on a regular basis but that took too many steps to pull from the menu. For those, I would use the mouse, or even assign a new shortcut key. I could also remove a shortcut key assignment and re-assign it to whatever I wanted. There's no way to do that in 2007. I would give anything to be able to remove that stupid "Convert" function from the File menu completely. The only thing you can modify in 2007 is the Quick Access Toolbar. You can assign keyboard shortcuts, true, but if they're already assigned to something else, I haven't found a way to change it.

 

[propita]

Oh man! You can't modify the toolbar easily?

Mine is so customized that most people don't recognize half the stuff.

 

[C.E. Evans]

*Coughs*...I'm still using Office 2001...a simple click on toolbar icon and I instantly have what I want...

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I bought 2007 without knowing what had been done to it, I simply thought I was buying the latest version of the Office I had been using for years. We have 2003 at work.

I've pretty much just gotten used to it, as I only use it sparingly at home anyway.

There is an add-on type program that can be purchased for around $20 that will make the ribbon appear more like previous versions of Office. I tried it early on as a trial version, it seemed OK.

 

[Mallory]

As a software developer I try to stay away from becoming too accustomed to shortcuts in the third party software we use/interface with. Since I don't have the luxury of skipping or delaying any upgrades they may release I tend to favor shortening my learning curve over any long term productivity.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

^I'm curious to know whether you use the mouse a lot, or the keyboard when retrieving menu functions.

For me, the ribbon is hugely cluttered with functions I never use and buries the ones I do use in new and strange positions that it takes me 5x as long to find as it did before. Another thing I miss desperately is the option of customizing the menu bar. My Word and Excel button bars in Office XP were extensively modified with functions that I use on a regular basis but that took too many steps to pull from the menu. For those, I would use the mouse, or even assign a new shortcut key. I could also remove a shortcut key assignment and re-assign it to whatever I wanted. There's no way to do that in 2007. I would give anything to be able to remove that stupid "Convert" function from the File menu completely. The only thing you can modify in 2007 is the Quick Access Toolbar. You can assign keyboard shortcuts, true, but if they're already assigned to something else, I haven't found a way to change it.

Other than basic shortcuts (copy/paste/print/undo) I use the mouse. I never learned the shortcuts for things like "text to columns" (which I use a lot) or any of the sort functionality. But I use a massive trackball that I'm very good at using with pinpoint accuracy--I can keep one hand on the keyboard and another on the trackball and manipulate data in a hurry. It works for me, and as a bonus I never got stuck on what the shortcuts were for any particular command.

I can see how it would really suck if you're accustomed to using the shortcuts for everything and Microsoft went and fucked them all up. They should at least include a "compatibility mode" to restore the previous functionality for those who need it. I remember the days when Word came with WordPerfect shortcuts so people could easily transition. But now, there's not really any competition--except OpenOffice, and they don't even try to use the same interfaces and shortcuts at this point.

 

[TrekkieMonster]

Oh man! You can't modify the toolbar easily?

Mine is so customized that most people don't recognize half the stuff.

I use the mouse mostly, too, but have also extensively customized my toobars. One of the things I don't like about '07 is that everything is already set AND the icons all look different. Nothing is familiar visually and functions are under different categories/headings now. Everything just takes at least twice as long to find.

So, I've added my most frequently used buttons to my ribbon, which helps a bit. But, if I added everything I wanted, the ribbon would stretch all the way across the freakin' window.

As a software developer I try to stay away from becoming too accustomed to shortcuts in the third party software we use/interface with. Since I don't have the luxury of skipping or delaying any upgrades they may release I tend to favor shortening my learning curve over any long term productivity.

You are wise, Obi Wan.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I did a little fiddling around with this.

UBitMenu is a free app that is supposed to make Office 2007/2010 look like 2003.
I installed it, but it didn't seem to do anything once I did and I couldn't even identify where it had installed itself.
It was uninstallable from Control Panel. I may have had Win7x64 issues with this, it might work for you.

ToolbarToggle is $20 -full version/$13 - lite version. I installed the 5-day trial version and got the following result:


This was after telling Excel (or Word, or Pwer Point) to minimize the original ribbon (right-click on View).
As you can see, the 2007 ribbon drop-downs are still at the top, but fairly unobtrusive.