Comments on: Proof of the ribbons success

By: Other Chris

Other Chris — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:48:18 +0000

I realise you could say I have a vested interest here (I work for MS), but I actually quite like the ribbon. I was doing a presentation a couple of years ago at a conference where I demo’d the ribbon and got some grumbles from the audience (Scottish-sounding, I could have sworn). I began explaining the reasoning behind messing around with the UI and then I started getting other audience members pitching in saying that they quite liked it after they’d used it for a while. I notice now when I get onto a machine using 2003 that it annoys me when people have moved toolbars around, hidden them et cetera. I personally don’t like the extensibility story very much right now, but I do like the look and feel of the UI.

I started working at MS subsequent to the ribbon being added, so I don’t have all THAT much of a vested interest…

By: Harlan Grove

Harlan Grove — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 23:18:04 +0000

[Ctrl]+[F3] displays a dialog in Enter/Point/Edit modes. Can an add-in do that?

Don’t get me wrong. I think the standard means of entering worksheet formulas suck. Hopelessly mired in the early 1980s. All spreadsheets, not just Excel, desperately need better formula editing UIs, so what does Excel 2007 provide? An autoresizing formula bar. Gee, swell.

By: Bob Phillips

Bob Phillips — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:58:56 +0000

“I just realised that I didn’t know where to find the “Name Manager” Icon, because I always type alt-I-N-D.”

Ctrl-F3 still works as well, but why would would anyone use that wishy-washy dialog when you can get Jan Karel Pieterse’s far superior free addin.

By: dougaj4

dougaj4 — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:07:23 +0000

“The E2007 shortcut story isn’t a total disaster but you need to learn them before you use 2007 because it won’t help you like every other version.”

I just realised that I didn’t know where to find the “Name Manager” Icon, because I always type alt-I-N-D.

It’s on the formula tab.

I’ll have forgotten that by tomorrow.

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:58:58 +0000

The E2007 shortcut story isn’t a total disaster but you need to learn them before you use 2007 because it won’t help you like every other version.

you’re right it is only the complete noobs that haven’t lost.

By: chris

chris — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:35:29 +0000

And if MSFT do such a study, I wonder if they’ll break it down to who gets the most annoyed by the ribbon?
(i) you power-users who crawl over spreadsheets all day long but have lost all your shortucts and are now being encouraged to mouse click all the time?
(ii) people like me who have a reasonable knowledge and were reasonably fluent with the old file menu and shortcuts and don’t have the time to find out the new shortcuts (and give up anyway cos they’re too long)?
(iv) very moderate users who worked out the basics of the file menu but have now seen that change?
(iii) newbies who have no clue whatsoever?

By: BIGGUS DICKUS

BIGGUS DICKUS — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:13:12 +0000

Simon:

Thanx for finding the Unhide on the Ribbon – I’d given up on finding it.

I eventually found that if you Right-Mouse a Worksheet Tab the Hide and Unhide show up there. That works (and kinda makes sense) but only once you stumble on it. This should be easier to find on the Ribbon methinks though.

Dick

By: sam

sam — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:15:28 +0000

With every new release of office (from 97 to 2003) MS would publish a whitepaper titled “Improved Office Productivity”….or something similar….which compared how everything took less time in the current version than the previous version….

The word productivity has suddenly disappeared from MS vocabulary after 2007….

By: jonpeltier

jonpeltier — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:41:01 +0000

“… to reduce the number of people asking for features that already exist.”

I suppose by encouraging folks to beg for features which once existed but are gone (customizable toolbars, tear away palettes, F4 repeat last action shortcut) and to wonder where those undeprecated features have hidden themselves go a log way towards stopping the requests for features that do in fact exist.

By: dougaj4

dougaj4 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:20:15 +0000

I have to admit that putting a copy command two levels down on the paste button is not exactly intuitively obvious.

Maybe no-one at Microsoft knows about it either, other than the guy who put it there.

I coudn’t find any mention of it in the help system.

Anyway, thanks for pointing that out Bob