Comments on: No No and NO!

By: Harlan Grove

Harlan Grove — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:43:54 +0000

Also see

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136474/Open_source_users_revolt_over_OpenOffice.org_s_ribbon_esque_UI

By: JP

JP — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:10:02 +0000

Check out makeofficebetter.com, you can vote to get rid of the Ribbon :)

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:15:17 +0000

Mike
I think if they make it optional they could recover a modicum of dignity but otherwise it just looks to be the ultimate humiliation.
And a disaster for Office productivity – from an MS POV if your number one competitor just copies everything you do 3-5 years later, thats hardly the kind of competition that drives innovation.

By: Mike Alexander

Mike Alexander — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:38:55 +0000

Microsoft is the standard bearer by virtue of its user base (never mind if you like the standard they are setting).

All the popular software makers will adopt the Ribbon because Microsoft says so. Have you used SnagIt 9 yet? They have the Ribbon. OO is obviously trying to stay modern and relevant.

I personally think that as one of the major rallying symbols of open source, OpenOffice has offically sold out.

By: jonpeltier

jonpeltier — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:02:20 +0000

Wow, that OOo interface is even uglier than the ribbon.

Harlan – If I could have a ribbon that could be hidden, plus menus and commandbars, I’d hide the ribbon, and use menus and commandbars. But then, that’s what I actually do. I hide the ribbon by using Excel 2003.

By: Harlan Grove

Harlan Grove — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:10:53 +0000

Now that I think about it, best would be allowing BOTH a ribbon-like screen stealing area across the top which could be hidden AND classic docked and floating toolbars. The classic menu is just a toolbar (excuse me, CommandBar), so this would allow for classic menu + toolbars. You could even use all the different UI elements together if you really, really wanted to do so.

One thing I’d want to add: make ANY toolbar QAT-able, that is, dockable in the application window’s caption area, and make the QAT itself just another toolbar. While I’m at it, allow docking multiple toolbars in the application window’s caption area just as multiple toolbars can be docked end-to-end on any side of the application window.

By: Harlan Grove

Harlan Grove — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:52:07 +0000

The best solution is simple to express, maybe very difficult to implement: provide multiple UIs and let the user decide. Standardize on some elements, e.g., tool icons which could be dropped into a QAT-like area could be dropped into classic toolbars. Then allow users to choose their UI. Best would be switching UIs on the fly as the program is running, but at least for me it’d be OK if the UI could only be chosen when launching the program.

By: JP

JP — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:58:04 +0000

It looks like they’re trying to get more customers by making the UI look more like the current Office suite, so it lowers the learning curve when making the switch. Or they could just be all over Microsoft’s you-know-what.