Larry
I share your feelings. It seems far too much user customisation has been
sacrificed for little reason.
I like the Ribbons and the groups of small command icons - but not the
groups, command icons or order that they have provided. I know that some of
this can be customized but it should be possible for ANY user to change it
using simple tools out of the box.
As it stands, I probably use 15% of the tools in each Ribbon - so the rest
is a waste of space. I should be able to simply mix and match just like I
could in 2003.
--
Terry Farrell - MS Word MVP
"Larry" wrote in message
...
Beth,
You've opened my eyes. Now I understand the logic behind Microsoft's
destruction of Word. By the same logic by which the menus were
eliminated,
since the "majority" of users don't create custom toolbars and custom
menus,
MS just did away with them as well. Or at least made it much harder to
create and install them--I haven't figured this all out yet. In any case,
the former beautiful feature by which you opened the Customize dialog box
and could effortllessly create a new toolbar and give it a name put on it
what you wanted seems to be gone.
Hey, folks, the "majority" of users also never create a macro, never edit
a
macro, and never assign a custom keystroke to a macro or to a built-in
command. So, by MS's logic of only keeping features that "most" users
use,
how come MS didn't eliminate VBA, eliminate macro recording, eliminate
macros, eliminate the Macro dialog box, eliminate the VBA editing
interface,
and eliminate the Customize Keyboard dialog box???
The great thing about Word was that it had thousands of capabilities, and
each user, depending on his interests, might only deal with a small part
of
them. So each person could in effect have his own "Word." But now we've
moved away from such diversity toward a single uniformity. A single
"majority rule" determines what will be in Word. Only what the 90 percent
of users who are mediocre users will determine what is in Word.
Everything
that a more skilled and creative or just idiosyncratic user of Word might
want to access is to be eliminated. That appears to be the logic.
The only thing that saves the situation from total disaster is that MS has
not yet been completely consistent in its program of destruction, so it
has
still left some "non-popular" features in place.
Larry
"Beth Melton" wrote in message
...
More than likely, the data MS used to determine which commands were used
most often (Customer Experience Program) determined most users didn't
acce
ss
the AutoCorrect dialog box through the Tools menu. Perhaps they used the
AutoCorrect Options button or added words to AutoCorrect using spell
check.
The commands that were brought "closer to the surface" are those that the
majority users actually use on a regular basis. I suspect you'll find
more
of these situations since you're not exactly an "average user". IIRC, you
created your own version of Word using macros and such. ;-)
If you think about it, how often do you actually use the AutoCorrect
dialog
box? The majority of the words I mess up are already there and once I set
the options for my AutoFormat options and SmartTags I don't need to go
back
to them.
If you find you need to access a dialog box frequently then just add it
to
your Quick Access Toolbar. When I need it I just use the old accelerator
keys, Alt+T+A since my usage isn't frequent enough to add it to the QAT.
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook
Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
"Larry" wrote in message
...
In Word 97-2003, to open the AutoCorrect dialog box, you (1) click open
the
Tools menu and (2) click AutoCorrect. Two simple steps.
To do the same in Word 2007, you (1) open the Office button, then (2)
click
on Word Options, then (3) use the down arrow to get down to Proofing,
then
(4) click on a button that says AutoCorrect options. That's four or
more
steps, compared to two simple steps in the earlier versions of Word.
In
Word 97-2003, the AutoCorrect dialog box is instantly seen, one step
from
the surface of Word. In Word 2007, it's several layers away from the
surface.
Now please someone explain to me: WHY?
How does this new design make Word's basic commands "easier" to get to?
If Word were an automobile, it would be as if they put the gear shift
inside
the glove compartment, and called that a more "user-friendly" car!