Word 2007 Learning Curve

I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007. And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007 apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the same
problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object rather than the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using Word 2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass was
achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but there are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least, you have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will surely
build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is the best option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard to get
used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be more difficult
several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a hurry, but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach. This is a
good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but you don't need to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can use, as
well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where to find Word 2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents that rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using the Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word 2007's
Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used tools from Word 2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my everyday
work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

Herb and Susan, thanks for the useful feedback. Like Herb I have no choice,
with my company about to make a massive migration to Vista and Office 2007.
And I can't afford to loose much time and productivity because of this. Hence
my present preparatory work at home in my spare time. So I'll have to bite
the bullet, but this looks like it is going to be a very tough and bitter
one. Quite frankly I fail to understand what Microsoft was/is thinking.
Preparing a new document or spreadsheet seems to be all about coping with the
user interface and appearances now, and in the meantime many people seem to
forget what it is really about, i.e. the contents of the message ... The next
release has been aptly code named MS Office HAB (Hot Air Balloon). On the
other hand I suppose it is also fair to point out that I'm not getting any
younger and possibly my flexibility to adjust is no longer what it used to be.

--
JMB


"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the same
problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object rather than the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using Word 2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass was
achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but there are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least, you have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will surely
build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is the best option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard to get
used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be more difficult
several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a hurry, but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach. This is a
good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but you don't need to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can use, as
well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where to find Word 2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents that rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using the Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word 2007's
Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used tools from Word 2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my everyday
work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

Use the QAT as much as possible to collect your most frequently used tools.
One good thing about Office 2007 is that it's really easy to add items to
the QAT. Right-click what you want, and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar.
The other thing that will make it less of a pain (literally) is to move the
QAT to below the ribbon. That way, it will a shorter mouse journey, and
easier to access. (Right-click the QAT and choose "Show QAT Below the
Ribbon".) The QAT has been my salvation.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
Herb and Susan, thanks for the useful feedback. Like Herb I have no
choice,
with my company about to make a massive migration to Vista and Office
2007.
And I can't afford to loose much time and productivity because of this.
Hence
my present preparatory work at home in my spare time. So I'll have to bite
the bullet, but this looks like it is going to be a very tough and bitter
one. Quite frankly I fail to understand what Microsoft was/is thinking.
Preparing a new document or spreadsheet seems to be all about coping with
the
user interface and appearances now, and in the meantime many people seem
to
forget what it is really about, i.e. the contents of the message ... The
next
release has been aptly code named MS Office HAB (Hot Air Balloon). On the
other hand I suppose it is also fair to point out that I'm not getting any
younger and possibly my flexibility to adjust is no longer what it used to
be.

--
JMB


"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the same
problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object rather than
the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using Word
2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass was
achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more
productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but there
are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least, you
have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will surely
build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is the best
option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard to get
used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be more difficult
several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a hurry,
but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach. This is a
good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but you don't need
to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can use, as
well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where to find Word
2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents that
rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using the
Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word 2007's
Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used tools from Word
2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my everyday
work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic
inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office
2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and
spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user
friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but
I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and
know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

Yes Ok I have tried the QAT approach but I disovered that some of the icons
for different commands look exactly alike and there is no fast-and-easy way
to edit the icons as we were able to do with 2003.

I am now trying out the pschmid Ribbon Customiser. However, I still have to
find out how to customise the ribbon.


--
Paul Gauci


"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

Use the QAT as much as possible to collect your most frequently used tools.
One good thing about Office 2007 is that it's really easy to add items to
the QAT. Right-click what you want, and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar.
The other thing that will make it less of a pain (literally) is to move the
QAT to below the ribbon. That way, it will a shorter mouse journey, and
easier to access. (Right-click the QAT and choose "Show QAT Below the
Ribbon".) The QAT has been my salvation.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
Herb and Susan, thanks for the useful feedback. Like Herb I have no
choice,
with my company about to make a massive migration to Vista and Office
2007.
And I can't afford to loose much time and productivity because of this.
Hence
my present preparatory work at home in my spare time. So I'll have to bite
the bullet, but this looks like it is going to be a very tough and bitter
one. Quite frankly I fail to understand what Microsoft was/is thinking.
Preparing a new document or spreadsheet seems to be all about coping with
the
user interface and appearances now, and in the meantime many people seem
to
forget what it is really about, i.e. the contents of the message ... The
next
release has been aptly code named MS Office HAB (Hot Air Balloon). On the
other hand I suppose it is also fair to point out that I'm not getting any
younger and possibly my flexibility to adjust is no longer what it used to
be.

--
JMB


"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the same
problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object rather than
the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using Word
2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass was
achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more
productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but there
are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least, you
have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will surely
build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is the best
option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard to get
used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be more difficult
several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a hurry,
but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach. This is a
good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but you don't need
to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can use, as
well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where to find Word
2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents that
rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using the
Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word 2007's
Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used tools from Word
2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my everyday
work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic
inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office
2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and
spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user
friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but
I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and
know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

Paul

That is yet another serious shortcoming of the implementation of the new
interface. I am amazed that Microsoft could not foresee that if the Ribbon
is locked for mere mortals (standard Users) to edit and that they are
'supposed' to use the QAT, there needs to be a way to distinguish between
the buttons - just like on the Ribbon!

But the user research team employed at huge expense by Microsoft said that
normal users never change their toolbars and such. Obviously they were not
monitoring real users and took the results at face value.

Terry

"Paul Gauci" wrote in message
...
Yes Ok I have tried the QAT approach but I disovered that some of the
icons
for different commands look exactly alike and there is no fast-and-easy
way
to edit the icons as we were able to do with 2003.

I am now trying out the pschmid Ribbon Customiser. However, I still have
to
find out how to customise the ribbon.


--
Paul Gauci


"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

Use the QAT as much as possible to collect your most frequently used
tools.
One good thing about Office 2007 is that it's really easy to add items to
the QAT. Right-click what you want, and choose Add to Quick Access
Toolbar.
The other thing that will make it less of a pain (literally) is to move
the
QAT to below the ribbon. That way, it will a shorter mouse journey, and
easier to access. (Right-click the QAT and choose "Show QAT Below the
Ribbon".) The QAT has been my salvation.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
Herb and Susan, thanks for the useful feedback. Like Herb I have no
choice,
with my company about to make a massive migration to Vista and Office
2007.
And I can't afford to loose much time and productivity because of this.
Hence
my present preparatory work at home in my spare time. So I'll have to
bite
the bullet, but this looks like it is going to be a very tough and
bitter
one. Quite frankly I fail to understand what Microsoft was/is thinking.
Preparing a new document or spreadsheet seems to be all about coping
with
the
user interface and appearances now, and in the meantime many people
seem
to
forget what it is really about, i.e. the contents of the message ...
The
next
release has been aptly code named MS Office HAB (Hot Air Balloon). On
the
other hand I suppose it is also fair to point out that I'm not getting
any
younger and possibly my flexibility to adjust is no longer what it used
to
be.

--
JMB


"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the
same
problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object rather
than
the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using Word
2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass was
achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more
productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but
there
are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least, you
have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will
surely
build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is the best
option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard to
get
used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be more
difficult
several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a hurry,
but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach. This is
a
good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but you don't
need
to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can use,
as
well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where to find Word
2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents that
rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using the
Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word
2007's
Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used tools from
Word
2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my
everyday
work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic
inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a
positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office
2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and
spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office
2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions,
but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user
friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here,
but
I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out
there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and
know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

If you still have access to a PC with Word 2003 - see if
http://www.gmayor.com/Toolbars_in_word_2007.htm helps.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org


Paul Gauci wrote:
Yes Ok I have tried the QAT approach but I disovered that some of the
icons for different commands look exactly alike and there is no
fast-and-easy way to edit the icons as we were able to do with 2003.

I am now trying out the pschmid Ribbon Customiser. However, I still
have to find out how to customise the ribbon.



Use the QAT as much as possible to collect your most frequently used
tools. One good thing about Office 2007 is that it's really easy to
add items to the QAT. Right-click what you want, and choose Add to
Quick Access Toolbar. The other thing that will make it less of a
pain (literally) is to move the QAT to below the ribbon. That way,
it will a shorter mouse journey, and easier to access. (Right-click
the QAT and choose "Show QAT Below the Ribbon".) The QAT has been my
salvation.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
Herb and Susan, thanks for the useful feedback. Like Herb I have no
choice,
with my company about to make a massive migration to Vista and
Office 2007.
And I can't afford to loose much time and productivity because of
this. Hence
my present preparatory work at home in my spare time. So I'll have
to bite the bullet, but this looks like it is going to be a very
tough and bitter one. Quite frankly I fail to understand what
Microsoft was/is thinking. Preparing a new document or spreadsheet
seems to be all about coping with the
user interface and appearances now, and in the meantime many people
seem to
forget what it is really about, i.e. the contents of the message
... The next
release has been aptly code named MS Office HAB (Hot Air Balloon).
On the other hand I suppose it is also fair to point out that I'm
not getting any younger and possibly my flexibility to adjust is no
longer what it used to be.

--
JMB


"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the
same problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object
rather than the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using
Word 2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass
was achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more
productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but
there are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least,
you have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will
surely build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is
the best option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard
to get used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be
more difficult several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a
hurry, but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach.
This is a good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but
you don't need to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can
use, as well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where
to find Word 2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents
that rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using
the Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word
2007's Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used
tools from Word 2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my
everyday work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic
inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a
positive twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider
myself somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office
2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and
spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of
Office 2007 apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous
versions, but so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user
friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here,
but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out
there that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using
the Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and
know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

On Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:00:00 -0800, JMB wrote:

Herb and Susan, thanks for the useful feedback. Like Herb I have no choice,
with my company about to make a massive migration to Vista and Office 2007.
And I can't afford to loose much time and productivity because of this. Hence
my present preparatory work at home in my spare time. So I'll have to bite
the bullet, but this looks like it is going to be a very tough and bitter
one. Quite frankly I fail to understand what Microsoft was/is thinking.
Preparing a new document or spreadsheet seems to be all about coping with the
user interface and appearances now, and in the meantime many people seem to
forget what it is really about, i.e. the contents of the message ... The next
release has been aptly code named MS Office HAB (Hot Air Balloon). On the
other hand I suppose it is also fair to point out that I'm not getting any
younger and possibly my flexibility to adjust is no longer what it used to be.

For the "why", you may want to read the 8-part series by Jensen Harris, the lead
of the UI team, starting from the "table of contents" at
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archiv..._/default.aspx.
It may help to have some of this background.

For the most part, I find that I do things in Word 2007 the same way I did them
in earlier versions; only the locations of the commands are different. Yes, it
takes some effort to store the new locations in permanent memory. And despite
the "new is better" facade, it's clear that some things aren't in logical
positions -- but they weren't necessarily in logical places before, just ones
that we were used to. (What the heck is a "Tools" menu, anyway? Isn't everything
a tool of one kind or another?)

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit.

In addition to the excellent suggestions from others, I've found it quite
helpful to pay particular attention to the "Dialog Launcher" buttons that
appear on the right end of the group name bar of many of the tabs - they
look like a little square with a diagonal arrow within it... In most cases
the dialogs or Task Panes they evoke are virtually identical to what you're
accustomed to using in previous versions.

HTH |:)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 12/26/07 10:00 PM, in article
, "JMB"
wrote:

Herb and Susan, thanks for the useful feedback. Like Herb I have no choice,
with my company about to make a massive migration to Vista and Office 2007.
And I can't afford to loose much time and productivity because of this. Hence
my present preparatory work at home in my spare time. So I'll have to bite
the bullet, but this looks like it is going to be a very tough and bitter
one. Quite frankly I fail to understand what Microsoft was/is thinking.
Preparing a new document or spreadsheet seems to be all about coping with the
user interface and appearances now, and in the meantime many people seem to
forget what it is really about, i.e. the contents of the message ... The next
release has been aptly code named MS Office HAB (Hot Air Balloon). On the
other hand I suppose it is also fair to point out that I'm not getting any
younger and possibly my flexibility to adjust is no longer what it used to be.

Bob

And how I wish these 'dialog launchers' were activated by clicking anywhere
in the group title bar rather than having to aim for the piddling little
arrow at its end. After all, the bar is functionless other than for display
the group title.

Terry

"CyberTaz" wrote in message
.. .
In addition to the excellent suggestions from others, I've found it quite
helpful to pay particular attention to the "Dialog Launcher" buttons that
appear on the right end of the group name bar of many of the tabs - they
look like a little square with a diagonal arrow within it... In most cases
the dialogs or Task Panes they evoke are virtually identical to what
you're
accustomed to using in previous versions.

HTH |:)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 12/26/07 10:00 PM, in article
, "JMB"
wrote:

Herb and Susan, thanks for the useful feedback. Like Herb I have no
choice,
with my company about to make a massive migration to Vista and Office
2007.
And I can't afford to loose much time and productivity because of this.
Hence
my present preparatory work at home in my spare time. So I'll have to
bite
the bullet, but this looks like it is going to be a very tough and bitter
one. Quite frankly I fail to understand what Microsoft was/is thinking.
Preparing a new document or spreadsheet seems to be all about coping with
the
user interface and appearances now, and in the meantime many people seem
to
forget what it is really about, i.e. the contents of the message ... The
next
release has been aptly code named MS Office HAB (Hot Air Balloon). On the
other hand I suppose it is also fair to point out that I'm not getting
any
younger and possibly my flexibility to adjust is no longer what it used
to be.