The arrogance of a non-customizable ribbon

Making the biggest part of the interface non-customizable is an act of
astounding arrogance. As such, the condescending and arrogant attitude of the
MVPs on this forum should be no surprise - still I am shocked as I click on
each MVP post in these threads. "Moving forward," indeed.

What you really should have done, Microsoft, is to modify and rename the
whole templates idea, such as "invoice", "thank-you note", etc. What you
should do - I am sure it is coming in the next release - is to write the
content of all of our possible actual documents for us. Then we can choose
which one to use in our daily work. There's no need for "customization" -
because you smart guys have already figured out what is best for everyone!
Perhaps we could edit the text in the page margins - the equivalent of that
little "Quick Access Toolbar" that you let us customize.

McDonald's sells a lot of burgers; perhaps they have maximize all the
possible hamburger revenue out there. And ClearChannel makes money on radio.
But the undisputed fact remains that, considered solely on an objective
basis, McDonald's hamburgers and ClearChannel radio stations suck. (No
offense to the good people, particularly those in the legal profession, at
McDonald's and ClearChannel).

Please forgive the inclusion of another thread below (" I hate the ribbon
-- bring the menus back!") in microsoft.public.office.misc , for example.


"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:

And continue to rely on a kludge as everyone else moves forward.

--�
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Nigel asked:

| Intransigent ? Rather an extreme term - next we'll be labelled
| heretics or a threat to National Security ;-)
|
| I'll happily get around the constraints of the ribbon with third-party
| add-ins.
|
|
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| Or Project or the Outlook Main Window. But rest assured, the Ribbon
|| is coming as it has been a great success for everyone except
|| intransigent power users, and even they are starting to succumb.
||
|| --�
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||

snip

||||
|||| "JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote:
||||
||||| The ribbon will not change, nor is there a "classic" view option.
|||||
||||| --
|||||
||||| JoAnn Paules
||||| MVP Microsoft [Publisher]


----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...ic.office.misc

"Dan K" Dan wrote in message
...
Making the biggest part of the interface non-customizable is an act of
astounding arrogance.

And in a CORPORATE environment, the "customized toolbar" is the BIGGEST
cause of support headaches ever.

As an aside, I have used Office since version 95, am now on 2007 with usage
of all flavours in between, and as an ADVANCED user, and have NEVER needed
to customize ANYTHING.
The vast majority of users use a small number of commands frequently. That
is fact. These small number of commands can be very quickly added to the
QAT.

Dan, there are many who don't like the Ribbon, for various reasons. I am
definitely in that camp.

However, don't be surprised if you're attacked by some of the posters here
who like the Ribbon and apparently are not capable/willing to understand that
not everyone shares their viewpoint. Milly Staples, whose post you cited, is
known for her snippy responses. Too bad!

You may want to send your feedback to MS from their website (the Office
section). Hopefully, there's still someone left at MS who actually cares what
so many longterm/power users think & want.

hth!

-- Gemini

"Dan K" wrote:

Making the biggest part of the interface non-customizable is an act of
astounding arrogance. As such, the condescending and arrogant attitude of the
MVPs on this forum should be no surprise - still I am shocked as I click on
each MVP post in these threads. "Moving forward," indeed.

What you really should have done, Microsoft, is to modify and rename the
whole templates idea, such as "invoice", "thank-you note", etc. What you
should do - I am sure it is coming in the next release - is to write the
content of all of our possible actual documents for us. Then we can choose
which one to use in our daily work. There's no need for "customization" -
because you smart guys have already figured out what is best for everyone!
Perhaps we could edit the text in the page margins - the equivalent of that
little "Quick Access Toolbar" that you let us customize.

McDonald's sells a lot of burgers; perhaps they have maximize all the
possible hamburger revenue out there. And ClearChannel makes money on radio.
But the undisputed fact remains that, considered solely on an objective
basis, McDonald's hamburgers and ClearChannel radio stations suck. (No
offense to the good people, particularly those in the legal profession, at
McDonald's and ClearChannel).

Please forgive the inclusion of another thread below (" I hate the ribbon
-- bring the menus back!") in microsoft.public.office.misc , for example.


"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:

And continue to rely on a kludge as everyone else moves forward.

--�
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Nigel asked:

| Intransigent ? Rather an extreme term - next we'll be labelled
| heretics or a threat to National Security ;-)
|
| I'll happily get around the constraints of the ribbon with third-party
| add-ins.
|
|
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| Or Project or the Outlook Main Window. But rest assured, the Ribbon
|| is coming as it has been a great success for everyone except
|| intransigent power users, and even they are starting to succumb.
||
|| --�
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||

snip

||||
|||| "JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote:
||||
||||| The ribbon will not change, nor is there a "classic" view option.
|||||
||||| --
|||||
||||| JoAnn Paules
||||| MVP Microsoft [Publisher]


----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...ic.office.misc

I too, have used Excel for more years than I care to remember. I have seen
quite a few corporate environments and have NEVER come across one where the
customized toolbar has been a source of support headaches, as you claim.

Secondly, for quite a few users (esp. power users), adding frequently used
commands to the QAT quickly results in a crowded, ungainly appendage.

-- Gemini

"Gordon" wrote:

"Dan K" Dan wrote in message
...
Making the biggest part of the interface non-customizable is an act of
astounding arrogance.

And in a CORPORATE environment, the "customized toolbar" is the BIGGEST
cause of support headaches ever.

As an aside, I have used Office since version 95, am now on 2007 with usage
of all flavours in between, and as an ADVANCED user, and have NEVER needed
to customize ANYTHING.
The vast majority of users use a small number of commands frequently. That
is fact. These small number of commands can be very quickly added to the
QAT.

Egads, I am famous!

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Dan K asked:

| Making the biggest part of the interface non-customizable is an act of
| astounding arrogance. As such, the condescending and arrogant
| attitude of the MVPs on this forum should be no surprise - still I am
| shocked as I click on each MVP post in these threads. "Moving
| forward," indeed.
|
| What you really should have done, Microsoft, is to modify and rename
| the whole templates idea, such as "invoice", "thank-you note", etc.
| What you should do - I am sure it is coming in the next release - is
| to write the content of all of our possible actual documents for us.
| Then we can choose which one to use in our daily work. There's no
| need for "customization" - because you smart guys have already
| figured out what is best for everyone! Perhaps we could edit the text
| in the page margins - the equivalent of that little "Quick Access
| Toolbar" that you let us customize.
|
| McDonald's sells a lot of burgers; perhaps they have maximize all the
| possible hamburger revenue out there. And ClearChannel makes money on
| radio. But the undisputed fact remains that, considered solely on an
| objective basis, McDonald's hamburgers and ClearChannel radio
| stations suck. (No offense to the good people, particularly those in
| the legal profession, at McDonald's and ClearChannel).
|
| Please forgive the inclusion of another thread below (" I hate the
| ribbon -- bring the menus back!") in microsoft.public.office.misc ,
| for example.
|
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| And continue to rely on a kludge as everyone else moves forward.
||
|| --�
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
|| unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
|| reading.
||
|| After furious head scratching, Nigel asked:
||
||| Intransigent ? Rather an extreme term - next we'll be labelled
||| heretics or a threat to National Security ;-)
|||
||| I'll happily get around the constraints of the ribbon with
||| third-party add-ins.
|||
|||
|||
||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||
|||| Or Project or the Outlook Main Window. But rest assured, the
|||| Ribbon is coming as it has been a great success for everyone except
|||| intransigent power users, and even they are starting to succumb.
||||
|||| --�
|||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||
|
| snip
|
||||||
|||||| "JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote:
||||||
||||||| The ribbon will not change, nor is there a "classic" view
||||||| option.
|||||||
||||||| --
|||||||
||||||| JoAnn Paules
||||||| MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
||
|
| ----------------
| This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
| suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click
| the "I Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the
| button, follow this link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft
| Web-based Newsreader and then click "I Agree" in the message pane.
|
|
http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...ic.office.misc

I love 90% of Vista and Office 2007.

The broken parts are the designers of the actual interface.
Testing? What user testing?

The old microsoft included the Lotus commands because it helped users.
It created a user experience that was familar, pleasant and added even more
features.

Outlook used to fax. Yes. The home version.
I just had to go and buy a $10 per month on-line fax service even though I
have a line and multifunction machine sitting right next to me.

Looks to me like Microsoft is suffering from big company sickness.
Too bad. Such a great company. Just bought Apple stock and am thinking of
an I-phone.

Since MS-Dos in 1981 never thought I'd be moving to Apple and its tested
interfaces.

Bob P




"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" what@ever wrote in message
...
Egads, I am famous!

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Dan K asked:

| Making the biggest part of the interface non-customizable is an act of
| astounding arrogance. As such, the condescending and arrogant
| attitude of the MVPs on this forum should be no surprise - still I am
| shocked as I click on each MVP post in these threads. "Moving
| forward," indeed.
|
| What you really should have done, Microsoft, is to modify and rename
| the whole templates idea, such as "invoice", "thank-you note", etc.
| What you should do - I am sure it is coming in the next release - is
| to write the content of all of our possible actual documents for us.
| Then we can choose which one to use in our daily work. There's no
| need for "customization" - because you smart guys have already
| figured out what is best for everyone! Perhaps we could edit the text
| in the page margins - the equivalent of that little "Quick Access
| Toolbar" that you let us customize.
|
| McDonald's sells a lot of burgers; perhaps they have maximize all the
| possible hamburger revenue out there. And ClearChannel makes money on
| radio. But the undisputed fact remains that, considered solely on an
| objective basis, McDonald's hamburgers and ClearChannel radio
| stations suck. (No offense to the good people, particularly those in
| the legal profession, at McDonald's and ClearChannel).
|
| Please forgive the inclusion of another thread below (" I hate the
| ribbon -- bring the menus back!") in microsoft.public.office.misc ,
| for example.
|
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| And continue to rely on a kludge as everyone else moves forward.
||
|| --�
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
|| unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
|| reading.
||
|| After furious head scratching, Nigel asked:
||
||| Intransigent ? Rather an extreme term - next we'll be labelled
||| heretics or a threat to National Security ;-)
|||
||| I'll happily get around the constraints of the ribbon with
||| third-party add-ins.
|||
|||
|||
||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||
|||| Or Project or the Outlook Main Window. But rest assured, the
|||| Ribbon is coming as it has been a great success for everyone except
|||| intransigent power users, and even they are starting to succumb.
||||
|||| --Ã,Â�
|||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||
|
| snip
|
||||||
|||||| "JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote:
||||||
||||||| The ribbon will not change, nor is there a "classic" view
||||||| option.
|||||||
||||||| --
|||||||
||||||| JoAnn Paules
||||||| MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
||
|
| ----------------
| This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
| suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click
| the "I Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the
| button, follow this link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft
| Web-based Newsreader and then click "I Agree" in the message pane.
|
|
http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...ic.office.misc