Metropol

cwathen wrote:I'd argue though that the biggest thing Office 2010 needs is a 'classic mode' which gets rid of the ribbons and tabs and makes it look like a traditional application with toolbars and pull down menus. Why is this needed? Much as I understand the argument that modern versions of Office have spawned so many features that I rethink of the UI was needed, the simple fact is that the average person doesn't actually use (or even know how to use) even half the features it has - although I use Office 2003, in all honesty I could probably kick back to Office 97 (even earlier than that were it not for the different file formats) and not really miss anything.

I think Microsoft's (quite valid) argument is that you don't necessarily know what functionality you miss. I remember back in Office 2007's infancy they published some metrics which showed that most users used a minute fraction of the functionality. This in itself is no surprise, and probably follows in any large app, but importantly that doesn't mean people aren't quietly craving for things. The ribbon is a great way for promoting exploreability, and the galleries and such are a nice way to let people play around and see how things manifest.
Also, as Pete said, it is being extended across more of Win7 and is becoming increasingly easy for third parties to implement. IMO the main reason it hasn't yet taken off is mainly because most apps just don't have enough functionality to benefit from such a scaleable interface.

There are also lots of people who would love to be using Office, and therefore, Outlook 2007, but are forced to retain Outlook 2003 because their Exchange server is running a pre-2003 offering which 2007, and I assume 2010 are not compatible with.

I'm sitting here in work, forced to use IE6, Word 2003 and Excel 2003. Damn you all and your shiny buttons and animating splash screens.

Another outsourcing success.

Our new product has the ribbon - Licensed from MS.
It makes using the software a million times easier and allows us to group things better than what was done before.
We currently have tool bars that call other tool bars and each icon has its own menu with sub menus. The new look has had great feedback from our beta customers who 1. think it looks very modern (sort of a moot point as looks are not as important as function) and 2. they can pretty much pick things up without reading the help.

Once its launched I may post a screen shot - don't think I am allowed at the moment.

cwathen wrote:I'd argue though that the biggest thing Office 2010 needs is a 'classic mode' which gets rid of the ribbons and tabs and makes it look like a traditional application with toolbars and pull down menus.

There is the option to hide the ribbon, which solves half of the problem.

minimise the ribbon, not hide. the guidlines say you MUST NOT give the user an option to hide it.

Hymagumba wrote:minimise the ribbon, not hide. the guidlines say you MUST NOT give the user an option to hide it.

Ah yes, my mistake.

Let's not forget that this is only a technical preview. I've seen posters on other messageboards slating the look, calling it too colourful, busy or ugly. I'm sure things will settle down by the time the final product is released, and I certainly look forward to Outlook utilising the Ribbon.

They have a rather fab viral video for office 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUawhjxL ... r_embedded

Dr Lobster* wrote:same whore, different cocktail dress.

you got it!!! Don't expect it'll be worth the money! same procedure as every office...

2007 brought nothing new to the table but a training and support headache, in my experience.

Steve in Pudsey wrote:2007 brought nothing new to the table but a training and support headache, in my experience.

Much like the new-fangled horseless carriage.