Tech Review

For all of my intents and purposes, Office 2007, like Windows Vista to XP, is the same as the product as the one it replaced- except worse. I've been looking in the hinter regions of my brain to come up with an analogy-something that got worse after the manufacturer tried to improve it. The only thing I could come up with is the "update" to the Mustang by Ford in 1974. You know that mean machine Charlie's Angels used to scurry about and solve mysteries.

I'm sure it's better in some ways -maybe it contains a macro that converts your prose into Austen-like perfection, but I haven't found it. What I have noticed is the interface change, the "Ribbon" bar, specifically. What was wrong with having little icons backed up with text menus like every other program on Earth? I don't know. What they've done is create a graphical representation of commands and done away with the traditional "file," "tools," "insert," etc. drop down menus that nobody complained about for twenty years. Now, we have to memorize the pictures on a new "ribbon" like one of those children's games where you draw one card and then remember where, amongst the other cards, lay its match. Very frustrated, I went to Microsoft and see if there's anything I can do about it. I get this:

The Ribbon is designed to help you quickly find the commands that you need to complete a task. Commands are organized in logical groups that are collected together under tabs. Each tab relates to a type of activity, such as writing or laying out a page. To reduce screen clutter, some tabs are shown only when they are needed.

There is no way to delete or replace the Ribbon with the toolbars and menus from the earlier versions of Microsoft Office. However, you can minimize the Ribbon to make more space available on your screen.

Follow up:

Gee thanks. Now I know what software distributions would have been like in Stalinist Russia.

The only reason I have to live with 2007 is that the Army gave me a great deal on Office Enterprise ($20.00, woohoo!) and I don't have the discs for the 2003 version; I would dump the whole thing and use the excellent Openoffice, but Outlook is the only program on which I don't have to spend additional money that can handle my email and PIM needs as well as sync with my Dell Axim.

Hybrid Toolbar Toggle

By and by, I come upon this product called Toolbar Toggle that promises to take you back to the good old days of 2005 when men were men and Office apps had drop down menus. I installed it and it does as promised, but I still have to look at the minimized ribbon, unnecessary and a waste of screen space. Oh, well. Maybe with intense mind-discipline I can remember where to find stuff on the ribbon.

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