Microsoft released the public beta version of it's next Office suite of applications, and boy is it going to be a change. The interface has had a complete make over from the tons of toolbars and menus of the past. You can read more from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite review more in depth his Beta preview.
My personal view on it after a couple of days or so, I really like it. I think that for the average business user it will take a little time to get use to the new features, and re-finding that unique sweet spot that each user has. The "Ribbon" replaces the menu & toolbar aspect uses clear, large icons, which I couldn't seem to re-size. It's doesn't seem to intrusive, as they are contextual, so you use about the same amount of screen space as before with all the misc. toolbars. Now they are relative to your task, and allows more room to click when you mouse over to them, saving you time because you don't have to slow down to hit a 1/8" icon.
The dynamic interface oozes with the feel of Microsoft's next OS Vista. Moving or resizing images shows a nice smooth preview and the image actually displaying instead of the little marquee box.
Some of the free plug-ins are nice little bonuses. Like being able to print to PDF without the need of an external app. The connection between the program and Microsoft's online resources finally seems to be worth using. The built in photo effects are really nice too. (See excel image) It does look like the apps don't even look at XP's interface and are completly designed for Vista.
Word 2007 - Main Menu Windows XP Blue
Word 2007 - Full Screen Windows Vista Grey
Excel 2007 - Full Screen Windows Vista Grey & Image effects
As mentioned in Paul's review, there is no way to bring back the old interface completely, but you can have one toolbar that resembles the old system and should be able to fill it with icons until you get comfortable with the new "ribbon". If the ribbon was a little more customizable it would be great, but I think with the dynamic contextual aspect of it, it would be hard to customize without just making it another toolbar/menu.
Watch Paul's site and here for more info.
My personal view on it after a couple of days or so, I really like it. I think that for the average business user it will take a little time to get use to the new features, and re-finding that unique sweet spot that each user has. The "Ribbon" replaces the menu & toolbar aspect uses clear, large icons, which I couldn't seem to re-size. It's doesn't seem to intrusive, as they are contextual, so you use about the same amount of screen space as before with all the misc. toolbars. Now they are relative to your task, and allows more room to click when you mouse over to them, saving you time because you don't have to slow down to hit a 1/8" icon.
The dynamic interface oozes with the feel of Microsoft's next OS Vista. Moving or resizing images shows a nice smooth preview and the image actually displaying instead of the little marquee box.
Some of the free plug-ins are nice little bonuses. Like being able to print to PDF without the need of an external app. The connection between the program and Microsoft's online resources finally seems to be worth using. The built in photo effects are really nice too. (See excel image) It does look like the apps don't even look at XP's interface and are completly designed for Vista.
Word 2007 - Main Menu Windows XP Blue
Word 2007 - Full Screen Windows Vista Grey
Excel 2007 - Full Screen Windows Vista Grey & Image effects
As mentioned in Paul's review, there is no way to bring back the old interface completely, but you can have one toolbar that resembles the old system and should be able to fill it with icons until you get comfortable with the new "ribbon". If the ribbon was a little more customizable it would be great, but I think with the dynamic contextual aspect of it, it would be hard to customize without just making it another toolbar/menu.
Watch Paul's site and here for more info.
Last edited by joshhuggins on Tue Jun 06, 2006 11:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks! - Josh
Do. Or do not. There is no try.
Josh's Digital Downloads is come back online soon. Stay tuned. (soon is a relative term)
Do. Or do not. There is no try.
Josh's Digital Downloads is come back online soon. Stay tuned. (soon is a relative term)