Microsoft's Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh introduces performance enhancements as well as user interface tweaks - most notably, more intuitive ways to work with the new Office ribbon. For example, users who are tired of Office 2007's two color schemes - black and default blue - will applaud the suite's new silver theme, accessible regardless of the operating system used. And, while we've found some Office 2007 applications, including Outlook, to be sluggish, the performance improvements in the refresh were obvious. There's a slideshow too, whiloe PCMag also reports on this new release.
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Member since:2005-07-06
I think ribbon is a last ditch effort by MS to make the UI so Office specific that no one will be able to switch without heavy retraining. Ribbon is an evil attempt at vendor lock-in, that is all.
Even though the beta does not have it, I would be surprised if the final release did not have a "classic view". I personally like the change...not that I will switch from Office 2003 until my copy quits working. But it seems the change will slow uptake in the business world.
Let me know how revising the UI will help vendor lock in? If anything it may lead to people thinking about switching to OOo instead of paying for the upgrade and necessary training.
It is hard for a company with the inertia (install base) that MS has to innovate. I give them credit for at least trying.
Member since:
2006-01-01
I downloaded the beta to try out office and I must say that I hate the ribbon. I am a heavy excel user, the ribbon just gets in the way. Does it expose features to users that don't know they exist? Maybe, but I can't wait to hear all the bitching from my less technical coworkers about where did X go?
I think ribbon is a last ditch effort by MS to make the UI so Office specific that no one will be able to switch without heavy retraining. Ribbon is an evil attempt at vendor lock-in, that is all.