Office 2007 beta ribbon space hogging complaints generate changes |
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Haven’t commented in detail on the Office 2007 ribbon because I haven’t used it enough to fully determine it usefulness. I do like the concept. For those who haven’t seen or heard about the ribbon it is sort of a dynamic toolbar of product features intended to show us product functionality. Office has become so bloated big that a function is needed just to show us everything we are missing.
Lately I’ve spent more time using Office competing products and my Office 2007 beta testing has slipped. Also, I was annoyed by the announcement that they planned to charge for some of their beta software downloads. Yeah, yeah, it’s only a $1.50, but who’s helping who?
Definitely agree that it’s a major User Interface (UI) no-no to use too much screen estate. Fortunately, Microsoft is listening and providing a solution.
Microsoft Australia technical specialist John Hodgson said the change came about after complaints from some customers. “One of the feedbacks we got is that it takes up too much room,” he said during a presentation at Tech.Ed 06 in Sydney.Despite the change, Microsoft remains committed to using the ribbon interface, although it isn’t included in all Office components. Visio, for example, has no ribbon options at all, and Outlook does not use the ribbon in all contexts.
In the next technical preview of Office 2007 the ribbon can be set to minimize when it’s not being used. For more information on Office 2007 ribbon features and functionality, see Jensen Harris Enter The Ribbon.
T, the problem is the Ribbon isn’t bigger, it’s actually smaller than the File menus and toolbars of previous Office versions. Pull out your ruler. Jensen Harris noted that in Word, the full UI is 5-8 pixels smaller in Word 2007 than in 2000/2003. Its the perception that it is bigger that is annoying longtime users, but that perception is wrong.
I’ll have an article on this later today.
Comment by Nathan Weinberg — August 25, 2006 @ 2:12 pm PST
Ahh, thanks for the clarification, Nathan. Be sure to trackback that here as well.
Comment by TDavid — August 25, 2006 @ 2:36 pm PST
Microsoft Caves On Ribbon Complaints
In what is a bit of an unfortunate decision, Microsoft has announced it is modifying the way the Ribbon in Office 2007 performs, giving into complaints from users that the Ribbon was taking up too much screen space. This despite the fact that while th…
Trackback by InsideMicrosoft — August 25, 2006 @ 5:53 pm PST
Just wanted to confirm that Microsoft is NOT backing away on the ribbon as is being speculated and no such announcment has been made. It is just untrue that we are “caving in to complaints”. Quite the opposite in fact with the ribbon receiving very positive feedback.
We’ve made some improvements, yes, to the minimised ribbon (a form of autohide) but minimised mode itself has been in the product from the beginning. Just wanted to reassure all those who are loving the ribbon!
See my comments http://blogs.msdn.com/officerocker/archive/2006/08/26/725137.aspx
cheers.
Comment by Darren Strange — August 26, 2006 @ 11:05 am PST
Thanks for stopping by and providing the other side of the story, Darren. Always more than one side.
Comment by TDavid — August 26, 2006 @ 1:17 pm PST