MS Office frustration?
New alternatives make for a tough choice for common office tools
Philip Kirk, WG'07
Issue date: 10/2/06 Section: Perspectives
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In the world of software, some of the most pedestrian computer tools are finally getting radical makeovers. I refer to those programs described collectively as the "office productivity suite," which for the vast majority of the world means one set of programs: Microsoft Office. It is hard to find a computer user who doesn't fire up Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook on a daily basis. Success in certain jobs seems to be dependent exclusively on mastering these tools - think about how fast good bankers can fly through Excel spreadsheets or the dizzying speed with which any respectable consultant can re-format bar charts and group objects in PowerPoint. But in the next twelve months there will be major changes ahead.
First is the release of Office 2007, aka Office 12, expected early next year. Historically, nothing is more anti-climactic than a new release of Office. Most recent new features have been either ho-hum, such read-only functionality in documents, or downright annoying, such as the infamous Clippy, popping up to ask "It looks like you're writing a letter. Can I help?"
This version of Office marks a radical departure from prior versions, mostly due to a new user interface. After doing research, Microsoft developers found most people just couldn't find commands they were looking for in the program - not surprising, given that Office has ballooned from 100 commands to over 1,500, all hidden in various menus, tabs, and keyboard shortcuts. The solution? A ribbon that sits at the top of each screen showing the most relevant actions, changing to reflect user actions. These new presentation menus, along with redesigned template and formatting functions, will hopefully focus programs on specific tasks and provide more than just a huge dashboard of options.
Changes may upset hard-core users of Office, since many old shortcuts will be removed, creating a learning curve that Microsoft estimates could last anywhere from "two days to two weeks." There will be no "classic mode" option to keep the current Office user interface, either - all upgrading users will have to switch to the new view. Given a new learning curve and a hefty price tag - some retail prices of Office 12 approach $500 - perhaps it's time to check out alternatives.
First is the release of Office 2007, aka Office 12, expected early next year. Historically, nothing is more anti-climactic than a new release of Office. Most recent new features have been either ho-hum, such read-only functionality in documents, or downright annoying, such as the infamous Clippy, popping up to ask "It looks like you're writing a letter. Can I help?"
This version of Office marks a radical departure from prior versions, mostly due to a new user interface. After doing research, Microsoft developers found most people just couldn't find commands they were looking for in the program - not surprising, given that Office has ballooned from 100 commands to over 1,500, all hidden in various menus, tabs, and keyboard shortcuts. The solution? A ribbon that sits at the top of each screen showing the most relevant actions, changing to reflect user actions. These new presentation menus, along with redesigned template and formatting functions, will hopefully focus programs on specific tasks and provide more than just a huge dashboard of options.
Changes may upset hard-core users of Office, since many old shortcuts will be removed, creating a learning curve that Microsoft estimates could last anywhere from "two days to two weeks." There will be no "classic mode" option to keep the current Office user interface, either - all upgrading users will have to switch to the new view. Given a new learning curve and a hefty price tag - some retail prices of Office 12 approach $500 - perhaps it's time to check out alternatives.
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