Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft To Give Office 365, Office.com Apps a Makeover (zdnet.com)
On the heels of recent redesigns by Google and Apple, Microsoft is giving its Office apps a facelift over the coming months. From a report: Over the coming months, Microsoft will begin rolling out changes to the interface of Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint for Office 365 and Office Online (Office.com) users. Key to the Office app redesign are an updated Ribbon, icon refreshes and new ways to more easily see changes coming to the Office suite. There's a simplified version of the Office Ribbon, which allows users to collapse it so it takes up less space and hides many options, or keep it expanded into the current three-line view. Microsoft is starting to roll out this new Ribbon in the web version of Word to "select consumer users today in Office.com." In July, Microsoft will also make this new Ribbon design available in Outlook for Windows. "We've found that the same ten commands are used 95% of the time by everybody," said Jon Friedman, General Manager of Design Management and Operations. In Outlook such as "Reply," "Reply All" and "Forward" are basically universal. But that other five percent is different for every person, so Microsoft is adding an option to remove commands from the Ribbon, such as Archive, for example, and pin others to it, such as "Reply by IM."
I've never quite gotten used to the "ribbon" interface in MS Office apps since 2007. Which is why I prefer LibreOffice, a menu system (accessible with keyboard shortcuts) seems much more logical to me than a mess of icons up top.
I'd love to see a right/middle button context menu that can be popped up.
I really wish there was a way to simply do away with the ribbon. Before, I could simply click on a menu item and move between different columns *without* having to click on a different subject and try to find what I wanted. I waste more time clicking and finding the item I want with a ribbon style menu setup. Please leave it to a common menu list like I have in any other application.
was it included as part of the git deal?
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
the menu options that I loved in 2003. I hate the ribbon. It's nowhere near as intuitive as the very simple menus. I don't need or want icons on my menu bar.
Seriously, the ribbon was supposed to allow a more generic interface, where an action is associated with the icon. If the icons change, then you have effectively forced retraining of people that use this. The menu style interface uses a bit more space, but has the advantage of providing "discoverable" functions for users. IMHO, this makes it a much better interface, in particular for people that only infrequently use a tool. It is much easier to click through the menus looking for a function than to figure out what all the icons mean.
There's a simplified version of the Office Ribbon, which allows users to collapse it so it takes up less space and hides many options ....
But that other five percent is different for every person, so Microsoft is adding an option to remove commands from the Ribbon, such as Archive, for example, and pin others to it, such as "Reply by IM.
Now this is Innovation!.
I think Microsoft should come up with memorable names for these new features, possibly something like "pulldown menu" and "customizable toolbar".
I think the USPTO is going to be busy poring over a bevy of new GUI filings in the upcoming months.
Everyone wants to relearn their interface every few years.
I hope they finally remove the ribbon and replace it with a space saving and much easier to use menu system.
...did they just re-invent the toolbar?
-- sigs cause cancer.