Classic menus in office 2007

[timbo343]

There is software out there that will do this (addintools), but we dont want to buy it. I dont suppose anyone knows of any free software that will do this.

[localzuk]

Can I ask why you want this functionality?

[timbo343]

cos i can see the new ribbon making life hell for us here

[thom]

The whole point of Office 2007 is the ribbon. If you don't want it then stick with Office 2003.

However, you can customise options through the Office 2007 Group Policy ADM template. I'm not sure if that would contain the setting you need.

[srochford]

There will be a time of pain while users get used to the new ribbon but it then all becomes much better.

 

I think you need to do a bit of a selling exercise - ie not "we've got this new software and it's very different and will be confusing" but "we've got this new software and you'll find it much easier to use once you've spent a few days getting used to it" If you can then also give them some examples of the "clever" things you can do with it then you can probably get people to like it quite quickly.

[StewartKnight]

why spend all the money on Office 2007 to turn it into 2003?

It's like buying vista, then turning it into Windows 98!

[zag]

The ribbon is awesome, takes about a day to get used to but far easier to find things than the old style.

 

I would force your users to get used to it, its the main advantage of office 2007.

[localzuk]

I concur with the others. Add in the program wide keyboard shortcut system and you realise it is excellent - which, as one of those raging 'Microsoft is evil' people, is a heck of a complement from me..

 

Its the same as any new software, the staff will get used to it.

[enjay]

why spend all the money on Office 2007 to turn it into 2003?

It's like buying vista, then turning it into Windows 98!

I completely agree. I bought a new car recently, and have noticed that since doing so, I no longer have a patch of oil getting left on my driveway. Perhaps I should ask the garage how I can re-instate the leak? :-)

[Skoggmeiger]

why spend all the money on Office 2007 to turn it into 2003?

It's like buying vista, then turning it into Windows 98!

 

And I'm yet to find anyone that works in IT that hasn't done this.

[gskelton]

Hi,

 

I agree with all the 'It's new, great, and once you get used to it, you'll like it' brigade.

 

However, Productivity goes down if someone (Micro$oft) takes away something as standard across most software packages as the File... etc menu.

 

Did my head in, that's for sure. Many years of getting to know where everything is only to have it ALL snatched away from you is hard to swallow. Even Media Player has a 'Clasic Menu' option...

 

Gaz

[Skoggmeiger]

What you have to remember is that a lot of admin staff (and others), are not very computer literate. I know in my LEA that they still struggle to do the same tasks they have been doing for years. This isn't a training issue, it's a people issue. A lot of them have been working in school offices for donkeys years. Then one day someone told them they have to start using a PC and how wonderful it will be. a decade or so later, they are still not impressed.

 

In the May SIMS upgrade, users were faced with a slightly different front page. We had nothing but hassle over that, yet it was one little change. Thankfully, you are given the option of changing it back.

 

Some people do not like change. They like familiarity.

 

(I await the tired old calls that we should all go back to living in caves)

 

It's much easier for people such as ourselves that enjoy using new software, to get to grips with it quickly, and realise that it has many benefits over the software it has replaced. Sadly, not everyone shows the same enthusism.

 

Nick, your new car might not have an Oil leak, but I'm sure that you still drive it in the same way that you drove your old car, or did you have to go on a training course to find out where the steering wheel was?

[DreddMetal]

The main reason that people revert vista back to the ol' XP settings is largely down to performance, it obviously runs a lot better without all the shiny baubbles flashing away taking up resources, however in terms of office 2k7 this arguement isn't as effective as it more or less purely a cosmetic change from the view point of your standard user.

 

In office 2k7 familiar functions and tools have been replaced by more effective easier to access functions and tools, the fact remains though that there will always be people who perfer to be eased into these sort of things instead of having it thrust upon them, a classic menu system may have helped to ease the transition.

 

I am not taking sides but merely stating my opinion.

 

On a side note i can't help thinking that a better analogy would be going from a car without PAS to a car with PAS and then going to a garage to ask them to disable it because your not used to it, yes its different and unfamiliar but ultimately its there to improve efficiency, again this doesn't apply to a lot of the rubbish in vista.

[enjay]

Nick, your new car might not have an Oil leak, but I'm sure that you still drive it in the same way that you drove your old car, or did you have to go on a training course to find out where the steering wheel was?

No, the steering wheel was in the same place, but reverse gear is in a different place and accessed in a different way, the gear ratios and clutch pick-up points are different, the adjustable steering wheel is different, the seats adjust differently, the stereo is different, the petrol cap opens differently and the micro-switches on the indicators took a bit of getting used, but I did exactly that, get used to it. I didn't go back to the garage and ask if they would mind moving reverse to below 5th "because that's where I know to look for it".

 

Since the ribbon in Office 2007 offers a clear functionality improvement - unlike nearly all the differences between my cars - it should be easy to sell the changes to your users.

[Skoggmeiger]

Fair point regarding the car.

[limbo]

why spend all the money on Office 2007 to turn it into 2003?

It's like buying vista, then turning it into Windows 98!

 

Although I totally agree with the "jump in at the deep end and learn it" method I can actually think of a good reason why you might want to do this and at the same time let you all know about something you may want to consider.

 

HP appear to be giving away office 2007 with some of their PC's as standard (DC7700 range plus maybe others).

 

Curiously though - they still have XP pro as the OS in many cases.

 

My plan is to deploy office 2003 and office 2007 and allow them to use either for twelve months but constantly make it clear that 2003 will disappear after that time. This lets them break themselves in gently and for any rush jbs revert back to the familiar.

 

It will probably be true that most staff will not look at 2007 until 2003 is removed, but at least there should be a bigger number of staff who can help them transit by then.

[BKGarry]

Be careful limbo,

 

Make sure you download the 2007 compatibility pack for office 97-2003 as the file types are NOT backwards compatible and then you will end up with 2 copies of most items if they are switching between them,

 

I like the ribbon but my pain is when i am working on a table or something i cannot pull the toolbars down to the main windows,

 

But guess what, publisher 2003 can open the 2007 files without any addons, what is happening there

[john]

Also, every time you switch between 2003 and 2007 it will have to re-configure your settings so wastes a few minutes, so its really not worth putting both out for staff, just use one or the other.

[limbo]

Make sure you download the 2007 compatibility pack for office 97-2003 as the file types are NOT backwards compatible

 

Don't worry - this will be the fourth time we have been through this process through progressive office upgrades over the years.

 

Already had to start installing the 2007 compatibility pack as some staff have been trialing it or us since its relase.

 

Also, every time you switch between 2003 and 2007 it will have to re-configure your settings

 

Not my experience so far - the two co-exist very happily - just Outlook that it does note really work or, but with this package the changes are not so major - 2000 - 2003 was more drastic.

[john]

You must be lucky, on my PC here at home I have 2003 and 2007, now if I open word 2003 by mistake it does a mini setup / reconfigure which takes about 3 minutes then changes all my defaults to 2003 again (appart from Outlook as I only have Outlook 2007 on my PC) so its very annoying!

 

As for the compatability pack, it is MSI deployable straight from Microsoft, I stuck it on as a GPO item and that solved my problems overnight and as a clever boy I stuck it on the day that WSUS updates installed so all the PCs rebooted at 4am so it was on for the next morning (polishes Halo some more )

[enjay]

Interesting to hear that the two co-exist on one PC, I'd heard that they didn't. That could make the eventual transition even easier - I was thinking of doing one IT Suite in 2007 and one in 2003, but both on both seems much better.

 

I put the compatibility pack round months ago, long before I even thought of a 2007 deployment as we had people bringing in 2007 files from their home PCs (including some using pre-release beta copies - damn these cutting edge families!! :-) )

[limbo]

Even if you do experience the reconifguration problem everytime you log in - surely it is better for staff to have the choice to endure this and still have the lifeboat of the familiar software rather then just setting a date and switching everything over overnight.

 

Most staff probably will not bother with the new version - but every one person that does bother makes the swap over easier - both in terms of their being one less person to support, and that one person one more person to support everyone else.

 

I do not see any other way of performing the transition?

[contink]

I'm a bit dismayed that this turned into another "my opinion" debate, where the original poster was considered a nutter and plenty of admonitions to go forth and sin no more.

 

So, to get back to the original point, is it possible to revert the menu bars, and in particular get the old file, edit, view, etc... menu bar or not?

[localzuk]

Not without paying for it - that seems to be all I can find. That, IMO, is why the thread turned into the whole 'why?' thing. My question was to find out exactly why this was wanted to see what exactly was actually needed.

 

However! The poster may have more luck asking in an Office forum somewhere as the knowledge of Office 2007 is not great in education yet.

[limbo]

I'm a bit dismayed that this turned into another "my opinion" debate"

 

And don't forget the "That is a stupid way to do it but cannot give you any alternative methods because I have not really though about doing it yet" debate.