But let me reiterate - my beef is not with the technical aspect of 2007 but with the human aspect, which involves "mental maps" how to accomplish a particular task by following a series of steps. This cognitive mapping was one of the key feature of product design before Microsoft stepped in. Think of your car - the 2009 Prius is technologically very much different than the 1965 Chevy, but they have essentially the same layout of user controls. The QWERTY keyboard was designed at the turn of the century to slow the typist down and prevent jamming of old mechanical typewriters. However, it was preserved in electrical typewriters and computer keyboards - which did not face the jamming problem anymore - for a single reason: the cognitive map of that keyboard that users developed. Changing that cognitive map would cause significant user frustration, not to mention productivity loss.
Yet Microsoft disregarded these cognitive mapping of Office users for no reasons other than planned obsolescence. This was extremely arrogant of them, tantamount to "jackbooted thugs" coming to your home and rearranging your furniture as they see it fit. They did not have to do it to expand the functionality of the 2007, but they did it because they could get away with it - just to show the power they have.
I could, of course, invest time and effort to master the new "ribbon" design, but the chances are that in a year or two Microsoft will change it again in its push for planned obsolescence. So it is not a good use of my time and effort to learn something that will arbitrarily change again. It is like trying to memorize a train time table that changes periodically - quite pointless.
And then there is something else - the indignity of having to jump when some arrogant asshole in Redmond says jump. It is an insult. People used to go on strikes or take to the streets when faced arbitrary impositions by their bosses, but today they swallow this shit raw without a word of protest, and some even argue that it is quite tasty. No wonder that corporations and businessmen rule this country and fuck it every which way it pleases them.
Wojtek
On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 4:19 PM, Matt <lbo4 at beyondzero.net> wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 01:21:02PM -0400, Wojtek S wrote:
>
> > Not to mention the fact that I have to re-learn Excel because the 2007
> has a
> > very different user interface than the 2003.
>
> There is a little flash program where you can click the menus in what
> looks like office 2003 and then it shows you where it is in 2007.
>
> http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA100744321033.aspx
>
> This seems to have been very helpful where I work as most people made
> the switch without extensive training.
>
>
> Matt
>
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