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The Ribbon strikes again!

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justice:
I don't see how the choice to make it a big fat ribbon or nice slim toolbar would be worse for all people who use Windows and it's applications.
-Deozaan (January 05, 2009, 03:23 AM)
--- End quote ---
double the code to maintain making it more likely bugs creep in. if one is proven better than the other then why offer a choice.

Josh:
And like justice said, every user I work with and support has become far more productive when it comes to operation of the entire office suite as a whole, and as such my support calls are less for "How do I do X" "What menu is Y in?" "Where is feature Z?" Now, everything is presented in a nice organized manner.

justice:
To be honest I think they should do the same with the configuration panel, the multiple view modes just make it harder to help and learn it.

40hz:
I don't see how the choice to make it a big fat ribbon or nice slim toolbar would be worse for all people who use Windows and it's applications.
-Deozaan (January 05, 2009, 03:23 AM)
--- End quote ---
double the code to maintain making it more likely bugs creep in. if one is proven better than the other then why offer a choice.
-justice (January 05, 2009, 04:18 AM)
--- End quote ---

Because it hasn't been proven.

I'm a firm believer in heads-up computer use. I try to keep my hands off the mouse as much as possible. I vastly prefer key commands when I'm doing something - and I can 'prove' I'm faster and more productive by doing so.

So, does that mean everybody should be forced to abandon menus and start using what I know is the best, most productive, and ergonomic user interface?

 ;D

Carol Haynes:
No one is forcing the removal of keyboard shortcuts - most Office shortcuts still work in Office 2007.

Having said that you should be aware that vast majority of users do use their mouse to make selections so are you saying that MS should always tailor software from the small minority who prefer the old interface?

I agree that they should give the option of the old interface or the ribbon - the trouble is that adoption of the ribbon would then be minimal because people stick with what they know rather than learn something new. From the mouse driven usage point of view I was sceptical of the ribbon in Office but now I have used it for a while I actually like it more than wading through all the unlabelled buttons and cryptic menus in O2003 and earlier.

Regarding loss of screen real-estate it is a non-issue. The ribbon can easily be minimised so you can effectively work with an almost full-screen document view until you need the ribbon visible. This means that the ribbon is actually potentially more screen efficient than earlier incarnations of office.

Having said that the pointless addition of ribbons to other software (such as the one that started this thread) is very annoying but I don't think ribbon interfaces should be blamed per se - it is a stupid design decision for that product.

I do find when talking to clients that it is easier to help them with the Office ribbon interface - it is far easier than trying to describe a button image on an old style toolbar. It is also easier for clients to remember where things were because the interface is fixed and not constantly changing (as the default install of Office 2003 and earlier did - menus that organised themselves according to usage, a plethora of toolbars that may or may not be visible with buttons that may or may not be visible by default).

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