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The Ribbon strikes again!

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Carol Haynes:
I quite liked the "personalized menus" of older office apps, since it meant that the features I need were available with very few clicks.
-f0dder (January 05, 2009, 12:20 PM)
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It is still there in Office 2007 - just look at the little toolbar on the title bar. You can cutomise that to add as many buttons as you want.

I really do think the big problem with Word 2007 (and the other ribbon based Office apps) is that many people who have used Office in previous incarnation lose patience within 5 minutes because they can't find things were they used to be. Spend a few hours with the programs before you condemn the ribbon interface completely. Things are arranged with a certain logic and actually many things that you don't apparently see are there - you just need to open up the 'more option' box for the relevant section. The toolbar search addin is a great help in the early stages of transition as it tracks things down by searching for the command text almost instantly - and not only gives access to the command but also tells you where to find it next time and what the keyboard shortcut is. See http://www.officelabs.com/projects/searchcommands/Pages/default.aspx

Josh:
The ribbon, as a whole, I feel provides a much better user interface. The user is presented with the options they want with minimal clicking and they don't have to dig through sub-menu after sub-menu. While some applications might not make sense to add a ribbon to, I feel that a good majority will benefit from this system.

I think the main reason we are seeing it in as many applications as we have is due to the fact that consistency is desired across the OS. Why have menus in some applications and ribbons in the other? Give the user consistency. I know, in my experiences, my family prefers consistency rather than having to use different systems. The ribbon is efficient as many of the options are up front, whereas the menu system can be tedious and intimidating as it does not present the options a user would expect in a place they would to find it.

Deozaan:
The Ribbon is "okay" in Office 2007, though there are things that I absolutely hate about it there. But as f0dder said, the Ribbon is completely unnecessary in the calculator and probably doesn't make anyone more productive in a Solitaire game, unless it annoys them so much they stop playing Solitaire and do some actual work.

phitsc:
I've been using Word 2007 quite a bit lately and have actually started to appreciate Ribbons. Most of my complaining about them is gone. After getting used to them and learning a bit where to find stuff I think they actually are superior to menus and toolbars for some kinds of application.

One thing that really helped me was reading about why Ribbons are how they are, e.g. this article:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc872782.aspx

There are still a few things which I don't like about Ribbons, e.g. how much vertical space they use. What annoys me most is that galleries are not semi-transparent. When they actually cover what you want to live-preview, it kind of misses the point.

Josh:
Josh reminded me of this one, so I shouldn't be too hard on the Ribbon:
 (see attachment in previous post)
-zridling (January 05, 2009, 02:22 AM)
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April, is this you?

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