Change is hard
After getting tired of waiting 5+ minutes for the file converter to work its magic whenever someone sends me an Office 2007 file, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded from Office 2003 to Office 2007.
And now I spend far more than 5+ minutes in every document trying to figure out where all the menu items are that I was so familiar with and dependant on in all of the previous Office versions.
I used to be an Excel master. In mere seconds, literally, I could whip together a spreadsheet of data with pivot tables, formulas, gorgeous and clear-to-read formatting, and proper page breaks for nice printing. Now I can't even figure out how to bold my text.
The default colours I used to use - the pretty shades of red, orange, yellow and green to highlight and colour code my data - are all slightly DIFFERENT. So when I go to add data to any of my current spreadsheets, I have to cut and paste my colours from my old cells to my new, or redo them all in the new palatte so they all look consistent. And I don't need to tell you how long it took me to even find the cut and paste paintbrush that I used to use without even thinking in earlier versions.
I know with time I'll get used to the new look and feel of Office 2007. I use it enough in my everyday life at work and home that I'll have no choice. I may even end up liking parts of it. But it's DAMN annoying in the meantime having to search for all of my favourite formatting, formula, and editing tools. Not to mention time consuming. And while it's different, and I suppose in some ways pretty, I don't know that the organization and layout of the menus is any BETTER. What problem were they trying to solve and for what audience? Like I said - I had all these documents down cold - I was pro!
Life changes, I can handle. But mess with my application UIs and you're gonna really piss me off.
Comments
....but change is bad
Posted by Tim on February 21, 2007 2:14 PM.No kidding...After 1 week of searching, I finally figured out how to "undo" a task, and it has taken about 3 weeks to figure out how to "select all" in Word. Gotta love change!
Posted by Debra on February 22, 2007 10:27 AM.