| May. 13 2008 at 2:40 PM |
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Excel 2007 has added on average 2 mouse clicks to EVERYTHING I do.
How is that increasing my productivity?
I find Excel 2007 to be a great hindrance to my business. I create custom applications in Excel using VBA, and the "new & improved" Excel is anything but.
I will be holding onto Excel 2003 until MS comes up with the next version, which hopefully regains the ability to customize the program which has been lost in '07.
For example, from Microsoft support pages:
Things you can't do [in Office 2007]
- Add to or rearrange the commands on the Ribbon
- Change or remove a command or group on the Ribbon
- Add tabs to the Ribbon, unless you use XML and programming code
- Switch to the toolbars and menus from earlier versions of Microsoft Office
These are lost customizations that severly and negatively impact my productivity.
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| May. 14 2008 at 1:19 AM |
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I saw the initial Office 2007 descriptions and immediately decided to
avoid it totally. I use keyboard shortcuts, customized toolbars, and
all sorts of things that are legacy leftovers from early versions of MS
Office. From what I see, instead of improving efficiency and
functionality, Microsoft has gone with the "lowest common denominator"
mentality.
Their business case rests on the massive amount of tech support
questions they get, most of which involve being unable to find some
feature in any application. So rather than improve their Help system
and reference materials, they propose using "wizards," which instantly
cut productivity into fractions for anyone who can use the applications.
I have no idea what Microsoft is thinking, but whatever it is, it has
little bearing on actually accomplishing real work in a high-speed
production environment.
That leads to a self-justifying loop spiralling ever downward. They
"improve" their next release, thereby making it impossible for
long-time skilled users to accomplish anything. That puts those skilled
users back to novices, who then have to call tech support. And that
increases support costs, which leads to the next line of "improvements."
If you follow the logic, Office 20XX will eventually be totally
unusable by anyone other than the programmers who created it, and even
then, only in the specific modules they created. Everyone else will
find it useless.
Edited by: CraigL - May. 14 2008 at 1:22 AMCraig Landes
---
Defining the undefinable. "There are 10 kinds of people in the world---those who understand binary numbers and those who don't." - Unknown
---
Success = Passion, Patience, Persistence!
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| May. 14 2008 at 1:29 AM |
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Craig,
first let me say that i have no commercial interest in advocating MS Office 2007. that division of MS has nothing to do with us.
now let me differ with you. Office 2007 is an amazing efficiency tool. i'm much faster and more effective than i was using the previous version.
like you said, you like doing things the way you've always done them. that, for you, works. why change it?!
for me, i was looking for a lot of the enhancements and simplifications that i enjoy very much using Office 2007. it's a much better experience for me.
Rich Sloan
Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist,
StartupNation
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| May. 14 2008 at 8:25 AM |
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I was hesitant about migrating to office 2007 because of what I had read, similar to CraigL. I also am very anti-microsoft anything. However, my new laptop came with '07 installed so begrudgingly, I began using it.
I hate to admit it, but I really enjoy the Office 2007 suite. Everything is right where it needs to be. Integration is seamless. Help is available but I haven't had to use it much. Overall, suprisingly pleased.
Would I pay to upgrade, probably not. But don't be afraid of it if it comes your way.
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| May. 14 2008 at 2:27 PM |
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Rich,
The problem isn't that I (or others) like doing things the old way.
It's when the capability of doing those things in that old way
disappears.
I have no problem with people who are new to Office learning whatever
is the current system. But I've been in heavy production departments
for a long time, and had to learn the fastest way to do whatever, just
to get the work done.
Now, those ways either are a) broken, b) don't exist anymore, or c) don't work as expected.
Could I re-learn the new ways and "perhaps" be faster? Yes, of course. But why?
One of the really bad ideas was to consolidate the graphics engine
across the entire suite. So to put a graphic into Excel or Word, you're
basically using what began as PowerPoint. Unfortunately, it's a
duct-tape solution, and nothing is consistent across the three main
apps. The result often ends up with broken links, and a big, red "X"
where images become lost.
The other really bad idea is "forced" use of internal "help." Where
using tables used to be very fast, now it's very slow due to all the
"we think you mean to do this, so we're going to make you do it" logic
internal to Word. That can't be removed.
To open a template, you now have a whole new window along the side of
your workspace. Instead of using a high-speed file-picker, you're stuck
with that window, which you then have to waste time closing. It doesn't
automatically close after you've chosen your template.
And the list goes on and on.
Edited by: CraigL - May. 14 2008 at 2:28 PMCraig Landes
---
Defining the undefinable. "There are 10 kinds of people in the world---those who understand binary numbers and those who don't." - Unknown
---
Success = Passion, Patience, Persistence!
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| May. 14 2008 at 7:12 PM |
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craig,
great points. it doesn't sound like it's for you. and it sounds like it is for others. such is life and the many solutions now available to us in the small business world.
Rich Sloan
Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist,
StartupNation
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| May. 15 2008 at 3:28 PM |
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:-) Yes: among which is the Open Office solution.
Craig Landes
---
Defining the undefinable. "There are 10 kinds of people in the world---those who understand binary numbers and those who don't." - Unknown
---
Success = Passion, Patience, Persistence!
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| May. 16 2008 at 12:31 PM |
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I'm still with CraigL.
I've grown up with Excel, and have always supported Microsoft products. I LOVE Excel.... at least, I did. Before 2007.
I now have 2003 and 2007 both loaded on my laptop. 2003 to do 95% of my work, and 2007 because one client got a new laptop with Office 07, and we could no longer transfer our files between the two systems during development and testing.
Even the macro references have moved, so you have to re-program your custom functions if you move to 2007. In some cases, the old files won't even open in 2007, due to compile errors in functions - even before they run. You have to disable macros, re-set the references to the new ones (delete "unfound" versions and find the new versions in the reference list) then save and restart Excel. Try doing that with a client multiple times a day...
I'm glad it works for some people. But for those that use it as an engineering tool, the new "pretty" version just slows us down. Looks like I'll have to drop it for something else if this trend continues. I just need to find something my clients are willing to use, and which also includes a good VB editor for custom functions.
And, being 15 minutes from MS Main Campus in Redmond, WA... I'd really rather be able to support my neighbors that work there.
Oh well.
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