Add to favorites Examiner Bio

Group therapy for Office 2007 users – 10 things to hate about Office 2007.

But wait! I won’t let you descend into the pit alone. Take this picture with you as a talisman (you’ll need it)! Hopefully, a little taste of the Florida west coast will keep your blood from boiling as you read the rest of the worst of Office 2007.  You can read this backwards for an even better effect! But, for now…..

 

 

 

 

 

1.      Microsoft Help – the most useless thing in the world. Okay, this is not necessarily a 2007 demon. The problem has persisted for years. It isn’t getting any better, and with Microsoft’s SAAS strategy, there’s absolutely no end in sight. Take a class folks, and get a user support network going among friends, family, and other frightened employees. Forget about trying to call Microsoft for anything other than sales support. By the way, companies like New Horizons offer great training options that are hugely cost-effective and ON SITE! Check them out and give them a call! Maybe you’ll get lucky and have me for your instructor (ask for me at the San Francisco, CA and Peoria, IL locations! – but don’t ask how I can be in both locations at once – this is the Twilight Zone!).

2.      Not supporting User Training with comprehensible Customer Service! It’s one thing to move to an SAAS strategy. It is quite another to dump new software of this magnitude on the market that requires users to do some major behavioral and technical/mechanical, not to mention cognitive change, and then make it impossible to get help for less than $250 and a 3-4 day wait for answers. Do they know that many employee phone calls are monitored for lengths exceeding 15 minutes? Does Microsoft care? Do they realize that most large enterprise businesses won’t allow employees to venture outside their intranet or portal? Do they know the reason they won’t is because of Microsoft’s notoriously unsafe/insecure applications?? My personal bet is a resounding NO. We’re on our own, folks – so maybe columns like this one are more important than ever.

 

3.      Galleries that block out Live Preview! We love the new Live Preview – but it doesn’t do much good when the galleries open and get in the way of the very text you want to preview.  Solution? Maybe Microsoft can come up with one? Otherwise, we’re stuck with scrolling, not using the full galleries in favor of the Ribbon previews, or ignoring the very thing we’re supposed to love. Try not to panic. Remember to keep breathing normally.

 

4.      Contextual Tabs (and tabs and tabs). We understand why, and we understand what, but how in the world is a 2007 newbie ever to get used to the constant back and forth confusion with those things called “contextual tabs? Try to remember; if you click on the object you want to edit, the tabs reappear. Try to keep a smile on your face when they slow you down. Watch out for the weirdness that is inevitable in PowerPoint, and Access. Try, try very hard, to keep your sanity.

 

5.      Excel Tables (and tables and tables….) After teaching hundreds of people about Microsoft New Features, there has yet to be one person who can tell me why they think the new 2007 focus on Tables is an improvement or even a good thing. Let’s face it folks, the average user who buys this software is lucky to get the data in a spreadsheet, period. Sure, it’s a good thing to educate us and improve our user-ability. I do, however, have one positive thing to say – it sure is making it easier to have pretty presentations without spending hours in the format table twilight zone.

 

6.      Abandoning the single user in favor of enterprise! Now that Microsoft has captured all the users that the universe will allow, once again, their strategy is to force everyone to upgrade, improve, and purchase more products just to keep up. Shameful. Where would Microsoft be without the little guy? If they adopted better customer service tactics instead of better future sales strategies, the world might be a bit friendlier, and who knows, Microsoft might actually develop some loyalty in their users. Do I need to say more? 

 

7.      Learning the new Ribbon tabs. Okay, so Ribbons is (are?), arguably easier to use than the old menu-driven interface. Still, even experienced users will have some trouble remembering which tab to select for some of the more popular commands. Solution? Add commands to your Quick Access Toolbar fast! That clock is ticking and your boss is watching. Try to relax – look at the picture again and breath.

 

8.      Excel 2007 changes. Personally, as an experienced Excel user, I love some of the new features. But then, a lot of people already suspect I may be crazy. Strange how the onset seems to coincide with my first use of Microsoft products some 25 years ago…. Never mind though, because even Microsoft admits some of the Excel changes can take a bit of getting used to. If you’re uninitiated, it seems a lot of hoopla for little advantage. See what Microsoft has to say at:   http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/FX100485361033.aspx?pid=CL100605171033

 

9.      Inconsistent Interface Changes!!!!!  If you’re making changes, make them consistent. If you’re introducing new things across 2007 applications, make them happen across the board. Why must we bounce between artifacts from 2003, realities of 2007, and un-standardized commands in 2009. The only salve in the wounds here is knowing that Microsoft has now confirmed they are as confused as their users have become. Given the state of our economy, our nation’s productivity, and the amount of chaos we’re all experiencing today, maybe it isn’t a good year to try to fit one more crazy revolution into our lives – at least not until some other things have settled back down.

 

10. That floating toolbar thing. Luckily, you can turn this feature off in the Options, but before you do, you really should see what your pain threshold is by letting the “Mini Toolbar” annoy and irritate you. Try editing an overdue report with it on! Particularly good results can be had if you do this right before that big performance appraisal or layoff announcement meeting with your boss! Just remember, the Mini Toolbar doesn’t want to hurt us, it wants to be our friend.

 

Unfortunately, it looks like our time is just about up for today. But before we say good-bye, there’s a little bit of homework to do before we meet again. Try to visualize the 16 Desktop Applications in the Microsoft Office 2007 family. Think deeply about whether you need them. Get in touch with your inner feelings and ask yourself if you really care.   Explore them on the links below, and don’t be frightened! You can always re-center yourself, recover your calm and double-check your sanity by delving into other user psyches and the top Office Issues at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/FX100485361033.aspx?pid=CL10060517103. Otherwise, just remember; for that extra therapy BONUS, try writing in with your most hated 2007 feature! Go on, it’s therapy! I’ll get back to more positive things next week. I hope you’ll join me again then!