Re: Alternative Word-2003 menus for Word 2007

  • From: Yardbird <yardbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 11:25:17 -0700

thanks, Gerald. I'll be cautious. I'll "upgrade" only as absolutely necessary.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Gerald Levy 
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 10:58 AM
Subject: Re: Alternative Word-2003 menus for Word 2007



Joel,

I can tell you that when Office 2007 was first released, MS received tons of 
complaints from their business customers about the new ribbon menu system and 
the quirky defaults.  Many sighted users actually prefer the ribbon menus, so 
maybe it's more of a problem for us visually impaired users.  As far as I know, 
they have no plans to substantially alter Office from its current state except, 
of course, to add new features in the next release.  I can attest from personal 
experience beta testing IE 8 that MS is very unresponsive to customer feedback.

Gerald 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Yardbird 
  To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 12:27 PM
  Subject: Re: Alternative Word-2003 menus for Word 2007


  Dear sue,

  The one disadvantage you cite with earlier Word versions is the need to 
convert .docs file attachments so they can be opened by an earlier Word 
version. Well, I have a friend who was kind enough to simply send me that fix 
and tell me how to install it, and I've had no trouble opening and reading Word 
7 attachments with this file extension, since.

  But I'd like to ask this: You express hope that Microsoft will eventually 
respond to the customer input about Word 7 or Office 7 and modify it to make it 
more user friendly. Do you know that there's been critical correspondence 
directed to the appropriate Microsoft  development department, either by email 
or snail mail, and do you know if receipt of such criticism has been simply 
acknledged, as in something like "thank you for your comments, will take them 
under consideration" or the like? Do you know of anyone who's contacted MS with 
such complaints and advice?

  Thanks,
  Joel
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Sue B 
  To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:15 AM
  Subject: Re: Alternative Word-2003 menus for Word 2007


  Alex,

  Your advice is perfect! The only advantage to having office 2007 right now 
that I've seen is that sometimes those who have it send attachments with the 
.docx extension that can't be opened with earlier versions of Word. Then you 
have to e-mail the sender and get them to convert it and resend. A real pain. I 
don't think learning Office 2007 is a huge crisis, but it is a productivity 
killer if it is installed on your computer and you have to hit the ground 
running with it. I haven't even personally put it on my main laptop that I used 
for most tasks because it just feels so cumbersome. The only think I can hope 
for is that Microsoft hears all of the terrible feedback about that product and 
does something to remedy it. 

  Sue B.

  Alex Midence wrote: 
    Dude, I'm gonna tell it to ya straight.  Don't listen to anybody trying to 
sell you on 2007.  Especially, don't let them do it to you if you're using 
office applications to do your job.  It is one major productivity killer.  If 
you want to upgrade, get 2003.  You can buy it on eBay for a couple hundred 
dollars if you don't mind going that route.  Just make sure the ad says it's 
brand new and stil in the box.  If you go 2007, just pretend you got yourself a 
whole new wordprocessor to learn.  Go in with the mentality of a rookie/newbie 
because all your old hotkey friends are no more.  Most folks just don't have 
that kind of time.  They buy the same software's upgrades when they come out 
because they expect to just be able to jump right in and start working and 
producing the same output of work as they did with the prior version if not 
more.  If they wanted to learn a whole new piece of software, they'd've bought 
wordperfect or something.  Jaws still works great with 2003 and you can still 
hit the ground running with it straight out of the box coming from office 2000. 
 Don't just take my word for it on how bad 07 is.  Just google "hate office 
2007" and you'll see what I mean by productivity killer.  I wish with all my 
heart that I could go back to 2003 at the office but, everyone's been migrated 
and we are all still fussing and cussing about it and it's been like 2 months 
already since the upgrade.  I'm telling you, it's just NOT worth it.  It is one 
royal, unmitigated, colossal, ferocious, and persistent pain in the back side.  
Only reason I'm not using any more adjectives is because I ran out of clean 
ones and, as usual when I think of this thing, I find myself in great need of 
some scotch.

    One man's opinion,
    Alex

      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Yardbird 
      To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
      Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 10:25 AM
      Subject: Re: Alternative Word-2003 menus for Word 2007


      Hi Sue,

      I'm still using one of the older versions of Word, but feel as if it 
might be a practical idea to buy and install Word 2007 one of these days in 
order not to be left behind with decreasing jaws support for my Word 2000. But 
I don't even know a couple of basic things, like can you just purchase Word 
2007 alone, or must you get it as part of that office suite, and is that an 
expensive proposition? And second, how does a Jaws user learn to use Word 2007 
and its notorious ribbon? Is there a tutorial or an instruction manual for it 
somewhere online?

      thanks.
      Joel
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Sue B 
      To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
      Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 6:01 AM
      Subject: Re: Alternative Word-2003 menus for Word 2007


      I'm going to throw my two cents worth in on this one. I agree with George 
that those menus aren't really all that useful. If you are new to MS Office 
then skip them altogether and learn how the ribbons work. If you are firmly 
attached to the menus as they were used in earlier versions of MS Office, then 
these might be useful for finding commands that you don't have keystrokes 
already memorized for. However, they don't just add the menu bar back so that 
you can go on with things as you always did, there is still new stuff to learn. 
I've found in teaching that I can teach someone who was familiar with the menus 
to use the ribbons in about as much time as it takes to teach them to find and 
then navigate these add-ins.  My vote is that if you are using JAWS 10, I'd go 
for taking the time to learn how to navigate the ribbons. In case anyone is 
anxious about the switch to Office 2007, most of the dialog boxes, once you get 
to them from the ribbon, are the same as the ones in Office 2003 were, so 
getting to the options you need isn't really all that different.

      Sue B.

      George B wrote: 
        Dave eather have I they are kind of confusing let me know what you 
figure out.


        "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The 
courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.


        From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Dave Carlson
        Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 04:11
        To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
        Subject: Alternative Word-2003 menus for Word 2007


        Anyone actually tried to use these? They seem to be templates but I've 
not been able to make them work.


        Dave


          ----- Original Message ----- 

          From: Gerald Levy 

          To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

          Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 03:55

          Subject: Re: page layout in word 2007



          I can go one step further.  Below is the link to a web site from 
which you can download a free add-on to Word 2007 that adds the classic Word 
2003 menus.  This way, you can have your cake and eat it too.  If you are 
befuddled by Word 2007's ribbon menus, you can just switch to the more familiar 
Word 2003 menus.


          http://in.geocities.com/shahshaileshs/menuaddins


          Gerald 

            ----- Original Message ----- 

            From: Curtis Jackson 

            To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

            Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 8:20 PM

            Subject: RE: page layout in word 2007


            Can you tell me what Kim koomandos web site is please?



--------------------------------------------------------------------

            From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Dave Mitchell
            Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 5:52 PM
            To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
            Subject: Re: page layout in word 2007


            Hi,  Kim Koomando posted a program on her Cool Site of the Day on 
May 19th that described a free program to replace the Word 2007 Ribbon with all 
your familiar menus.

            If you search her site I expect you can find this particular post 
and the link to the company that provides the download.  Good luck, Mitch

              ----- Original Message ----- 

              From: Dave Carlson 

              To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

              Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 3:20 PM

              Subject: Re: page layout in word 2007


              John,


              Welcome to the confusing world of Office 2007 and the ribbon!


              You'll probably spend a lot of time groping around the ribbon, 
looking for your old familiar dialog boxes. It wasn't easy for me.


              Simply to answer your question:


              Alt-p

              Down arrow

              Tab 4 times

              Enter



              Dave


                ----- Original Message ----- 

                From: John Fioravanti 

                To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

                Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 14:16

                Subject: page layout in word 2007


                Hi: I just installed word 2007 and when I go to page layout to 
hopefully get to margin setings, it says hit tab or shiftt Alt followed by p. 
when I use tab or shift tab it talks about help and alt and P do nothing. Any 
help would be appreciated. John Fioravanti


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