Just like they did with Office 2007? I work with a department full of people who despise the O2k7 "ribbon" and have it dual-installed with O2k3 just so they can avoid using 2k7 whenever possible.

I suspect MSFT only tests their interfaces on people who have never turned on a computer before--not people who have developed efficient workflows based on an existing interface.

It was a Dell Mini-10 I think it was called. Not a bad little machine really. I looked at around 2 dozen different ones. I think even with the limitations of the stupid Windoze 7 "Basic" it'll be okay for her needs - at least for now. I've been able to find work-arounds for all the limits and aggrivations so far (installed that "crack" program for the desktop wallpaper that I mentioned, disabled all the goofy dancing clowns on the desktop, toned down the interface a bit, disabled all but the basic functions of the touchpad, making it much more user-friendly, bought and gave her a nice new ergonomic mouse, which makes the basic cursor control stuff a lot easier (and comfortable) than the touchpad in any case.

To get back to the subject, my own Win7 experience thus far is that it's just more of the same-old, same-old from Bill Gates & Co. More superfluous stuff that's way overpriced and gets in the way more than it helps. But it's not terrible and does what it's supposed to do once you get past all the "cutesy" stuff. Also enter my earlier comment regarding a systemic problem of marketing trumping engineering for the record. I stand by that one. They've been guilty of this for YEARS.

You are absolutely mistaken. I can log into almost any branch of UNIX/LINUX and expect to find the same stuff in /usr/bin /bin /sbin and what not. I expect the same level of familiarity for the purpose of productivity, compatibility and stability in any business geared operating system. Unix style systems have been around far longer than Windows has and yet they are still very backwards compatible.

To further clarify - I am not complaining about the existence of a GUI but the usability of a GUI. In XP i had a perfectly usable GUI - one I have been using in a relatively stable form since 1995 (Windows 95 eh?) so to remove it from existence is forcing me to use someone else's tool box. I'm sure in time I will adjust to it but that doesn't mean I have to like or appreciate being forced to.

I have my fair share of windows support experience, prior to my current career choices I was a systems administrator, I was an MCSE and I was certified in Windows 95, NT and 2000. I think the hardest test I have taken is probably the windows 95 certification test.

So - dude - you can shove your Windows based indignation to anyone's contrary opinion where the sun doesn't shine.

Yes; Microsoft changed things.

Yes; That is their right - it is their product.

No; I don't have to use it - or do I really have a choice?

I do not freak out over security updates myself.

As for the Ribbon, in office 2010, it's fully customizable and so much easier to use than in 2007. It's evolved to the point where it's functionally powerful out of the box, and fully able to be tweaked to your heart's content. I personally can't stand arrays of toolbars at the top of my windows with cryptic 16x16 icons. The clean picture-to-function connection is much easier to understand now that the ribbon icons are much larger. The most common features are present (again, probably studied heavily by Microsoft's interface teams) on each tab. If they're not, put them there yourself. I agree, in 2007, the lack of customization was a nuisance. But now, it's not a problem at all.

I'm not a Windows fanboy. Linux is mostly unusable as a desktop interface due to the lack of continuity between the vendors and constant struggles amongst themselves. OSX is easy to use too, but also has its quirks. Windows has quirks and nuisances and annoyances just as all the other OSes do.

fixed it for ya

BlueSky said he used 2007's Ribbon, not 2010.

Ribbon's are for girls, i love my ribbonless openoffice

Google license crawler. I just used that to find my install codes, so I can re-install my programs when my new laptop arrives.

Interesting. It sounds like my being on Vista is a good thing.

In the Windows/File Explorer, I've still got the option of seeing the "Folder" view in the left hand pane, but it looks like that is gone in 7. I even think that Vista has a couple of improvements over the XP look, but is still close enough to not be a pain.

I like being able to type something into the start menu, but I can still arrange the folders how I want.

Interesting. Sounds like something I need to check out.

I think we had a fairly big discussion on Netbooks and the consensus was to stick with XP for those units.

I picked up 4 ACER units. 3 are XP (2 refurbs) and 1 Win 7. My Brother in law wanted a new/non-refurn unit and wanted to try Windows 7.

Refurbs with XP - Black Aspire 10.1" with 160 GB drive - $239 each (I wish I had bought 3!)
New with XP - Red Aspire 10.1" with 160 GB drive - $289
New with Win 7 - Blue Aspire 10.1" with 160 GB drive - $279

These stupid little Netbooks are more powerful than my soon to be replaced Dell D620, except for the size of the screen. I would seriously trade my left nut for a track point, and delete the touch pad. I bought a Dell E6500 because I think it may be the last model they make with the trackpoint. I may have to switch to Lenovo, and go back to Thinkpads in the future.

I like the portability of them. I currently use an old Dell Latitude laptop myself, but if/when it dies or is relegated to the garage to serve as a computerized lookup for my P-car "how it looked before I took it apart" photos and parts databases and "how-tos" I may look at one for myself. I like being able to do my more processor-intensive type stuff (CAD, Photoshop, Vectorworks, etc.) on the laptop but the reality is I don't do it all that often.

The netbooks lack processing power for that higher end stuff, but are great for web browsing, e-mail, basic wp/spreadsheet stuff which is 90% of what one does these days.

Or maybe I'll just get a kickass laptop and chuck my desktop unit altogether. Dunno yet. Probably 2-3 years off still.

Classic mode? Let me google that for you

That is funnier than crap!

yeah, several hacks, but none do exactly what i want them to do

I hate the ribbons. I'm a fan of having just one toolbar, with the common save/new/open/edit feature buttons on it and then a dropdown/breakout menu that you click to access functions. Something that lists every single thing the entire program can do in one big assed list. Seems like a lot to look through but you memorize where in the list what you want is and then it's just a click away, not buried behind ribbons.

Old AutoCAD programs were like that. Same with Unigraphics.

Screw ribbons. Hell, screw icons too. I just need hotkeys.

I spent a lot of time learning the hotkeys for Office2k3 (and earlier). I fly through Excel spreadsheets so quickly it makes my boss go crosseyed when I make live changes during a meeting.

Now MSFT expects me to learn all new key combinations (some of which are 2x as long as before, or don't even exist) just to do what I've been doing all along? Screw them.

FWIW Office 2010 is not yet approved internally. We're all still on XP and O2k7 is the latest allowed on our network.

I upgraded my home desktop (HP) to 64-bit Home Ultimate over my holiday break, and it is running very nicely. I was running 32-bit Vista before, so I have to do the full reinstall, which was somewhat of a pain but allowed me to clean-up and ditch a lot of old crap.

As far as I can tell it's really just Vista with a spit shine, but that's OK by me. Vista got an undeserved bad rap IMO.

hmmm... fwiw, I skipped Vista (rolled back a couple cmptrs to xp to that end) and now on to win7-64bit.

I am a big fan of the classic interface. I really loath having to learn someones novel remix of GUI or 'interaction design.'

w/ Win7 (among other programs) I simply, methodically, go thru the settings to dial-back the unnecessary fluff. I'm good with the UI. +1

All of this mouse-centric input is stupid. We have two hands! ...and, memo to Apple; we have five fingers on each hand. ...one-button mouse.:rolleyes:

Hahaha, I've always wondered about that. I guess that's part of the idiot proofing that they try to build into those things.