[…] However, let´s just say that Microsoft´s decision to introduce the Ribbon was, to a certain extent, controversial. […]

Excel 07 is a bug riddled mess with a confused interface that should NEVER have seen the light of day. Cannot ever recall seening a professional product released, void of any beta testing. I’ve used excel for the past 15 years and am very proficient with it including VBA (sorry if this sounds like blowing ones trumpet but the point I want to make is I’m not a “noob”).

The UI is a disaster too, designed to teach babies to such eggs, whereas the more sophisticated features are burried in some obscure menu. The genius that came up with the 07 design ought to be hung, drawn and quartered but I’ll settle for permanent entombment within his Ivory Tower.

Seriously, Microsoft, what were you thinking???

[…] release was declared a “disaster,” “confusing” and (surprise surprise) a “productivity loser“. Fast forward […]

Completely disagree with you; it’s also a disaster for the tech savvy. With today’s movement to increased flexibility and customization, this product took 10 giant steps backwards. Can you edit what’s on the ribbon? Ummm, no. Can you create a custom ribbon? Ummm, no. These options were easy and straight forward in prior products.
So, we have tha ability to minimize the (f****** stupid) ribbon, but can you adjust the size of the Quick Launch? Ummm no.
Its handy to have a monopoly so you can thumb tour nose at your customers.

Actually sir… I lost my old copy of Office 2003 (legally obtained thru old work license) when my hard drive died and I have no copy to re-install.

So, I *will* be switching to OpenOffice.org

:o) :o) :o)

The reason they re-did the interface was so that people had to re-learn it. They charge to teach it. It’s a stimulus package for Microsoft and affiliates.

You can’t blame Microsoft. They are just doing what is in their nature and, if you do not understand their nature by now, you need to find a shorter bus to ride in. The only solution is to band together and stop buying Microsoft products. You have an alternative OpenOffice.org. It has its own quirks, but far less of them. It even saves in Word format: not perfectly, but close enough.

Will you do that?

Of course you won’t. Your company probably won’t let you or you don’t want to take the plunge. I know this because you didn’t.

So stop bitching and accept your fate.

@ Luke“Spreadsheets? Who really needs them. Give me a tab delimited file, and I can run any kind of analysis on it with a dash of awk a pinch of sed, and a tablespoon of perl. Then I can graph it in Gnuplot if that’s needed.”:

Luke, sorry but it has to be said; you’re a dork.

Thank you all for assuring me I am not nuts. Thanks for the entertaining & enlightening posts. And thanks Luke for the thread.

@Cherryl: I was an “expert” user in Excel prior to 2007, and folks now disbelieve me… thanks for making me aware that folks with a higher level of s/w knowledge agree with me.

Just to let you all know, people who develop this i don’t know – ship and ribbon i start sometimes mix this words, must be punished!

Not to belabor the point too much, but a client company of mine has stockpiled thousands of Windows XP and Office 2003 licences to support their current software. We are porting the server portion of the software suite to Linux. Screw Micra’soft!