One of the most common complaints about the Explorer interface in Windows 7 was that it dumped the ‘up’ button used to move up in the directory structure. The good news is that it’s returning in Windows 8. The perhaps more controversial news is that Microsoft will achieve that by using the often controversial Ribbon interface. More »
We’ve told you before about tactics to adjust to the Ribbon interface in Microsoft Office, including customising the Ribbon to make finding the features you want more straightforward. A new downloadable tab called ‘Favorites’ groups together the most commonly-accessed features according to Microsoft’s analysis of user click patterns, which might represent a good starting point for your own customisations. More »
First, a good taste warning: this post mentions Clippy, the irritating helper paperclip that Microsoft thankfully dumped from Office back in Office XP. If the mere mention of that digital excrescence doesn’t send you running to the hills screaming for gin, then you might want to check out Ribbon Hero 2, a game designed to teach migrating Office users how to use the Ribbon found in Office 2007 and Office 2010. More »
It’s not news to Lifehacker regulars that we have very mixed feelings about the Ribbon interface used in Office — there’s a demonstrable lack of consistency in how it places some options, for starters. However, it’s worth remembering that the ability to customise the Ribbon in Office 2010 means you can solve some of those problems. More »
Upgraded to the 2010 version of Project and can’t find the familiar camera icon for converting Gantt charts into images? Tech blogger Nathan Gropman points out that it has been replaced with a ‘Copy Picture’ icon on the Task tab — a good example of how the Ribbon isn’t always intuitive. [Nathan Gropman]
The ribbon is apparently here to stay in Office, so your best bet is to get used to working with it. However, while adding the ribbon was one of the key features across the board in Office 2010, there is one application where it is minimised by default: OneNote. More »
When Microsoft introduced the ribbon interface, it offered up a series of guides showing where familiar commands had moved to. The ribbon is even more pervasive in Office 2010, so Microsoft has updated those guides ahead of the newest suite’s release. More »
We’ve told you in the past about the mapping workbooks that explain where features got hidden when Microsoft adopted the sometimes confusing Ribbon interface. There’s now a similar tool for SharePoint 2010, which has also added the ribbon interface. [Microsoft]
When Microsoft introduced the Ribbon interface in Office 2007, a key argument for the radical switch was that it would be easier to use. That always seemed like a suspicious claim relative to the millions of existing Office users, and now Microsoft has been forced to concede that throwing out everything might not have been the best move. More »
