Petition - STOP the Ribbon! - OpenOffice

[Petef56]

If you don't like the Microsoft's RIBBON interface, please come
and sign the petition to stop it's development in OpenOffice.
Thank you.

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/stoprenaissance/

[EzyStvy]

Open times I will send links like this to my contact in Redmond WA....But this is too funny to forward....I wonder what contry they are from...Cause English isn't their native language

[David M]

I use MS Word but what is a ribbon interface? Is it the row of pull down menus at the top? What is bad about that? What would a non-ribbon interface look like?

What if OpenOffice gave users a choice of having a ribbon interface or having a non-ribbon interface. Perhaps it would be better to petition for that option?

[nightfishing]

ribbon

http://www.halfbakedschemes.com/test/ribbon.jpg

no ribbon

http://www.halfbakedschemes.com/test/noribbons.jpg

Ribbons took some getting used to (and many folks decided not to try!)

i prefer them in Excel, but haven't quite grown comfortable with them in Word.

[faulkner132]

If you don't like the Office 2007 ribbon, I have written about how to bring back the classic menus in a tip:

http://www.pcmech.com/article/bring-...n-office-2007/

[Petef56]

Originally Posted by EzyStvy Open times I will send links like this to my contact in Redmond WA....But this is too funny to forward....I wonder what contry they are from...Cause English isn't their native language

Hehehe, that's obvious from the poor grammar on that petition page. Does anyone here know who is responsible for writing the code and developing OpenOffice? When I say "who", I'm wondering what country(s) are the people from. I always had the impression that it was some kind of cooperative effort on a global scale and that would account for the poor grammar.

---pete---

[Petef56]

Originally Posted by David M What if OpenOffice gave users a choice of having a ribbon interface or having a non-ribbon interface. Perhaps it would be better to petition for that option?

David, offering a choice would be ideal solution. If the OpenOffice developers did that, it would put MS to shame because that's exactly what MS should have done instead of forcing the ribbon on everyone who uses Office 2007.

I think the objective of the petition is to find out if there is enough resistance to the ribbon to just say it shouldn't be incorporated into OpenOffice. I wish they would also create a petition supporting the development of the Ribbon in OpenOffice because we'd be able to measure the issue more fairly.

---pete---

[Force Flow]

A choice would be nice.

Some people much prefer the ribbon interface. Others much prefer the toolbar interface.

Myself? I'm in the middle. There are some good things that the ribbon does, but sacrifices some of the things the toolbar interface brought to the table.

[Hi Ho]

I much prefer the ribbon interface. I had no trouble finding things because it it logically laid out and makes a lot of sense (to me). I would like to see it as an option in Open Office. What's wrong with a choice?

[EzyStvy]

Didn't EVERYONE hear that Office 2007 was Drastically Different way before its final release date? Its as big of a shock as going from XP to Vista/Win7....

With a little time and effort - pretty much everyone can master 2007

Office 2010 is in BETA and I think is getting close to being released....Odds are its way too late to get MS to make any changes...

[Petef56]

Originally Posted by EzyStvy With a little time and effort - pretty much everyone can master 2007

Of course, given the enough time, resources, and expense, any new system can be adapted to. The problem is, so many people never wanted the change and don't welcome the change. Many businesses are now struggling in such a poor economy and can't afford to retrain employees or deal with losses in productivity due to such a dramatic change in the user interface. Millions and perhaps billions of of people world wide have been trained over decades to use the standard menu bar interface, then MS comes along and changes the entire user interface with no option to fall back on the old familiar menu bar. This is pure arrogance and another example why so many people despise Microsoft.

---pete---

[EzyStvy]

Millions and perhaps billions of of people world wide have been trained over decades to use the standard menu bar interface,

And ONLY a small fraction of them will upgrade to the newer versions.....OR they shouldn't upgrade to a newer version if they don't have the brain power. So lets try to give them some credit for being adults

Pretty much any idiot can open Word 2007 for the first time and type a nice n pretty formal letter within minutes.

The really really good news is that all of the experts say that someone starting off with Office 2007 will love it and have nothing to compare it to....So maybe my thirteen year old niece can be loaned out to help the older crowd...for a price of course

[Petef56]

Originally Posted by EzyStvy The really really good news is that all of the experts say that someone starting off with Office 2007 will love it and have nothing to compare it to..

BINGO! And that's my point. Whether the ribbon is better or worse is not always the most important thing. To me, the most important thing is to give the consumer what they want.

As I recall, when Windows first came out one of the greatest features compared to DOS was the Menu Bar which most apps were based upon. Once a person became familiar with the basics of the Menu Bar they would intuitively navigate and use just about any Windows application. Now that the entire globe of Windows users is comfortable with the concept of the Menu Bar, Microsoft comes along with the Ribbon which basically says "Sorry everyone, we at Microsoft had it all wrong all these years, we admit our mistake, and now it's time to abandon the Menu Bar and switch to the ribbon."

Not only that, but anyone who has automated their tasks and spent years and great expense writing code or macros to do things in MS Office applications, you will have to start all over from scratch in order to adapt to the new Ribbon.

To me forcing the Ribbon on the consumer without offering any options within Office 2007 to use the old Menu Bar is pure arrogance and inconsiderate to most people and for this reason alone the Ribbon should be abolished. We need to send MS a clear message that it's we, the consumer who is in control. We vote with our dollars. Just because MS tells us to jump, we should not ask; "How High".

DOWN WITH THE RIBBON!
Hhehehehe

---pete---

[glc]

Same thing applies to Windows. I started with 3.1, and 95 was a major interface change. It really was for the better, but it took me a while to get comfortable with it. The next major interface change was TWELVE YEARS later with Vista. I really don't want to give up a 12 year habit, so I am sticking with XP in classic mode. If M$ would offer a classic interface in Win 7, I'd probably upgrade.

[HAL9000]

I have no problem with the ribbon interface... but G, I agree... I like Win7, but hate the new start menu and am stuck with it.

[Petef56]

Originally Posted by glc The next major interface change was TWELVE YEARS later with Vista. I really don't want to give up a 12 year habit, so I am sticking with XP in classic mode. If M$ would offer a classic interface in Win 7, I'd probably upgrade.

One thing about Vista/Win7 that I do like about the START menu is the ability to type just a few letters of a desired program I want to run and up comes a list of matches almost immediately. That's a great enhancement and it's certainly welcome.

However, I still prefer the XP style START menu where All Programs expands a multi column list of applications. I fiind the new Vista/Win7 all programs list to be too confining and no improvement over the XP style list. Again it would have been so much better if they gave us an option in Vista/Win7 to use the XP style list of all programs.

MS should offer their new changes with an option to use the "classic" method and follow up by allowing users to occasionally upload their configuration settings to MS. This would allow users to easily provide feedback to MS indicating what they like best.

Windows also needs a GUI Wizard that would ask the user a few simple questions to get an idea how they'd want the GUI setup and then have it customized to their liking automatically. For example; Do you prefer Performance over Fancy & Colorful. Do you prefer to discover new features on your own? Are you open to change, or do you generally resist change?

---pete---

[thefultonhow]

Last time I checked, the ribbon isn't customizable (besides maybe one tab). My mom has heavily customized her Office 2003 toolbars to have all the tools she wants available with one click -- complete with custom icons in many cases. I know she won't switch until MS makes the ribbon fully customizable.

Myself, I simply like the toolbar/menu arrangement better. A lot of the Vista/7 interface improvements were nice evolutions; the Office 2007 changes were too drastic IMO.