Thursday, July 20, 2006

(You can view the text with images at http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Office2007User/)


Enough with counting the ways I love thee! Let me maintain a diary for each day and publish it at day’s end. Or wit’s end, whichever comes first.

Access2007

I click my Quicklaunch icon to fire up my little contact database, Access2007 intervenes, but my customized “Find” control on my customized form won’t execute. It’s time to travel the same route as I took in Word and Excel.

To the “pearl”.

Access Options, Trust Centre, Trust Centre Settings, Trusted Locations, Add new Location.

I browse to the folder that holds my contacts MDB, check it and all subordinate folders on, conform out of there.

I find it necessary to exit Access and reload the beast in order to get the use of my customized buttons, but once that is done all appears well.

Later I realise that Access didn’t launch automatically into my startup form. In Access2000 I nominate a startup form:

Office2007

I am using both the 2007 beta and a regular copy of 2000.

I notice that when I have been using Word2007 and then load Word2000, I go through a brief re-initialization period, perhaps five seconds.

When I flip from Access2000 to Access2007, I go through a longer re-initialization period, perhaps thirty seconds.

Worse, a “2003” box pops up:

with (image)

I watch three repetitions of this box, and manage to cancel it out of my life, for the time being.

The next time I load Access2007 I get the same warnings, so I yield my Office2003 CD to the computer …


Word2007

Another proposal to be built. I open an existing one and unthinkingly tap the F12 function key to save it with a new name.

It works!

I am optimistic that all the inbuilt keyboard assignments will function as before.

One of my biggest disappointments to date is probably rooted in Windows rather than Office, but it is a disappointment none the less.

I’m spending some time in what was the old Tools, Options area. It is easy enough to get at – except that I can’t find a keyboard sequence, so in place of Alt, O, I must reach for the mouse, slide to the pearl, click, slide and click on Word Options, navigate to the panel.

The dialogue pops up with a stretchable interface – mouse in the bottom right-hand corner.

Why oh why couldn’t Office have let me use Alt-space X, or even double-click on the title bar, to maximize this dialogue and let my eyes do the walking.

It is probably a WinXP limitation, but oh! It is so sad to be forced to navigate more slowly than is really necessary. The stuff is all in there, once I can get my eyes on it!

Word2007

This might be Office2007, but I’ve been in Word2007 today, so I’m telling it here:

I can’t help myself; I’m just too used to switching title case with Alt-O, E, T; I’m just too used to inserting a two-column table with Alt-A, I, T, 2. Word2007 pops up a small window saying something like “If you a serious about using the keyboard, er, carry-on, I guess. But you can always escape”, which leaves me feeling like a second-class citizen.

What was wrong with leaving the old keystroke combinations in place – especially if Word2007 decides it can recognize them (as it can, evidenced by the pop-up box).

I understand that we should all execute a 2007º turn and use the new features, but some of us will need a bit of time to change, and “the report has to be ready for noon today”.