So... I "upgraded" to Microsoft Office 2007 recently. Can't do half of what I used to do because I can't find anything. They seem to have succeeded in making it harder to use. The most bizarre thing is that I cannot find the Help menu anywhere. My wife, who was forced into this particular torture a few months ago, has had the same problem.
The whole point of using drop-down menus in a GUI is to be table to slide the cursor across them and immediately see what's available. Somebody in Redmond apparently thought they were improving on that. Vi is easier than this. Sheesh. This brings to mind an elderly friend who yesterday was talking about her extreme frustration in trying to buy a new head for her electric toothbrush. There are so many models from the same manufacturer that she can't figure out which one is for hers... and bought the wrong one. This is a woman on a very low fixed income who isn't very comfortable driving and really doesn't want to have to go back to the store repeatedly. But I'm sure the toothbrush company comes up with a new model at least every year in order to urge people to upgrade... for no good reason. The fifth new version is really no more effective than the first one. Sometimes marketing, which I sort of work in, drives me nuts. At least my job is more or less about making marketing responsive to people, instead of manipulating people to be responsive to marketing. I think. I hope. What else is like this... endless "upgrades" to convince people that their perfectly good old product is obsolete? Lots of things, I guess. There's nothing new and improved about "new and improved." I suppose one of the worst offenders is the pharmaceutical industry, where the newer allergy and heartburn drugs are no better than the old ones, just tested less... and far more expensive. Nick P.S. Oh, look, a tiny question mark in the upper right corner of the window brings up a help page. First item: "What's new." I'll bet that will try to rationalize all the changes. Second item, "Getting help." Too late. -- Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] Messages: 408-904-7198 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
