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Wednesday 7 March 2007, 10:06 AM
Office 2007 standard
We generate aroudn 1Gb of Powerpoint alone every year. We have evaluated a copy of Office 2007. We shall not be using it. Here is why.
First, the prodiuct is exceptionally slow. It takes PP nearly a minute to load a 50 Mbyte file. Word takes as long to load. Once loaded, many macros and plug ins do not work properly, or at all.
Second, its 'look and feel' is a disaster for experienced users. There are two elements to this:
1: Even when customised with third party software, the ribbon takes three clicks where one sufficed before. There seems to be no reason to ditch ten years of experience for what is on offer.
2: The interface itself is wasteful of space. The graphics are seeminlgy random in design and colour. "Template" in PP produces something 3x4 cm on an orange background, drawing object that is tiny and grey on a grey-blue base. Many icons replicate each other: new drawing object and change drawing object. The working area jerks around spastically when sub menus are introduced. PP has a graduated background, which makes graphics look different from how they project. And so on...
Third, the innate opacity of Office seems to be taken to a higher level, It knows what you ought to want, and it will change only after negotiations. Users of e.g. Dreamweaver who are accustomed to telling the package what they want find this frustrating. Trying to import an Excel chart into PP is seamless if you want what it thinks you ought to want, but a half hour battle if you know your own mind.
One wonders what MS strategy people can have been thinking. We cannot be alone in rejecting this product. If it sits on the MS development line, then we are rejecting MS products forthe longer term. This has to be a general issue. Few companies can afford the 10-15 working days it will take to recover th eskilsl this package kills.
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