MS Office 2007

Is it just me, or is this the worst version of Office ever? Usually when the newest version comes out I look forward to updating my PowerPoint slides and family website with its new graphics and templates. But Microsoft hardly included anything with this version! Do we have to wait for the next service pak just for something that's usable?

Okay, I like Outlook 2007 better than the 2003 version, and Word might be better too. But now I'm considering reinstalling Office 2003 for PowerPoint and FrontPage (replaced by MS Expression). What's wrong with wanting to be productive?

New Ribbon is like "Red Tape"
The new ribbon is a pain. Not only does it take up too much of the screen (so I've minimized it to reclaim that valuable real estate), trying to find oft-used functions is almost like switching from WordPerfect to Word all over again! I had to customize the Quick Access Toolbar with my forty most-used functions!

File Names
The new file naming convention takes some getting used to. In their hope to create the new XML standard, Microsoft has added a fourth digit, x, to the filename extensions (docx, xlsx, etc). If you're running Office 2007, try this for fun:
Step 1. Save a new document file in Word 2007 with the .docx extension.
Step 2. Open Windows Explorer and go to the folder in which you saved that document.
Step 3. Add an additional extension to the file name of .zip ("Test.docx" becomes "Test.docx.zip").
Step 4. When warned about the serious consequences of changing a file's extension, click the "Trust me, I really do know what I'm doing" option.
Step 5. Now double-click the .zip file in Windows Explorer, and you'll see the various components that make up that file! There are actually folders with files in them!

Office 2007 will likely become the standard, as everything they do does. But there are serious growing pains with it. I'm not sure it's yet ready for prime time in the ministry office.