16-09-2005 22:31									#1
	MS Office 12/2006 gets radically new interface Inflate your Upload Space

quote: With the next version of Office--currently dubbed Office 12--Microsoft plans to change the user interface to better fit the task a person is performing.

quote: "This new user interface is designed around the ways people actually think and work," Group Product Manager Dan Leach told me in a post-PDC 2005 keynote briefing. In the Office 12 products, which will ship alongside Windows Vista in late 2006, the familiar menu and toolbars have been replaced with tabs and user interface elements called galleries, which bundled related functionality together. For example, in Microsoft Word 12, tabs such as Write, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, and Review are arrayed along the top of the window. When you perform certain tasks, such as inserting an image, new tabs appear as needed. And each tab exposes a range of galleries. In his keynote address, Gates noted that the change was needed because Office has become so feature-packed. A menu-and-toolbar UI worked fine when Office products like Word utilized only 100 commands, as the first version did 20 years ago. But Word 2003 features over 1500 commands and includes a whopping 35 toolbars as a result. Clearly, the old way of doing things is outdated. Office 12 will run on both Windows XP and Windows Vista, Microsoft says

Also, graphics have been improved (autoshapes, word art, excel graphs, etc)









Some large images: http://www.neowin.net/staff/creamha...ce12/word12.jpg

http://www.neowin.net/staff/creamha...owerpoint12.jpg

http://www.neowin.net/staff/creamha...e12/excel12.jpg

http://www.neowin.net/staff/creamha...12/access12.jpg

	16-09-2005 22:35									#2
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Also, there's optionally a new alt-tab behavior in the latest Windows Vista builds:



It "flips" through the windows and views them from an angle.

	16-09-2005 22:49									#3
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why dont they also add a big "virtual hand" moving the windows around?

	16-09-2005 22:53									#4
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That Alt-Tab looks tight.

	16-09-2005 22:57									#5
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useless stuff to drain my computer resources and make me buy a new graphics card

will they have a google-level file search? or is that too hard to code?

	16-09-2005 23:00									#6
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Looks sweet!

	16-09-2005 23:01									#7
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quote: Originally posted by MarkG useless stuff to drain my computer resources and make me buy a new graphics card will they have a google-level file search? or is that too hard to code?

There are 3 levels of graphics settings -- you can revert to the standard GDI+/Windows XP-style graphics if you want to or don't have the hardware for Aero.

And yes, Desktop Search will be integrated.

Your "too hard to code" comment is classic, because you still can't fix Poly code...

	16-09-2005 23:02									#8
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Good point about the search. I had to install Google Desktop to get decent search through my .pdfs.

Also I would like them to fix Outlook Express (quoting, signatures...), not so much because of me, but because it kills the ergonomics of Usenet.

	16-09-2005 23:03									#9
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Outlook Express is being replaced by a totally new program in Vista. No word on that.

	16-09-2005 23:06									#10
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quote: Originally posted by Asher And yes, Desktop Search will be integrated.

desktop search on google's level?

quote: Your "too hard to code" comment is classic, because you still can't fix Poly code...

i'm not google

	16-09-2005 23:10									#11
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What do you mean on googles level?

MSN Desktop Search?

	16-09-2005 23:15									#12
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compare the search abilities (on web and files) of google and msn

	16-09-2005 23:19									#13
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The new Access looks fabulous

	16-09-2005 23:24									#14
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Pretty damn sweet!

	16-09-2005 23:25									#15
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quote: Originally posted by Zopperoni The new Access looks fabulous

	16-09-2005 23:49									#16
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quote: Originally posted by Whaleboy Pretty damn sweet!

	17-09-2005 01:07									#17
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Integrated Search... proper graphics...

...had that for ages.

	17-09-2005 02:50									#18
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Very very nice

The tab stuff is pretty nice and I'm glad to see MS finally accept the greatness that are tabs, and not just in its webbrower!

	17-09-2005 02:55									#19
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Ag: Office for the Mac, 2007

	17-09-2005 02:57									#20
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quote: Originally posted by Agathon Integrated Search... proper graphics... ...had that for ages.

Is it ironic that Windows had integrated search and proper graphics before OS X did?

Before Spotlight was out there were several freely available desktop search apps, and Stardock has made hardware-accelerated window managers since before OS X came out.

	17-09-2005 03:29									#21
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Any word about Excel? there hasn't been a significant upgrade since 2000. Perhaps they'll eventually get rid of the 256 rows limit?

	17-09-2005 05:49									#22
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quote: This new user interface is designed around the ways people actually think

Microsoft knows how I think?

	17-09-2005 06:01									#23
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Psychologists are heavily used in modern interface design, as are massive 3-year usability studies.

	17-09-2005 08:31									#24
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meknows

*though Dracon keeps his foil helmet on just in case*

	17-09-2005 09:32									#25
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quote: Originally posted by Asher Also, there's optionally a new alt-tab behavior in the latest Windows Vista builds: It "flips" through the windows and views them from an angle.

Now that looks cool. I'm not sure how practical/easy to use it will be, as opposed to normal alt-tabbing, and won't until I've used it. But it still looks sweet!

	17-09-2005 11:52									#26
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"Hal, unlock the spreadsheet. Hal, I know the Microsoft thumbprint scanner is broken, but I REALLY need my spreadsheet. Hal..."

	17-09-2005 12:18									#27
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quote: "This new user interface is designed around the ways people actually think and work," Group Product Manager Dan Leach told me in a post-PDC 2005 keynote briefing.

Brilliant! Only question is why they didn't think of this before...

	17-09-2005 13:08									#28
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quote: Originally posted by shawnmmcc "Hal, unlock the spreadsheet. Hal, I know the Microsoft thumbprint scanner is broken, but I REALLY need my spreadsheet. Hal..."

"You have performed an illegal operation, Dave"

	17-09-2005 16:38									#29
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quote: Originally posted by Hueij quote: "This new user interface is designed around the ways people actually think and work," Group Product Manager Dan Leach told me in a post-PDC 2005 keynote briefing. Brilliant! Only question is why they didn't think of this before...

Maybe they finally started hiring people who think and work.

	17-09-2005 19:18									#30
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quote: Originally posted by Asher Also, there's optionally a new alt-tab behavior in the latest Windows Vista builds: It "flips" through the windows and views them from an angle.

More unnessecary stuff to switch off