How do I get rid of ribbons and go back to old office menus?

Anonymous

I have just purchased Office 2010. Sorry Microsoft but I hate it. Worst update of a familiar software product I have seen for a long time (and have worked in IT industry for 25 years) Why? Its the changes that have been made to the menus and the introduction of those dreadful ribbons. I can't find anything and waste ages looking for what should be the most obvious functions. Am seriously considering un-installing 2010 and going back to use older version.

Before I do that thought might ask if there was way of making 2010 suite look and feel like older versions without just binning it and starting again.

Many thanks

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Anonymous

The contributors to this forum are not Microsoft employees, do not speak for Microsoft and have little to no influence over Microsoft's design process. The reasons for the change to the ribbon have been well documented since its introduction, with the pre-release versions of Word 2007, at least 5 years ago and the arguments for and against have been waged ad nauseam in this and other forums and are resurrected time and again by late adopters - which is why, reasonable or not, Hans can say for certain that there will be no return to the menu driven structure of earlier versions. First and foremost this was a business decision to stimulate sales.

Microsoft's response to the demand for more hands-on user configuration has been to add a ribbon editor to Office 2010. There will be no patch to make Word 2010 use the interface of Word 2003.

The idea of a third party add-in, which attempts, but ultimately fails, to recreate the menu structure of Word 2003 is a cul-de-sac that ultimately will inhibit your ability to adapt to the new menu ribbon driven system. Better to fine tune the ribbon to your own requirements.

When I was first exposed to the ribbon - in Word 2007 - I can confirm that I too was annoyed at the change, and I did not like the change from 2007 to 2010 either, but now I use the latter all the time and only ever refer to the others for reference in connection with user support.

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HansV 462.7K MVP Volunteer Moderator

It is possible to return to the old interface, but I seriously recommend taking a bit of time to get used to the ribbon, for the following reasons:

The ribbon is not going away - on the contrary, other software producers are adopting it too.
As will all new things, it seems confusing and intimidating at first, but if you try it, you'll find that it quickly becomes familiar.
There are several tools to help you: see Learn where menu and toolbar commands are in Office 2010 and Search Commands

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Anonymous

2015-10-15T23:35:07+00:00

Yes, people have adapted and learned, they see little exclusive value in Microsoft software, use low cost/free/intuitive alternatives and depend on portable document format for compatibility. That is what happens when you diss your customer. And Microsoft invented the appalling no-product support business model. So Microsoft struggles to regain it's stock valuation of 15 years ago. This didn't have to happen, and there is no joy in any of it.
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Anonymous

2013-02-21T00:03:59+00:00

Interesting. I was for years the Office IT training admin for a large corporate environment (25,000 users). I actually retired early to avoid having to deal with the move to 2010. I knew it was going to be a nightmare. I have spoken to the person who took over, and it ended up being far worse than I even imagined.

I have also spoken to people in other corporate envionments who have also dumped Office. Which is what I recommended when I was still working. The loss of productivity, and the requirement for extra training to do things staff already knew how to do (but no longer do) is massive. The almost criminal lack of Help has caused a 400+% rise in tickets to the internal Help Desk. This is a significant cost!

Still, as I have posted in other threads...as much as some of us still hate the Ribbon, it really is time to let it go, and shut up.

The ribbon is going to stay, and no Virginia, Microsoft does not care. The reality is, it never did care. I think the Excel team cares, but not the Word team. And the overall Office team does not give a rats a$$.
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Anonymous

2012-01-25T19:08:54+00:00

Please answer the question originally posed. Is there an official add-on for Office 2010/Word2010/Excel2010 that will return my menu system to Classic 2003 status?

Or are the add-ons available all 3rd party 'non-official' ones? If so, which one does Microsoft 'officially' recommend?

I tried the ribbon. The '?' Help button in the program will not take me online to Microsoft Help, and the local machine help file is useless. I use Firefox as my default browser, and have my Explorer browser set to 'no cookies-high security. The 'Help' link insists on using Explorer so if I want to access Microsoft help online I have to reconfigure 2 browsers or do an independent Google search (ex. setting tabs). Give me a break!

Or, give me the best answer regarding how to get the '?' Help link to get me help withouut a Google search;

Or, tell me what is Microsoft's official recommendation for an add-on for the old menu.

Thanks

grammms
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