Checking style in proofing in Word 2016

It may  surprise you to learn that I somehow made it through college and graduate school (including a 350-page thesis) without a computer at all. My typewriter did not have any built-in grammar or "style" rules, and somehow I survived. The current generation of "scholars" is badly spoiled.

No one is surprised that people in the past were able to type. You are being hostile for no apparent reason. 

The comments here suggesting that people now are lazy or spoiled for asking for style features are--frankly--baffling, given that the people asking for those features are also saying things like "I write my own macros". Lazy people do not generally write their own macros. I think you do not understand the conversation.

The style rules are meaningful for (1) training new scholars quickly and easily--by telling them to let the style rules be their guide--and (2) collaborating with young un-trained scholars who might otherwise insert errors into my documents and (3) correcting quickly-typed papers that were either dictated or simply written quickly due to time pressures.

Your 350 page thesis was, I am sure, written much more slowly than it would have been if it were written on a word processor that had appropriate features. I want to be as productive as possible, not use archaic tools just because I let a company dictate my tool set. I can buy a tool from another company.

Also, not everyone who uses Word is an academic. Most are not. Business-people who use Word are not "scholars" and just need the software to work and work well. They do not need to be proud of their grammar.

If I am writing a paper with a young scholar, I need to be able to tell that young scholar to enable style check for various things like "passive voice" so that she can improve her writing skills. And if a collaborator sends me a paper full of style errors, I need to be able to blame him, and not Word, and try to correct those behaviors...and the software should help me correct those behaviors. 

Besides, these were features that previously existed in software that we have been paying for. Both Abiword and OpenOffice have grammar checkers and those are FREE. We are paying for this. It should have more advanced features than free applications. It should not merely match them. Otherwise, why are we not using the free software? 

Newer versions should have better features than old versions. When that is not the case, the rational course of action for users is to either revert to old versions or--better--to use other software that has been advancing over time instead of regressing. Microsoft is essentially begging for customers to switch to something else.

Meanwhile, Microsoft cannot claim that these features were removed "to save space" if they are also claiming they want to restore these features. That seems irrational, unless they only wanted to save space on the launch of the product, to mislead their consumers about the true space cost of Word, which is unethical.

I am a transcriptionist, as well as a proofreader.  My "instincts" don't help much when a client doesn't want contractions, yet dictates them.  My "instincts" tell me don't type them, but when I'm transcribing something, I just move along swiftly with the spoken word.  When I do proofing of a job, I want spellcheck/style/grammar to pick up the contractions.  Now, in 2016, I have to do a "find" for apostrophes to check for them.  Imagine a job also full of possessives.  

My "instincts" also tell me to follow a client's instructions of only one space after a period; however, my "instincts" in my fingers of over 48 years of typing want to put in two spaces.  Now, in 2016, the only way to proof for that in my own work as well as the work of others is by turning on show/hide and checking the dots between sentences.

MS is taking their sweet time to bring these valuable options back...I actually don't believe they intend to at all.  In the meantime, I am more seriously contemplating a change back to 2013 and cancelling my Office 365 subscription.  As I've said before, I have paid dearly for a downgrade!!  I am also telling anyone who asks, "Do NOT purchase/upgrade to 2016!!"  That's my strong instinct.  

Quite honestly, I note a touch of "superiority" in your comment.  It could be the work many of us do, in terms of quantity and difficulty, exceeds what you do and we don't have the luxury of our instincts perhaps failing us.  If you have never used the grammar/style checker in previous versions of Word, you're really not qualified to add comments regarding the usefulness.

Hi Roberta, you are 100% right..MS removed the Office/Word 2016 grammar/styles feature saying they 'wanted to save space' - BULL!! MS claims they are working on a 'fix' to add them back in..don't hold your breath--I have spoken to SEVERAL senior level support and managers and not one was aware of this 'fix'. Meanwhile, myself, my colleagues and students all have reverted to our older/useful versions of Word. I walked away from my Office 365 back down to MS Word 2011 to regain my useful editing/writing features. Additionally MS  also removed the Visual Basic developers feature to 2016 so you can't even program useful toolbar macros as once before. Thank goodness I was able to reload Word 2011 and got my productivity back!! Shame on your Microsoft..I will not be ripped off by your 'upgrades' again!! I will be seeking a refund from Microsoft on their useless Office 365/2016 version of junk!

I am a transcriptionist, as well as a proofreader.  My "instincts" don't help much when a client doesn't want contractions, yet dictates them.  My "instincts" tell me don't type them, but when I'm transcribing something, I just move along swiftly with the spoken word.  When I do proofing of a job, I want spellcheck/style/grammar to pick up the contractions.  Now, in 2016, I have to do a "find" for apostrophes to check for them.  Imagine a job also full of possessives.  

My "instincts" also tell me to follow a client's instructions of only one space after a period; however, my "instincts" in my fingers of over 48 years of typing want to put in two spaces.  Now, in 2016, the only way to proof for that in my own work as well as the work of others is by turning on show/hide and checking the dots between sentences.

MS is taking their sweet time to bring these valuable options back...I actually don't believe they intend to at all.  In the meantime, I am more seriously contemplating a change back to 2013 and cancelling my Office 365 subscription.  As I've said before, I have paid dearly for a downgrade!!  I am also telling anyone who asks, "Do NOT purchase/upgrade to 2016!!"  That's my strong instinct.  

Quite honestly, I note a touch of "superiority" in your comment.  It could be the work many of us do, in terms of quantity and difficulty, exceeds what you do and we don't have the luxury of our instincts perhaps failing us.  If you have never used the grammar/style checker in previous versions of Word, you're really not qualified to add comments regarding the usefulness.