Office ribbon gets cut

IT'S ALMOST as if Microsoft has read our previous thoughts on the beta edition of Office 2007.

Microsoft has modified its new interface for Office 2007 after various complaints that the ribbon system took too much space on screen. In this article from June we stated: "...one point of contention that has come to our attention as the review process has gone on (and readers who have emailed us since the overview article was posted), is the amount of real-estate the ribbon interface insists on using." and it sounds like we're getting our way.

In the next technical refresh of the beta, users can set the ribbon to automatically minimise whenever it's not being used, effectively making the ribbon headings look more similar to the traditional drop-down file menu we're all used to. However, new text tips relating to the ribbon will now consume more screen space when elements are hovered over.

This was confirmed by Microsoft Australia technical specialist John Hodgson at Tech.Ed 06 in Sydney. Lets hope this Australian Microsoft employee actually got his information right... µ

See also
Outlook cuts ribbon while power points
Excel shows ribbon development
Word update will mess with your head
Office turn ups with ribbons and all sorts