hsapiens | Yatta!

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Yatta!

I have a new computer! (Well, a new CPU.) It runs Windows 7 -- and I'm favorably impressed. It's well-designed, it runs ALL of my favorite freeware downloads, it runs the 32-bit software I already own, and it runs all of my hardware of varying ages. Sad that this is a surprise but I'm grateful nonetheless. If I can just figure out how to make Windows Explorer show me the file extensions, I'll be a happy camper. (I'm sure I'll get used to the loss of menus in various applications but I'm slow at adapting to this particular change.)

I cannot say the same for Word 2007. What in the world did they do the menus? More importantly -- WHY?!? It took me far too long to figure out how to find, "Save As..."

In a perfect world, I'd have purchased a 27" iMac, a brand new license of Photoshop CS4 for Mac for it, and had two huge monitors. (I dream of having all the Photoshop palettes on one screen and my graphic on another.) Alas, money was the determining factor so I chose to go with a Windows box. I'm not unhappy, though, as my new toy is zippy and works with my very nice quality speakers, my printer, my monitor, my array of external hard drives, and my iPod.

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Congratulations on the new computer. At work we use PCs so I'm more than familiar with WORD 2007 and ITA with your concerns.

Thank you. My last desktop was purchased in 2000 so I'm enjoying all these new fangled USB 2.0 connections. :)

I'm glad to hear it isn't just me having issues with Word 2007. It didn't help that I activated it just to work on a resume to send out last night -- and was completely lost. Not the time one wants to discover they've messed up the program. I'll be pulling out my old Works 2003 package and installing it.

congratulations!

Thank you! It's like a "happy birthday, happy Channukah, and merry Christmas to me" all in one. :)

I have always thought the redesign of Office 2007 was a travesty. I can't IMAGINE why they would take a major software package that has MILLIONS of users, that has had the same, consistent interface for YEARS, and make such drastic changes to it. The only reason I can find stuff on there fairly easily is that I learned it using trial by fire - by teaching Office 2007 classes. :) I used the teacher's manual to teach myself the new interface the night before the classes. It was very stressful. :)

I don't like it at all. Seriously. Oh, and having a new file format that isn't backwardly compatible with the most recent version of the app? Yeah, THAT was smart. :P

Oh, and congrats on the new computer. :)

I'm glad others are having this reaction. To me it felt very much like a radical redesign for the sake of redesign. I haven't used it extensively but I haven't noticed a lot of new functionality. Just a lot of new frustration. Didn't help that I was trying to re-work my resume before sending it out last night. I cannot imagine the horror of trying to teach this travesty. I'm assuming they're trying to make it better match the browser experience (the new "Home" option) but it was completely unnecessary.

I'm beginning to understand why Office Home and Student is so cheap. It isn't because MS is trying a new pricing strategy; it's because otherwise they wouldn't sell it at all.

One of the reasons I am trying to figure out how to make Windows Explorer show me file extension (other than I'm a control freak and I want to know what the hell it is I'm opening) is so that I can verify I haven't saved a file in the *.docx format. I'm all of a sudden a LOT more understanding of my former colleagues in Germany who couldn't manage to send me files in the standard *.doc format.

Thanks. I wanted an iMac. I want to continue moving towards Mac. Alas, this was not the right time.

What's really crazy about it is that they didn't just step away from the standard Office interface, they stepped away from the standard ANY application interface. I mean, think about the applications you use regularly. How many of them have menus across the tope that include "File", "View", "Edit", and "Window", plus any specialized ones the app has? That's right, pretty much ALL of them. So this redesign of Office doesn't just make it harder for earlier Office users to figure out, it makes it hard for anyone used to ANY standard application to figure out. Hell, my newest version of Final Cut Studio, a VERY complex film editing software, follows the File/Edit/View/Window menu standard. New users picking it up have at least a SHOT at guessing where to look for something.

It's just stupid.

I agree with your assessment. It's bizarre software engineering. I'm assuming they think they're "trailblazing" the way forward where applications begin to meld with browsers. But even my Firefox browser still has the File/Edit/View menu bar. (I noticed the disappearance of the menu bar from IE years ago but since I avoid it like the plague, it hadn't bothered me as much.)

I've been pricing Office 2003 on eBay and find it's absurdly cheap. Cheap enough I worry about ending up with pirated software. *sigh*

Check Amazon. I found versions of it there when I was trying to make sure I had versions at home to use for potential freelance work. I found versions with Access, which is what I needed, and then purchased an upgrade to Access 2007, so I could have that version on one of my machines if I needed it for a project.

I'm looking at buycheapsoftware.com to see if I can snag an OEM version and looks as if I can. They have it for $129, which is more in line with what I expected to pay.

It won't give me Access, sadly, but I own a copy of Access 2000 and that's good enough for my current purposes. I really wanted to stop this pastiche of programs I have going but I don't see myself paying to keep Office 2007. Maybe I'll change my mind as I get used to it but the difficulty in saving files so that everyone else in the world can read them is quite annoying.

And even better -- I just snagged an upgrade version of Office Professional 2003 via Amazon for $10 more than the OEM version would have been. I have a qualifying 2000 Professional version so I can end my pastiche of programs AND have Access 2003. And now, I'm off to eat beans and rice or pb&j for the next year to make up for spending even more money on my computer self. But it's really nice to join the 21st century in computing.

Oh, I figured out how to make Windows 7 show file extensions twice recently.

In the start menu, type in "show file extensions." A folder options thing should pop up and you can uncheck a box that says "Hide extensions for known file types."

Oh, bless you! The lack of a menu in Windows Explorer left me scratching my head as to how to find the blasted setting. I'll have to remember the trick of using the start menu search. Seems ridiculous to hide darned near everything but I suppose I can adapt. :)

I know. It's taken me a while to get used to it. I had Vista on my desktop before upgrading to Windows 7, and that was similar so that helped a little.

YAY for new computers! I almost did what you did and go the Mac route but, yeah, it would have meant a new CS4 and no, no thank you. At least I can take my wacom with me on the laptop now, which is very cool. And yesss about Word. There are a couple of nice features but I'm constantly in compatibility mode for my betas.

Not only is CS2 more than adequate for my needs but I priced the full version of CS4 for the Mac and uh, no. Even at buycheapsoftware.com it's more than I can afford to spend on hobby software.

I'm VERY glad to know it isn't just me having trouble adapting to this new Word. I'm wondering what they've been smoking up there in Seattle.

I priced the full version of CS4 for the Mac and uh, no

Have you by any chance checked out Photoshop Elements? I bought that to go with my new Snow Leopard upgrades, and am shocked at how many of the Photoshop features it has. Certainly everything I use on a regular basis. I haven't played with it too much yet, but after installing it, I did a quick tour and found everything I normally looked for. And it's FAR cheaper than the full package.

Just something to consider if you get a chance in the future to explore a Mac purchase.

I started out using Photoshop Elements but had gone to Photoshop proper to get fully enabled masking and Merge Visible functionality. I didn't even think to check it. :( If it has those abilities and can use CS2 brushes, then I'm going to be very, very sorry that I talked myself out of the sparkly iMac.

I will DEFINITELY be checking this out in the future, though, as Photoshop was the big speedbump in my switchover.

Yay, new computer! Thank you for posting about this. I'm at a stage where I'm starting to contemplate my next computer, and have been wondering if Windows 7 is an improvement over Vista.

I was looking at iMacs a couple of weeks ago and went all starry eyed, but the switch seems daunting, what with needing totally new everything! (Plus, the money considerations, of course.)

I can't speak to it's being an improvement since I never worked with Vista but I can say that as an XP user, I find Windows 7 to be reasonably intuitive. More importantly to me, it works with everything XP did. It liked my freeware. It likes my 7 year old speakers (hey, they're Klipsch and they're really nice. It likes my 6 month old monitor. It likes my 5 year old keyboard and 6 year old mouse. It likes my 4 month old printer. It likes my Photoshop CS2.

It will be liking my Works 2003. *sigh* I wanted to avoid using that pack of software again. I bought it just to upgrade my Word but it bloats with all kinds of garbage I don't want. But at this point, I'd prefer to continue ignoring the Encarta encyclopedias rather than mess with Office 2007.

I really, really want to move to Mac. My laptop is a Mac. I love it. I would LOVE to trade in my clunker of a computer desk for my grandmother's more elegant white kidney-bean desk. An iMac would look GOOD on top of that and I would have something tangible of my grandmother's. Alas, I'm still mired in the black case and a million cords. But it cost me a lot less money.

If you have any question 'bout Win7 as you continue pondering whether to buy, I'd be happy to try to answer them.

I'm using XP too, though I've had to interact with Vista a bit, and it drives me nuts. It sounds like Windows 7 is far less convoluted (great big yay!) and you've covered a lot of my questions about how compatible Windows 7 is with old versions of software.

The iMacs are so shiny though. If I had the money, it would be a no brainer. *sigh*

I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the new system works with all of my old software, which is why I suspect it's essentially XP in a new dress. (I could be totally wrong about that; I really miss my subscription to PC World! *sob*)

The iMacs ARE shiny and I covet them. I totally get your point. I'd put off the replacement of my failing computer precisely because I wanted to afford an iMac. No matter how much I'm enjoying my new computer, I would still trade it in a heartbeat if I could afford an iMac that had the software I need/want. I hate that I've re-committed to the Windows world but I'm trying to tell myself it's smart business-wise to stay current with that system.

Oh! One more thing I should note because Windows now comes in more flavors than Ben & Jerry's. I ended up with Windows 7 Professional 64-bit with downgrade rights to Win XP Pro. I didn't *choose* that; in fact, I was told that the computer came with XP pre-loaded and an upgrade disk for Win 7. I bought it intending to keep it as an XP machine since I *knew* all of my peripherals and programs would work.

I was not originally happy to find it was pre-loaded with 7 but figured I'd tour it before installing XP over it. I found I liked it well enough and decided to test it by installing everything I wanted to keep on it. And it has done well with it all. I haven't had time to fully test every last item and program so I don't know for certain that it won't eventually reveal weaknesses but so far it has installed all of my "normal" software (32-bit) in the right place and all of my 64-bit software in its proper location without my needing to know the details of the system. So far, I'm happy. :)

I didn't *choose* that; in fact, I was told that the computer came with XP pre-loaded and an upgrade disk for Win 7.

Whut! I guess that's one way to get people to try the new operating system. O.o At least it seems to have worked out in the end.

Oh god the confusion over versions! I feel like closing my eyes and throwing a dart at the screen is the way to pick what I need. :P

The biggest difference between Home and Professional that *I* found important is that Pro allowed me to download Windows Virtual PC from Microsoft. What does that do? That allows me to run Windows XP if I need it. That's a HUGE security blanket in my world.

It came in handy because I thought I needed to install my full version Photoshop 7 before I used my CS2 upgrade. Windows 7 wouldn't install PS7, though. A quick pair of downloads later and look at that -- I have a window running Windows XP and it's installing my PS7! (Turns out I didn't need to install PS7 first; just putting the disk in the DVD drive was sufficient but I didn't know that at the time.) Now I can revert to XP whenever I need. So if I *do* run into anything sticky, I can solve it. Or, so I hope.

Win7 Pro has some other features but those don't mean a lot for me with my very simple set-up. If you have a home network to back up to (a server, I assume) or log-in from home to a work server, it has some enhanced features. The 64-bit version is only worth it if you're getting one of the dual or quad core machines. It is supposed to be faster; I have no proof of this. I am constantly impressed by me new system but I'm upgrading from a 10 year old computer so I may not be an unbiased judge.

Since you're thinking of purchasing a new computer, you'll probably be buying at least a dual core and so the choice between the two will probably already be made for you. :)

Edited 2009-12-16 01:20 (UTC)

I bloody HATE Office 2007. It's the least intuitive and annoying piece of shite ever. Not to mention that you have to make an effort to save every document as a special file type just to make it readable by anyone who doesn't have 2007. This isn't really new, but between 97 and 2003 they had managed to keep it consistently compatible without any special tricks. Bastards.
Glad you have a new shiny though! I haven't upgraded my Vista (*spit*) machine to 7 yet because I haven't had time- even Mama is ahead of me there, although she cheated by getting Karen to install and set it up for her! ;)

I completely agree -- and I've only had to use Word as yet. I've been a big fan of Office and greeted every upgrade with happiness. All of a sudden, I completely get why my German colleagues were flummoxed at trying to save a simple file so that I could open it. I have a lot more patience now. :)

Run, don't walk, to Windows 7. I've only heard bad things about Vista but Win 7 is a winner for me. If I had to take a guess, I'd say that Win 7 is more XP-based. That's a wild guess but it operates much like XP and it's compatible with everything I've thrown at it thus far. It feels like a Mac! ;) There are still some things I'm getting used to but it's not so very different.

I think you should cheat and fly Karen over there to upgrade your computer for you. ;) (Karen does report that upgrading to Win 7 was the smoothest upgrade she ever did.)

1) congrats
2) ITA about Word 2007. I hate the whole suite - it doesn't make any sort of sense. It always, always takes me forever to find applications I use all the time (you'd think I'd remember where they were since I use them often, but no - every time I go on a search and rescue mission), and lord help me if I forget to save something as compatible with 97-2003.

1) thank you. :) This was totally my gift to me this year. I'll be eating a lot of beans and rice and soup as a result but I think it's completely worth it.

2) I'm reassured to see I'm not the only one -- by far -- having these issues. I always worry that I'm too curmudgeonly or that I'm getting too old to adapt to new tech. I don't want to be the modern version of the person afraid to touch a computer lest it explode.

I've been trying to figure out what programs I have with this trial version of Office so that I can try it all out and figure out what I really need when the time comes to spend more money -- and I'll be damned if I can *find* the applications. It's crypto-Office.

I wanted to simplify my life and just purchase a straight forward bundle. Looks as if I'm going to either purchase an Office 2003 off of eBay or I'm going to resort to my pastiche of software: Office 2000 + upgrade for Word 2003 + upgrade for Access. I'll continue using Word for a bit and see if I can get myself used to the program but my first reaction is one of horror.

Hey, Lady! *waves*

Howdy! :D *smooches*

Happy new computer! Yay!

I have Windows 7 on my desktop and my new laptop now, too. I'm very happy with it so far.

I agree with you about Word 2007. It has some cool new features, but I cannot figure out how to do basic stuff, such as close out a file without closing out the program--unless I have more than one file open. It has taken me forever to figure out very simple things, too, like changing margins and such. I can do it now, but now I can't figure out how to make my preferred changes the default for Word.

OTOH, I don't hate it, so I hope to get used to it over time. This is not as big a change as going from a Commodore 128 to a DOS PC or moving from DOS to Windows (which I did not want to do--I liked DOS *g*).

Have fun with the new computer. :-)

I think it signals failed UI design when experienced users have problems like yours. I hoped to get used to it but given the difficulty in making certain my documents were readable by past versions, I opted to stay with 2003 for now. Now I understand why 2007 is so cheap and I'm hoping that enough folks will resist and MS will alter its course like it did when it had to continue making XP available and support it. I'm a crazy optimist. ;)

I have been having a very happy time.

That's true. When I wrote that comment, I thought maybe I was the only one (besides you *g*) having problems with it. hehe

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Yatta!

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