Office 2013 Interface - Really? This is The Best They Can Do?

[Scorbing]

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse on the Microsoft Windows 8 world...

Take a look at the new Office 2013. This is a screenshot of Microsoft Word 2013 and Outlook 2013, the final version. My question on my mind is: What kind of drugs were those designers doing when they did this? I got a headache from looking at this for over 5 minutes. This is ridiculously white. Too bright for the eyes and no way to change it to anything acceptable, except for a light gray or dark gray, which are not darker at all and don't make things any better.

[User6060]

Windows 8 and office 2013 are the first versions im not upgrading to on any of my home computers. We seen office xp 2003 2007 and 2010. The train stops here

[gkl]

Very disappointed in the look of 2013; pure white is just way too harsh on eyes. I guess I'll be sticking with 2010 (and to be fair, it's still pretty awesome at least for my minimal usage).

[~Johnny]

I don't see how the dark grey theme can be considered too bright for your eyes. It's not exactly dark, but unless you literally have your monitors brightness blasted up full, it's very much fine.

[redfish]

I like the new look better, personally, its sharp, clean, and simple. I thought Microsoft was too stuck on shading things. White doesn't bother me. A lot of minimalistic websites; Bing, Google, etc. rely mostly on white. Its a change for Office, that's for sure.

I'm not saying that as a fanboy, I like Windows 8 too, but am not afraid to criticize their UI decisions when I don't like them.

[MorganX]

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder because I think it's great! Soft and easy to view/use, very functional on desktop and tablet. Superb actually. Best Office yet.

Really slick. I would like all my Windows apps (desktop apps) to look and function similarly.

[oceanseleven]

I'm going back to Office 2010. This white is driving me crazy. I have a bad headache right now. I can't deal with this sh...t. This is horrible.

Epic fail Microsoft. Sorry fanboys, but this UI really sucks.

What about the Light Gray and Dark Gray options?

[libertas83]

Excel and OneNote work pretty well in 2013, but I agree with Outlook 2013. That will be the first Outlook, I will not upgrade to because they got rid of the To-Do bar. Metrics probably showed nobody interacted with it, but metrics cannot show that I didn't use it! I need that for my upcoming meetings!

I think the complaints about the white though is because of your monitors. Turn the brightness down and it won't be that bad, and yes, you are supposed to turn it down!

[Scorbing]

What about the Light Gray and Dark Gray options?

They don't really help the eyes.

[~Johnny]

But what's killing 2013 for me is the terrible font rendering, and killing off hardware acceleration to "fix" it isn't an option.

It's perfectly possible to disable Words sub-pixel font positioning if you wish, without disabled hardware acceleration. (The Text won't be hardware accelerated anymore of course, but the rest will). Though I personally think it looks much nicer :p

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I like the new design actually, but just basing this opinion on the screenshots, I have not used it yet on a daily basis.

But I also prefer the simpler, minimalistic approach to UI design. So I like it, a lot actually, based on the screenshots.

[oceanseleven]

They don't really help the eyes.

They look fine for me, so I guess I'm having a hard time understanding what is "horrible" about the interface. Can you post a screenshot and maybe point out what is the problem specifically with the Dark Gray option?

[MorganX]

Excel and OneNote work pretty well in 2013, but I agree with Outlook 2013. That will be the first Outlook, I will not upgrade to because they got rid of the To-Do bar. Metrics probably showed nobody interacted with it, but metrics cannot show that I didn't use it! I need that for my upcoming meetings!

I think the complaints about the white though is because of your monitors. Turn the brightness down and it won't be that bad, and yes, you are supposed to turn it down!

You have valid reasons for being displeased with Outlook based on your usage. It's a shame too. 2013 is the lightest, most well optimized Outlook yet. Outlook accounts for most of our Office Corporate desktop support and I'm happy with where it has gone. Hopefully you can utilize the rest of 2013.

[Ambroos]

You know what was so nice about Office 2010 with a dark theme? It wasn't about the user interface, it was about your content. With the dark theme it feels like the user interface is taking a step back and your content, whatever you're working on, is taking the spotlights. With Office 2013 it's the opposite. Your white page just drowns amidst a whole user interface of whiteness. There is almost no visible separation between content and tools. It is distracting and annoying to work with for longer periods of time.

And seriously, that "dark gray" setting is barely worth. It's not dark, it's just slightly less white.

This is a good content-focused UI. Microsoft had it and threw it away and that was a horrible mistake.

[MorganX]

It's perfectly possible to disable Words sub-pixel font positioning if you wish, without disabled hardware acceleration. (The Text won't be hardware accelerated anymore of course, but the rest will). Though I personally think it looks much nicer :p

I wonder if there are video card/monitor specific issues because it really looks fantastic to me. Seriously. Whites have never bothered me but I do adjust the gamma and dynamic contrast using my monitor controls and Catalyst Control Panel to get it perfect for me.

[Scorbing]

They look fine for me, so I guess I'm having a hard time understanding what is "horrible" about the interface. Can you post a screenshot and maybe point out what is the problem specifically with the Dark Gray option?

I already posted screenshots. Go back to the first page of the thread.

You know what was so nice about Office 2010 with a dark theme? It wasn't about the user interface, it was about your content. With the dark theme it feels like the user interface is taking a step back and your content, whatever you're working on, is taking the spotlights. With Office 2013 it's the opposite. Your white page just drowns amidst a whole user interface of whiteness. There is almost no visible separation between content and tools. It is distracting and annoying to work with for longer periods of time.

And seriously, that "dark gray" setting is barely worth. It's not dark, it's just slightly less white.

This is a good content-focused UI. Microsoft had it and threw it away and that was a horrible mistake.

(Y)

[MorganX]

Snip

While this doesn't bother me at all, I do see what you're talking about. I can see how it would bother some if they need that contrast.

[Ambroos]

While this doesn't bother me at all, I do see what you're talking about. I can see how it would bother some if they need that contrast.

Thanks for understanding.

This is also one of my issues with the lack of transparency in Windows 8. I think it's great how Windows 7's windows are transparent. Absolutely not because it looks fancy, but because it pulls focus away from it. The frame isn't important, it blends into the background. It's about what's inside the frame.

[remixedcat]

OMG That MS word 2010 UI is nice!

[oceanseleven]

I already posted screenshots. Go back to the first page of the thread.

(Y)

I actually thought the dark option in 2010 was way too dark, so our opinions are the opposite on the topic for this thread. But, for me to say 2010 was "horrible" is a stretch to say the least especially considering the Silver option worked great for me. So I was just curious if it was something actually horrible with the UI or you just have a preference for a darker appearance.

[Arceles]

Actually Office 2013 is not that bad... but it really needs the light gray theme, also, for those of us that are really bothered by all the white on nights, we can use f.lux to reduce eye strain considerably... it really works.

[Asrokhel]

I am using the 60-day trial, but how do I change it [Word] from all white? I am using the desktop version, not the ****ty Metro version!

[Arceles]

I am using the 60-day trial, but how do I change it [Word] from all white? I am using the desktop version, not the ****ty Metro version!

File->Account->Theme

[remixedcat]

Also 2013 preview really clashes with the rest of my setup:

and a sneak peek at the review I'm working on!

[Asrokhel]

File->Account->Theme

Thanks.

Light & Dark Gray look almost identical. It's too bad it can't pick up the theme colours of your desktop!

[Max Norris]

It's perfectly possible to disable Words sub-pixel font positioning if you wish, without disabled hardware acceleration. (The Text won't be hardware accelerated anymore of course, but the rest will). Though I personally think it looks much nicer :p

I wonder if there are video card/monitor specific issues because it really looks fantastic to me. Seriously. Whites have never bothered me but I do adjust the gamma and dynamic contrast using my monitor controls and Catalyst Control Panel to get it perfect for me.

It's always possible, a random web search shows others getting the same issue, and others who don't. For me anyway it's totally ignoring ClearType and looks pretty bad, where 2010 correctly renders fonts as expected.

And seriously, that "dark gray" setting is barely worth. It's not dark, it's just slightly less white. This is a good content-focused UI. Microsoft had it and threw it away and that was a horrible mistake.

Exactly -- I use the silver version myself which still draws your eyes to where the content is. Personally this is what I'd prefer out of the default 2013 look instead of the stark white. It's white but still has easily defined separation in the various areas, and the content is still the main focus. (Scaled wayyyyy down.)

Personally Visual Studio 2012 got the "desktop Metro feel" done a lot nicer. Again, drastically scaled down.. you get the general idea. The main focus is white, the rest is a bit darker and everything has easy to see boundaries. Has the Metro "flavor" (minus the menus that YELL at you, turned those off), but it's easier on the eyes.