7 Milestone 3 already?

[MrChainsaw]

According to Paul Thurrott, Milestone 3 (build 6780) was shipped to Microsoft employees and close partners on the week of September 7, 2008. Microsoft hopes to distribute this build at PDC 2008. Described as visually and functionally similar to Windows Vista, some bundled applications in Milestone 3 now use a ribbon interface similar to that of Office 2007.[

Source: The ol' wikipedia.

[Circaflex]

wikipedia is not a news source, take anything you read on their with a grain of salt, i could go on there edit it and say it was due yesterday

Edited September 15, 2008 by Circaflex

[mad_onion]

wikipedia isn't a source

the source is: http://windowsitpro.com/windowspaulthurrot...-windows-7.html

while it says that M3 looks like vista it also says "As previously reported, Microsoft has tasked the team that created the ribbon UI with updating the Windows shell as well."

that suggests that there will be changes at some point.

[MrChainsaw]

What about this then, http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-7-B...008-93394.shtml

Beta 1 in December.

And this about the M3

http://windowsitpro.com/windowspaulthurrot...-windows-7.html

[splicer707]

Oh goody! The excitement of a new version of Windows starts. :)

[Ci7]

Beta 1 in December.

cant wait , i will be win7 private tester if posible

[Rudy]

ribbon everywhere in Windows = more people switching to Mac lol

[Guest xiphi]

ribbon everywhere in Windows = more people switching to Mac lol

I won't be one of them. I can't wait for the whole "menu bar" to finally be rid of.

[Ci7]

ribbon everywhere in Windows = more people switching to Mac lol

it is not that bad

the only thing is keeping me away from office 07 is backward combit.

[jdlarson83]

come on Tabbed windows explorer

[splicer707]

cant wait , i will be win7 private tester if posible

Sure. I wouldn't mind playing with Windows Beta's too.

[Mainer82]

ribbon everywhere in Windows = more people switching to Mac lol

You'd be surprised, out users at my company are taking to it well.

it is not that bad

the only thing is keeping me away from office 07 is backward combit.

There's a free Office 2007 compatibility pack that works with Office XP and 2003 as well as you can specify Office 07 to save in the old format.

[splicer707]

I won't be one of them. I can't wait for the whole "menu bar" to finally be rid of.

+1

Although I can't easily imagine Notepad with a ribbon bar.

[Rudy]

You'd be surprised, out users at my company are taking to it well.

Both me and my gf don't like it (she hates it more than I do....I'm kinda meh about it) and my sister doesn't like it either

[phot0nic]

Both me and my gf don't like it (she hates it more than I do....I'm kinda meh about it) and my sister doesn't like it either

Really? What's there not to like about it? It's a very intelligently-designed way of organizing an overwhelming amount of options into a simple, intuitive interface. I mean, it was kind of annoying when I first started using it, because I couldn't find my commands (used to the old organization method), but I adapted very quickly using this one simple rule:

"Forget what you know from previous versions, and look in the most obvious place for the command to be located."

Boom! Every time, the button was right there. Use Office 2007 more. I've yet to meet a single person (other than the brand-new converts) who disliked the ribbon.

However, I do not believe the ribbon is necessarily the answer for an OS. It works very well in Office and AutoCAD, but is completely over-the-top in other, smaller apps (*cough*PowerArchiver*cough*). A ribbon in Windows Explorer is completely more than is neccessary. In fact, I can't think of a single OS-bundled app that would really benefit from the ribbon.

I do, however, hope that the GUI team who designed the ribbon can innovate a proper OS-specific GUI with the same organization and intuitiveness of the ribbon. In short, I can't wait to see what they're cooking up.

[Mikee99]

The only "problem" with the ribbon is that it's still a very new interface design that many people aren't really used to. However, as office 2007 becomes more mainstream, the ribbon will become more familiar.

it is not that bad

the only thing is keeping me away from office 07 is backward combit.

You can save standard Office 97-2003 office files in Office 2007.

[sharp65]

This has probably been mentioned before but for people still getting used to the new ribbon UI there is a office labs beta add-in that adds a search box in the ribbon and lets you find specific tools easier. I have it installed and it works pretty good.

[Ci7]

You can save standard Office 97-2003 office files in Office 2007.

is there a way to make office 97-2003 the default format btw

cause i don't went it to look like a crap w/2007 format in university <they use office 03 @computer labs>

[sharp65]

is there a way to make office 97-2003 the default format btw

cause i don't went it to look like a crap w/2007 format in university <they use office 03 @computer labs>

Sure, open up word and click the orb on the top left. Click "word options" on the bottom of the panel and go to the "save" section. There should be a drop-down box called "save files in this format". Just chose .doc from the list. You can do the same thing with excel and powerpoint.

[ShaneSparky_YYZ]

Good news, that means M3 will leak end of October for us to play with! LOL!

I hate the ribbon UI, but I've been using Office since 97, and I don't like big changes so that's probably why. I know many find it useful but I find it cluttered! I can't wait to see how the new office looks, if any different.

[Quppa]

Although it's no longer strictly a bundled application (it's part of Windows Live Wave 3), the upcoming version of Windows Movie Maker will use a ribbon interface:

http://www.liveside.net/main/archive/2008/...ith-wave-3.aspx

Presumably that's the kind of thing we're going to get with Windows 7.

[George P Global Moderator]

They're going to take Windows Movie Maker out of Windows now, with Win7. It'll be part of the Windows Live group of programs and a free download. This is also good since they can now update it more and not every 2-3 years when a new windows version is out.

They're also talking about maybe taking Windows Mail out, which needs to go anyways. Replace it with the much better Windows Live Mail (though I personally use Outlook 07).

The good news is that m3 is said to have had lots of performance work done to it.

[Master_X]

I just can't stand the ribbon interface it's completely unnecessarily bloated. I use Office 2007 on both my computers because it's required for a couple classes. Yet I still prefer to go back to Office 2003 or Open Office for my everyday use. They keep things slim and sleek with menus. Not to mention they don't use that ugly blue theme that's in Office 07.

[Soldiers33]

i think a ribbon is a great idea, im getting tired of the menu bar.

[The Laughing Man]

ugh i cant stand the ribbon, and yet im always up for changes, something about it just doesnt click right