New Microsoft Office User Interface Frequently Asked Questions

New Microsoft Office User Interface Frequently Asked Questions

Overview

Q. What is the new Microsoft Office UI?
A. The way users interact with Microsoft Office Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Access has been redesigned to make it easier for users to find and use program capabilities. The overall look and feel of these applications has been streamlined and new technologies introduced that present users with selections of potential results they can simply "browse, pick, and click" rather than complicated dialog boxes.
 
Q. What are the key benefits of the new Microsoft Office UI?
A. The new Microsoft Office UI will make it easier and quicker for users to get the results they want. In addition, because the new UI makes it easier to take advantage of the application's rich feature sets, users will be able to produce better results faster.
 
Q. Will all the Microsoft Office applications utilize the new Microsoft Office UI?
A. In the 2007 Microsoft Office system, formerly code-named Office "12," Microsoft Office Word 2007, Office Excel 2007, Office Access 2007, and Office PowerPoint 2007 will have the new Microsoft Office UI. In addition, the new interface will be used in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 when composing e-mail messages or setting up meetings.
 
Q. Why did Microsoft decide a new UI was needed? Why now?
A. As we’ve added more and more features and functionality to the applications over time, its gotten harder for people to find the things they want to do with the products. For example, Microsoft Word 1.0 only had about 100 commands, and by using the menus you could see everything you could do. Today, Microsoft Office Word 2003 has over 1,500 commands, many of which are admittedly difficult to find. That element of discoverability is just one of the key issues addressed by the new UI.
 
Q. When can I try out the new Microsoft Office UI?
A. Pre-release beta versions of the 2007 Microsoft Office release will be available in the first half of 2006. Please register to stay informed about the next release of the Microsoft Office system of products and to receive more information about accessing the pre-release beta products.
 
Developer Information

Q. Is the new UI extensible?
A. Yes, a robust set of capabilities are available to third-party developers for adding functionality to the next release of the Microsoft Office system of products in a way that seamlessly integrates with the new UI. Developers will be able to add Command Tabs, Contextual Command Tabs, and Galleries. In addition, they will be able to integrate their commands into the existing Command Tabs as well as their own.
 
Q. Will existing Microsoft Office add-ins work with the new interface?
A. Yes, commands from existing add-in menus and toolbars will automatically appear on a new Add-in Command Tab that appears when Microsoft Office add-ins are present.
 
Q. Should developers use the new Microsoft Office UI as a model for designing the UI to their applications?
A. The new Microsoft Office UI was designed very specifically for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Access. Although it is not intended to be a model UI for all other applications, UI designers may find that some of the principles that went into designing the new Office UI apply to their own UI design challenges.
 
Q. Will programming support for UI adoption be available from Microsoft?
A. We are still developing the new UI and are considering options for making programming support available.