I'm taking a class that focuses on the new Microsoft Office 2007 suite. I was pretty shocked to find out that my school was actually willing to dive into something like that, considering most of the systems ran Windows 98 and IE5 up until last year. Unfortunately, they aren't running Vista, yet. But the business instructor (who also teaches the Office 2007 class) just got a grant, so hopefully they'll upgrade soon, especially since Vista SP1 is almost out.

Anyway, you can all put away the shocked looks on your faces. Yes, I am 17 and in high school. Surprise. I probably should have mentioned that sooner.

Back on topic: Microsoft Office 2007 really is amazing. The whole "Ribbon" thing is a fantastic innovation and I find it to be incredibly useful. At first, I was a little thrown off by everything being in different places. But, over time, I realized how logically the commands were organized.

I now laugh heartily when someone sees me using Office 2007 and says "That looks so hard to use!" because they really have no idea what they're talking about. I was once sitting in class when someone came in to finish a paper. The actual computer lab next door uses Office 2003, so a majority of the students have never used Office 2007 before. Anyway, they sat down next to me and immediately went from a good mood to a really horrible mood. They slammed the mouse around, looking for the "Open" menu item and mumbled various things under their breath such as "Oh this thing is so stupid". It really kind of hurts to see that people are so unwilling to try new things.

When I was first introduced to Office 2007, one of the first things I noticed was the shiny blinking Office Button in the upper left corner. Seeing that there was no menu strip and no "File" menu, I guessed that the flashing button must have replaced it. I mean, it seems only logical, right? If that person had simply taken a second or two to study the new interface rather than insult it, they would have easily figured things out and I wouldn't have been forced to waste my time teaching something to someone who obviously didn't want to learn.

I know Office 2007 has been out for a while, but I just wanted to take the time to express how much I enjoy using it. Everyone on the Office team did a really fantastic job and I hope to see many more innovations in the future. In fact, I think Visual Studio 2009 (2010?) should have a Ribbon and an Application Button. Agree or disagree?