No O12 screenshot thread?

What? How can this be? Check out those:

http://pdc.xbetas.com/?page=o12preview1

Personally, while it would require to get used to, I like the interface. It looks pretty good, too, for a pre-beta.

However will it be fun to see what happens, if this gets actually deployed. I'm thinking here the bogstandard memorized procedures secretary, that can use Office apps only because they've been applying brute force to find out ways to do their things and stuck with them. My mom's such a secretary. A slight interface change would throw her out of the loop (gradients and 32bit icons in Office 2003 confused her already), something like this would bring her workplace to a grinding hold, because every secretary in the hospital would go insane.

Thanks for the link.

I agree with you.  I've had to help many such secretaries "figure out" what seem like are the most easily identifiable features of Office XP.  In my experience a lot of people like this end up thinking that something that doesn't work exactly like the old version is bad.  I can't tell you how many (old) people I've met who honestly think Windows 98 is still better than Windows XP.  I just nod my head and smile.

( gotta get some sleep )

Tom Servo wrote:

What? How can this be? Check out those:

http://pdc.xbetas.com/?page=o12preview1

Personally, while it would require to get used to, I like the interface. It looks pretty good, too, for a pre-beta.

...those are fakes.

No, seriously.

Check this one. Those extra "options" are from Photoshop!

Besides, Office 12 doesn't fit into the Longhorn UI one bit!

I know the Office team like to deviate from Windows standards slightly, but this is rediculous!

Here's another. It's suppose to be running on Vista, right?

...so why does it have the Windows XP Luna Blue skinning on the controls and widgets?

However, the prescence of "Contoso" does raise some doubts, this is a known "Fake Company" Microsoft uses in their materials to cite an example on how to use their software.

These are probably just prototypes created by some teenager in Photoshop with too much time on their hands. (Look around any Mac messaboard, you'll get people making 3DS models of perceived upcoming iProducts)

At the primary school where my dad works, we recently (as in, a few weeks ago) upgraded from Office 2000 to Office 2003. Most people thought it was too different, and said it would take a while getting used to. Overall, there was a big sense that people didn't get why we upgraded, better to stick with what you know, right? (Of course, the answer was that we can service Office 2003 with WSUS, but that kind of technical details are lost on your average teacher or student ).

This, though, will probably cause a riot, with people running through the streets on fire, cars exploding and windows (pun intended) smashed.

If these are real, I do admit I like the visual grouping of toolbars.  The number of buttons can sometimes be overwhelming--especially if you are on someone else's computer and the toolbars are arranged differently.

Tom Servo wrote:

I wonder if those people with access on the Office 12 alpha are allowed to confirm or deny.

Ooooh, tricky

They can't "confirm" because then Microsoft would be giving out "trade secrets"

They can't "deny" because then everyone knows its true

And they can't say "your words, not mine" because then the Office team has to live up to great expectations.

W3bbo wrote:

...those are fakes.

Some of them seem concepts. But it'd be a quite elaborate fake, if all of them were. I wonder if those people with access on the Office 12 alpha are allowed to confirm or deny.

W3bbo wrote:

Here's another. It's suppose to be running on Vista, right?

...so why does it have the Windows XP Luna Blue skinning on the controls and widgets?

Who said that? AFAIK it's supposed to be able to run on Win2K/XP, too. The

W3bbo wrote:

Check this one. Those extra "options" are from Photoshop!

Mmmm those options sure weren't present in office before...

W3bbo wrote:

Here's another. It's suppose to be running on Vista, right?
...so why does it have the Windows XP Luna Blue skinning on the controls and widgets?

I'm not sure that's supposed to be running on vista... wouldn't the title bar be done with glass ?


To be honest, I don't really think they're fake... they do look like mock-ups (well at least some of them, look @ the outlook one for example).

I think Office12 looks good!

W3bbo wrote:

...those are fakes.

If those are fakes, MS should seriously think about stealing... ehhh... adopting those UIs -- because they're very good. I don't think they're fakes, though.

Larsenal wrote:

I can't tell you how many (old) people I've met who honestly think Windows 98 is still better than Windows XP.  I just nod my head and smile.

If a user told me that they thought the old version was better than the new one, I would ask them why, not nod my head and smile.

If that's what Office 12 is supposed to look like, then I don't like what they're doing to the menu bar and toolbar in Office 12.  Too busy, too cluttered.

Here's some insanely cropped stuff on Flickr, taken with a digicam. Looks similar to those in the original post of mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37644547@N00/

This tends more to not fake. Some are mockups, as mentioned with the Outlook UI and the IDE.

Tom Servo wrote:

Here's some insanely cropped stuff on Flickr, taken with a digicam. Looks similar to those in the original post of mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37644547@N00/

This tends more to not fake. Some are mockups, as mentioned with the Outlook UI and the IDE.

Ugh... so they are real?

...can someone please explain Microsoft's double-standards and hypocracy as regards HCI guidelines?

...yet another reason why I won't be "upgrading" to Vista nor Office 12.

I can see this being confusing to users (if the screenshots are genuine).

What happened to consistency? Things seem to change in each version. You should be able to teach someone how to use Office 2000 and not need to retrain for any new version (new features should be intuitive).

Feature bloat some may say. The Office applications seem far too powerful than what many need, but they have to use them because the alternatives just do not have the compatibility needed and may lack that one feature you may use (like Clipart, which does not exist in OpenOffice).

The KISS principle is not really being followed. If you have to teach someone how to use a program, it is not simple. I don't think you need to train people how to use IE, Firefox, Paint or Notepad. Extensible apps should be the future - have minimal features and extend on that (and not limit it to the vendor).

While I can NOT confirm or deny that this is the UI being used in O12, near-beat, bits (true beta not being out until November), I will remind people of the standard reaction to the new O12 UI ("whatever that may be"):

1. k, looks like a certain fruit-based company's UI...
2. Wow, that looks way more confusing than it needs to be
3. Hey, so, you can do that now, and it's... right there?
4. Oh, okay, I undrestand now!
5. Holy %@#!!! Well done Microsoft!

As for secretaries, I've beta'd it with secretaries, they seem to appreciate the new UI, actually. While most are totally into arcane ways of doing things, and are proud of them, many of the changes make those things easier - something most secretaries actually DO prefer. It's only when things change for no reason, or actaully get more complicated that they freak out.

Also, bear in mind that no screenshot will do O12 justice. It really won't.

sbc wrote:

Feature bloat some may say.

By and large, this is NOT a feature release. There are new features, and some fairly deep ones, but by and large, this is about bringing Office's strengths front and center, simplifying the user experience and making things more consistent across all apps (except Outlook).

Jeremy W. wrote:

As for secretaries, I've beta'd it with secretaries, they seem to appreciate the new UI, actually. While most are totally into arcane ways of doing things, and are proud of them, many of the changes make those things easier - something most secretaries actually DO prefer. It's only when things change for no reason, or actaully get more complicated that they freak out.

Also, bear in mind that no screenshot will do O12 justice. It really won't.

That's basically confirming that these screenshots are real.

Well, now I can confirm that I won't be buying Office 12 (no, I won't warez it either)

W3bbo wrote:

Jeremy W. wrote: As for secretaries, I've beta'd it with secretaries, they seem to appreciate the new UI, actually. While most are totally into arcane ways of doing things, and are proud of them, many of the changes make those things easier - something most secretaries actually DO prefer. It's only when things change for no reason, or actaully get more complicated that they freak out. Also, bear in mind that no screenshot will do O12 justice. It really won't.

That's basically confirming that these screenshots are real.

Well, now I can confirm that I won't be buying Office 12 (no, I won't warez it either)

I can confirm that all of them ARE NOT real, if that helps in any way. Some seem to be.

We've been saying since the beginning that there were massive changes that would fundamentally change the way people interact with apps: no longer fighting with them, instead, having the features they're using and needing front and center.

That's a good change.

Whether that change is actually reflected in the screenshots, I can't say. I have a suspicion we're going to see a hell of a lot of O12 coverage at PDC, and it's going to cause an uproar. Once confirmed screens and videos are up, I'll be more than happy to lend my true opinion (having spent a few days with the teams).

For now, though, all you'll get is vague references