The ribbon

I know different people feel differently about the ribbon (for those not familiar, check out Office 2007) but I must admit I’m a fan. I have liked it since the first minute I used it. I definitely feel like my productivity is up as a result.

I used to have funky issues in Outlook 2003 where it did not always remember where my toolbars were sitting. The ribbon has resolved all of this. I also find myself digging in the menus far less than I used to.

Little tips about the ribbon I’d share that I like….

- Make sure to double click an element in the ribbon or right click it and try “minimize the ribbon”. This is the mode I run in. I like that it is easy to bring back (a single click) but gets you all of that screen real estate again.

- I like in Outlook how it remembers my ribbon minimize setting on a per tool basis. That is to say, I keep it minimized in email viewing but visible in appointment viewing. It remembers this.

The DCR I have spotted that I'd like (so far ;)) is that I wish, when I am in minimize mode, simply hovering over the menu items would bring it back, and following my hovering over neighboring items (like from message to insert) also respected the hover. I have to click. Not the end of the world, but if someone in Office could make this an option you'd have at least one appreciative user.