help with office 2007's ugly interface

I don't like the new look...in fact the new look sucks

from GalCiv2 Forums
I revently upgraded to Microsoft Office 2007 and I just simply don't like the new intrerface. I think that the 2003 office worked much better than the 2007 one. So is there a simple way to make the 2007 office look like the 2003 office? I've googled, but to no avail.  

My major problem is with Powerpoint and Word. they are just all look and no play. I mean I looked for custom animation for half an hour. Who knows how long it'll take to find the other stuff. I'm just used to the old way and I don't like change, especially change like this. I hope there is someone else who knows what I'm talking about, what with all the graphical fluff and whatnot.

I don't want to start a forum war, but I think it was kind of a scam. Lets not take it any further than that.  

I know this is completely off-toppic, but I really need some help changing the interface.  
off-topic
12,240 views 3 replies
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Hi,
I purchased this program - http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer/index.php
It allows you to customize the ribbon and also add a classicUI tab that looks like the old style. The beta version(1.2) is much better than the downloaded stable version(1.1). I haven't had any issues with the beta. Here is a program that also allows a 2003 interface look - http://www.toolbartoggle.com/. I prefer to learn the new Ribbon interface. The more I use it, the more I like it. Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar(QAT) is helpful too. I also am one of the people that found it frustrating in the beginning. Any way, good luck!
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
When I'm having a severe spasm of idealism, I have faint hope that a future SP for Office 12 will include a "classic interface" option. The Office crew must be hearing something of the widespread frustration among those of us who'd already invested *lots* of time becoming Office "power users." Easier to learn is not the same as easier to use, and not worth the tradeoff in the long run, IMO.

But they have a lot invested in this so-called "fluent interface," so I'm not holding my breath about ever being able to regain the keyboard driven efficiency I had when using older versions of Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

For keyboard folks, that wad of buttons on the title bar (QAT) can give some relief b/c you can press ALT+# to invoke whatever commands you've placed up there, starting with 1 on the left (dunno what happens if you have more than 10 buttons). If you remove the Undo and Redo buttons, you can still CTRL+Z & CTRL+Y, but you lose access to the undo and redo lists.

p.s. The thing I'm pretty sure I'll hate most in the long run is whatever happened to named styles in Word. Stuff has been "too helpful" in this area for several versions, but whatever's going on now leaves me no real hope of keeping documents "clean" the way I used to be able to do.