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MS Office Forum / Excel / New Users / December 2006Office 2007 Colors Scheme
I use XP's Silver scheme. Why do some Office 2007 apps use a BLUE color scheme while others like (Publisher) use the right scheme (XP Silver). It looks horrible and contrasts with everything. Why the disparity?!!!  Signature-C. Moya www.cmoya.com Hi C., For the 2007 Office System, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, parts of Outlook and MS Access received the new 'Ribboned' interface. Those apps use the 2007 Office theme for the Ribbon element and for their 'old style' dialog boxes, they pickup the Windows color settings. For the apps that stayed with the 'traditional' menus, such as MS Publisher 2007, the 'old rules' still apply as to what coloring they follow. For backround and specifics on the User Interface changes you may want to visit the Office UI team blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh ================ I use XP's Silver scheme. Why do some Office 2007 apps use a BLUE color scheme while others like (Publisher) use the right scheme (XP Silver). It looks horrible and contrasts with everything. Why the disparity?!!! -C. Moya >> SignatureBob Buckland ?:-) MS Office System Products MVP *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* I'm not going to tell all my users to visit a blog. This is UI 101. I guess they'll have to contend with an increasingly inconsistent and headache-inducing UI... or not upgrade to Office 2007 at all. Signature-C. Moya www.cmoya.com "Bob Buckland ?:-)" <75214.226(At Beautiful Downtown)compuserve.com> wrote > Hi C., > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > -C. Moya >> Bob didn't mean that your users should read the blog. He meant that you should go to the blog and read about how Office picks the color scheme. The short is that the non-Ribbon apps pick a color scheme automatically based on what the Windows setting is while the Ribbon apps have a setting you can change. That setting is in Options, Popular and is labeled "Color Scheme". To read the explanation of how the color scheme stuff works in 2007 and when Office picks what, read these two blog posts: http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/08/10/694577.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/08/14/699304.aspx Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP] -------------- http://pschmid.net *** Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80 Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR): http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43 *** Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote *** Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed > I'm not going to tell all my users to visit a blog. This is UI 101. I guess > they'll have to contend with an increasingly inconsistent and [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > > > *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* I don't really think normal users care about the technical differences between Ribbon and Non-ribbon apps. None of what Jensen said (and I've read it before) explains why some Office 2007 apps on my desktop are BLUE and others Silver. Horrible, inconsistent, UI if you ask me. Just plain bad. Signature-C. Moya www.cmoya.com > Bob didn't mean that your users should read the blog. He meant that you > should go to the blog and read about how Office picks the color scheme. [quoted text clipped - 60 lines] >> > >> > *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* Yes, it does explain it. Which ones are blue and which ones are silver? Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP] -------------- http://pschmid.net *** Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80 Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR): http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43 *** Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote *** Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed > I don't really think normal users care about the technical differences > between Ribbon and Non-ribbon apps. None of what Jensen said (and I've read [quoted text clipped - 70 lines] > >> > > >> > *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* It might "explain" it to you and me... technical people. It doesn't REALLY explain why- aside from technical difficulties- Office 2007 installs with a BLUE a theme on a WinXP set up to use XP Silver's scheme. In other words, what I mean is that it doesn't JUSTIFY this totally against-UI-conventions decision. Signature-C. Moya www.cmoya.com > Yes, it does explain it. Which ones are blue and which ones are silver? > [quoted text clipped - 92 lines] >> >> > >> >> > *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* It gives the user the choice to pick whatever scheme they prefer for their Office ribbon apps. Doesn't sound like a complicated technical explanation to me. Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP] -------------- http://pschmid.net *** Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80 Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR): http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43 *** Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote *** Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed > It might "explain" it to you and me... technical people. It doesn't REALLY > explain why- aside from technical difficulties- Office 2007 installs with a [quoted text clipped - 103 lines] > >> >> > > >> >> > *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* Really? I wasn't presented with "the choice" at any time. I had to dig around for the option. Sure I found it... but still. And it still doesn't justify the anti-conventions thing. I guess (taking IE7 as an example) long established norms, UI conventions and explicit guidelines are out the window. This is exactly what many of us spent the last 10 years telling our freshman VB colleague programmers NOT to do. Enter the huge magenta buttons and yellow background windows that don't use any of Windows' color definitions. Oooh I can't wait. Signature-C. Moya www.cmoya.com > It gives the user the choice to pick whatever scheme they prefer for their > Office ribbon apps. Doesn't sound like a complicated technical explanation [quoted text clipped - 131 lines] >> >> >> > >> >> >> > *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* > Really? I wasn't presented with "the choice" at any time. I had to dig > around for the option. Sure I found it... but still. And it still doesn't You can't call seeing it on the first option screen digging around. > justify the anti-conventions thing. I guess (taking IE7 as an example) long > established norms, UI conventions and explicit guidelines are out the > window. If you come up with a completely new UI methodology (the ribbon) which is the first real new thing in UI design since the 1970s (menus and toolbars were invented back then), then why should you follow some established norms, conventions and guidelines that are much younger than that? The Ribbon breaks the most fundamental UI concepts that are decades old. If I had to design it, I could have also cared less for some 5-10 year old less fundamental conventions. Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP] -------------- http://pschmid.net *** Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80 Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR): http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43 *** Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote *** Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed > -- > -C. Moya [quoted text clipped - 135 lines] > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> > *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends* >> Really? I wasn't presented with "the choice" at any time. I had to dig >> around for the option. Sure I found it... but still. And it still doesn't [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP] I like the Ribbon. But you are giving it way way way too much credit. It's a pallete. Jasc Paint Shop Pro has done it for the last 4 years (see this screenshot http://www.cflashsoft.com/temp/psp8sc1.jpg). Even old the old PhotoDraw orphan did it (remember him?). Office 2007's implementation of this idea isn't even highly contextual (you have to flip the tabs around a lot). It is a *SIMPLE* exploded menu. Sit down and think about it. They took the old long vertical menus... and stretched them horizontally. Come on now. What does the Ribbon have to with Office installing with a BLUE scheme on a Windows XP set up with XP Silver anyway? Signature-C. Moya www.cmoya.com > I like the Ribbon. But you are giving it way way way too much credit. It's a > pallete. Jasc Paint Shop Pro has done it for the last 4 years (see this > screenshot http://www.cflashsoft.com/temp/psp8sc1.jpg). Even old the old That's a palette or at best a fancier toolbar. > PhotoDraw orphan did it (remember him?). Office 2007's implementation of > this idea isn't even highly contextual (you have to flip the tabs around a > lot). It is a *SIMPLE* exploded menu. Sit down and think about it. They took > the old long vertical menus... and stretched them horizontally. Come on now. After someone came up with a great idea, it's always the case that someone says "oh, it's just that, simply"...Yet, no one else came up with doing it that way ;) > What does the Ribbon have to with Office installing with a BLUE scheme on a > Windows XP set up with XP Silver anyway? They designed the color scheme method with the new Ribbon UI. Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP] -------------- http://pschmid.net *** Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80 Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR): http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43 *** Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote *** Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed >> I like the Ribbon. But you are giving it way way way too much credit. > It's a [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > says "oh, it's just that, simply"...Yet, no one else came up with doing it > that way ;) Again, I like the Ribbon... and I think the Office Team did a great job in implementing it (after all, it's the meat of what they've done for the last 3 or 4 years... at the expense of lots of other things). I just don't see it as "revolutionary" as you or the MS Marketing Team would like to think. From my POV it's kinda like "Duh!!! You guys should have revamped the UI 5 years ago!). >> What does the Ribbon have to with Office installing with a BLUE scheme on >> a >> Windows XP set up with XP Silver anyway? > > They designed the color scheme method with the new Ribbon UI. Again, why doesn't Office 2007 install with its Silver scheme when it detects that it's installing on a WindowsXP machine with the XP Silver scheme? Isn't that logical? > Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP] Signature-C. Moya www.cmoya.com I stopped wondering about why's half-way through the beta. It's better for my health that way...;) Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP] -------------- http://pschmid.net *** Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80 Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR): http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43 *** Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote *** Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed > >> I like the Ribbon. But you are giving it way way way too much credit. > > It's a [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > -C. Moya > www.cmoya.com Patrick; I think they messed up; personally. I have to agree with C. Moya; who stated, "I don't really think normal users care about the technical differences between Ribbon and Non-ribbon apps. None of what Jensen said (and I've read it before) explains why some Office 2007 apps on my desktop are BLUE and others Silver. Horrible, inconsistent, UI if you ask me. Just plain bad." I totally agree; about the background color issue. As a "normal" user, I careless how it's technically done; people are paid extremely well to figure that stuff out; and I pay good money for the product. If I change a color; it should change in every app; not just some; and some keep that disgusting blue. Personally LOVE the black /charcoal one; and it's more than annoying that apps like Publisher or, Microsoft Office Picture Manager- another app that won't change; insist on that UGLY blue; with no way to change them. I don't care about their excuses/rationales; they messed up. I hope they come up with a patch for it . If they can get most to follow the color guidelines;what's up with this picture? I'm sure ALL those creative developer minds can figure out how to get the applications to behave in a consistent manner. Saying it's too hard; or saying; technically "we couldn't do it" is rationalizing it away, and is an excuse. MY GOD it's background color we are talking about here;not retooling the entire application. Laziness? Don't know; but I bugged it back in beta 2 and I see it wasn't fixed. The rest of it; I can deal with, but that color issue; really is an annoyance. Jeff >> I like the Ribbon. But you are giving it way way way too much credit. > It's a [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > *** > Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed I have to agree with C. Moya. I realize that the 'ribbon' is unconventional and a complete departure from what has gone before. However, so was Windows XP a radical departure from normal Windows in that you can change the theme to your liking. Microsoft added that feature. All apps should respect our color schemes and themes. And now they come along and give us 3 horribly lousy, completely ugly colors to select and expect us to be happy with it? As a designer, I spent a lot of time finding a theme and color scheme I'm comfortable with. Not following their own scheme rules by forcing us to use these colors is just backwards and completely wrong. -KingSky KingSky Unfortunately, the major money earners for MS (Windows and Office) could not be guaranteed to release on the same time schedule, so Office 2007 was not built around the new presentation features of Windows Vista. You can be sure it will on the next release. Although MS give huge sway to backward-compatibility, this stretches only to the actual application, rather than whether it works with their 'old' XP operating system. SignatureHTH Nick Hodge Microsoft MVP - Excel Southampton, England nick_hodgeTAKETHISOUT@zen.co.ukANDTHIS www.nickhodge.co.uk >I have to agree with C. Moya. > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > -KingSky That's not an excuse. I've read Jensen's long blog on "color tables" and all the work that went into creating the canned color schemes and why they HAVE to be "canned" and not system derived (the way Office 2003 and the "non ribbon" 2007 apps). bla bla bla. I SWEAR I am seriously hardpressed to see just what impact any of that had in the final product. Office 2007's silver scheme (dead grey is a better word) for instance is downright ugly. It's doesn't even use smooth gradients but rather harsh TWO tone highlights. I'm at a loss. Signature-C. Moya www.cmoya.com > KingSky > [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] >> >> -KingSky We'll have to agree to disagree... the themes come way down my list of stuff that has been added. Name Manager CF improvements Charts (Although a long way to go) Added functions (still more to come) Connection string management PT Improvements Themes wouldn't even register on this list (IMO) Additionally, I suspect the issue lies with the UI team, not Excel, Word, etc and they have enough hurdles to overcome ;-) SignatureHTH Nick Hodge Microsoft MVP - Excel Southampton, England nick_hodgeTAKETHISOUT@zen.co.ukANDTHIS www.nickhodge.co.uk > That's not an excuse. I've read Jensen's long blog on "color tables" and > all the work that went into creating the canned color schemes and why they [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] >>> >>> -KingSky Well, I'm not saying Office 2007 doesn't contain improvements. I like the ribbon (a lot). And Outlook 2007 fixed every single anamoly with cached exchange mode and disconnected-from-VPN situations. Outlook 2007 *alone* (for me) is well worth the upgrade. But as a developer that concentrates on end-user UI's, Office 2007 is just jarring and grating to me in many ways in terms of overall presentation and consistency. Signature-C. Moya www.cmoya.com > We'll have to agree to disagree... the themes come way down my list of > stuff that has been added. [quoted text clipped - 54 lines] >>>> >>>> -KingSky Hi C., One of the reasons for the silver color scheme not having the gradient background is that if you're trying to record a training session or presentation for playback, such as in Live meeting, or using MS Encoder, the gradients don't come across very well (and detract from trying to see the important parts of the presentation clearly) :) Silver has it's uses :) and there are folks who don't like looking at the 'curve' in the background behind their Word documents day in and day out <g> that the gradient themes superimpose. Some folks prefer 'plain'. :) Then again if MS made everyone happy with everything in the new version, what would they have to entice you next time <g>. ============= That's not an excuse. I've read Jensen's long blog on "color tables" and all the work that went into creating the canned color schemes and why they HAVE to be "canned" and not system derived (the way Office 2003 and the "non ribbon" 2007 apps). bla bla bla. I SWEAR I am seriously hardpressed to see just what impact any of that had in the final product. Office 2007's silver scheme (dead grey is a better word) for instance is downright ugly. It's doesn't even use smooth gradients but rather harsh TWO tone highlights. I'm at a loss. Signature-C. Moya>> -- Bob Buckland ?:-) MS Office System Products MVP *Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*
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