Get used to it people. We are going to see a major s*** from multi-steps to perform a task to a new "task based" appraoched with context sensitive dashboards. This is tedious for us who have used computers the last 20 years, but hardware is more powerful now and software is advanced, why not let the computer actually make our work simpler?

We saw some of this new task-based approach in XP's control panel in 2001. I'm sure many of you switched to classic view, but in the 'xp view' you could easily find all functions related to user accounts (change name, password, icon, etc) in a non-intimidating, non-geeky looking dashboard. You don't have to be a geek to know how to do these functions because it is natural for novice users.

Same thing applies in Office 12. I see this interface and think that there is finally something my mom can use and her PC will actually be something more than a typewriter!!!

People hate change, but I feel this will help us be more productive in the long run.

Dead on!

They're making it easier for novice users. Most of us do not consider ourselves such. But they aren't making it for us, we're the minority.

true that.

I like the look of the new interface.

I would say that Office '95 isn't the best version to compare a new Office product set against as it was basically just a 32-bit version of Office 4.x with Long filename support and oh yeah Word'95 had a highlighting tool...

Let's hope that Access 12 doesn't get delayed and end up being provided as part of a voucher redemption process months after you've paid for it like it was back then!

This new version seems quite slick and should help those fearfull MS Works users take the final move to the full office suite.

This Office's UI is much better than the one's in the past. It makes the most commonly used functions and tools easier to find than past versions. This is important for most of the users out there who don't use or care for the numerous close-to-publisher functionalities that are currently available.

The UI is better organized to allow the functions to be spotted more easily even if it does take up more screen space. I would be surprised if the UI was not customizable in some way.

Understand that I'm no fan of Microsoft but I am a developer who has dealt with end users a lot over the years.

I agree with you kcalvert. It was me who was banging on about the lack of publishing features. It is true that most users don't need such features. This is probably because most users are making ordinary everyday docs on standard US/European paper sizes, and that's fine.
The trouble is that M$ has never been clear about what Word is for - word processing or publishing. I've worked for many companies that try to use Word for publishing, but always it falls flat. Personally I like it a lot for letter-writing. It's good at it, but it is not very good at the other tasks M$ tries to make it do.
The lack of direction from M$ has, I believe, led Word (and probably other parts of Office) to become bloated with features that sometimes make it a nightmare to use, and which detract from the simple work of making business docs.
Meanwhile, M$ Publisher is a toy, and not a serious contender in publishing. But that's another story. Word is slowly becoming Ventura, and yet Ventura is a dead product.
I deal with a lot of technical authors in my work, and I know that many of them are frustrated by Word, to the point where they often email their docs for me to fix them. It really desperately needs to be made easier for non-experts to use.
From my personal perspective, I am very tired of writing macros and tools to make Word do all the stuff it should be able to do by default.

I think that it looks great. I'm an application developer and if I designed something that looked like that I would be very pleased (at least with the screen shots that betanews is showing).

It is funny how people bash MS for everything. At least on a PC I have a choice of what software I run, which you can't really say for Apple. Dont' get me wrong, I like apple fine (especially my iPod), but I have a big problem with their controlling point of view. I mean why do you mac fans want to purchase a new OS every year? Seems like a very expensive, very limiting alternative.

the interface points the way nearly all devellopments are going these days...all competitors seem to be going that direction its not particulary a "mac" thing or a "google" thing...designs should be simple and functional if that creates beauty thats welcome...ipod, google talk, mac layouts...the overall outcome should be serving ease of use and esthetic appearance if possible...that would function great, not importing what platform it would be presented on...

I hate to bash M$, I really do, but they ask for it sometimes...
The office GUI has always been a bit of a mess. The toolbars in 12 do not use the space efficiently, leading to wasted screen space. M$ needs to start reading its own User Experience and GUI design publications, as the icons are as inconsistent as ever - 2D, 3D, colour, mono, mixed graphical metaphors and the like. The M$ art department really should revisit some of its old artwork and bring it all up to date with a consistent look right across the product range, including the OS. On the plus side, the GUI design does work well in greyscale screenshots, which is handy for documenting it, and does seem to take colourblindness into account.
As for the software, well, I use Word a great deal, and compared to other publishing packages it is a bit of a dog, lacking in any serious page layout or publishing features. For example, if you publish on a non-standard page size you MUST have crop marks so the print shop knows where to crop the pages, but Word has never had this elementary feature. Colour management is also non-existent. Here in the UK the dictionary sometimes throws up US spellings regardless of the language setting.
To really see what Office is about, take a good look under the hood at VBA. Dear oh dear, some of the antique code, inconsistencies and weaknesses there are enough to make your hair stand on end. No amount of fancy GUI make-over can escape that. M$ code MVPs have saved me many times from its pitfalls, but then most MVPs don't work for M$ anyway. Despite this, VBA is still one of the most powerful parts of Office, albeit rather under-used. An overhaul of VBA is long overdue, so hopefully 12 will go some way to addressing this.

it really doesn't matter if its an appleworks ripoff or not. the fact will still remain that people who are on windows, will have a superior office suite for use, even if it steals/copies features, looks or any other characteristics from others.

what would you rather want? a whole switchover to a new suite, or your favourite features incorporated to the suite you've become used to?

and the UI? i think its the prettiest thing i've ever seen. how do you know it won't be easy to use, when its not even close to beta yet? im not an MS lover, to get things straight. i don't like the way they monopolise everything they do, but sometimes, there are people who just refuse to make sense.

understand what you're talking about before opening your mouth. microsoft sucks, agreed. but their system works, and that's whats important at the end of the day. you don't like it, don't use it. but if you can't say something nice about something, you really have no right to say something bad about it either.

thanks!

Well..... it's pretty. I'll give em that. Been using Open Office since a month before I switched to Linux 6 months ago. Haven't once though about switching back to windows much less Microsoft Office.

Looks to Macish. I know made up word.

After watching the videos on the MSDN blogs, I'm pretty impressed. hehe. I wrote a big rant on here also about interface issues also.

Jeez, does anyone remember when UI were simple and easy to use? One will need a college degree just to get around this bloated thing. People seem to think big bloated "pretty" interfaces are the big thing. Well, they are not. Less is more. Keep it simple, stupid.

Not to mention alot of people that that already can't use office as it is. But I doubt this is really going to affect them that much. If they still can't use Office 2003 and it has been very similar to recent office versions, then not much will change. However, MS is expecting it will be more intuitive for this group of people for the task at hand.

It looks kind of dumbed down to me, kind of like Photoshop Elements. Lots of big icons taking up too much screen real estate. It's kind of discouraging for a power user. But all the old commands are there so I hope they are at least as accessible (and/or under the same sub-menus) as they are now.

New UI looks interesting and, somehow, pretty.
But: could Microsoft make other mainstream applications using this UI, for example, IE, AntiSpyware or something else? Otherwise, it could appear that Office developers are getting to build their own excellent-look Ivory Tower...

It looks like a Fisher Price toy. I mean, it looks like I could grab candy right off the screen in one of those screenshots lol.

Looks good though. I notice they dropped the 3D looking buttons and went for a more flat look. It's very clean and Linux-esque that way I think.

Yikes. All the sudden, OpenOffice is tired and cheap... so 1990s. They'll never catch up to this. Although the toolbars are big, they can be recessed, and provide active previews within the document for things like tables, fonts, styles, text boxes, and in the end, we'll all be clicking a LOT LESS. Note the increased number of menus. There are more Vista and Office screenshots here. And even better, go watch the Julie Larson Channel9 video demonstrating the user interface.

Terribly cluttered, distracting and just a mess. I guess it fits in with Windows perfectly. Their interface designers need to know how to design. They clearly don't. I'd take OS X over Windows any day, oh wait I did.... Bye Bye Windows.... won't miss you ever. It's been over a year since my switch, I was a fool to not have done it 15 years earlier. Not a single Microsoft product in my life anymore... Soooo, soooo happy now.

you are probably just jealous of MS or maybe you are just a retard or just want to mess here but you are in the wrong place, did you know that morons weren't allowed to post in here. and why can't you just keep up an open mind and accept things? Office 12 isn't even out yet and there were just only 4 screenshots and how come you are saying it Terribly cluttered,distracting and just a mess already...

I guess you won't be using the Office Suite that Apple recommends on your new Mac.

*cough* apple *cough* ripoff *cough*

If something is blue/grey, it is an Apple rip-off? You claim it is a rip-off, but the other Mac guy above claims it sucks and Apple is the only way to go. I wish you MS bashers would get your stories straight.

Actually the interface looks pretty damn close to AppleWorks.

It looks like Appleworks or iWork?

The buttons look a lot like the ones in Pages (part of iWork).