Office 2010 Pro - classic menu add-in needed
I upgraded from MS Office 2003 Professional to 2010 Professional.
As a power user I find the Office 2010 user interface immensely frustrating. The menus were rearranged and what used to take 1 to 3 mouse clicks now may take 3 to 5 clicks.
I would like to restore the classic Office 2003 menus to Office 2010 if at all possible.
One add-in seems to do this by adding a Menus tab: AddinTools Classic Menus. It is listed in the Microsoft Marketplace. Costs $25, which is OK if it works.
I need whatever I use to be fully compatible, highly stable, and to allow the same type of toolbar customization that was available in Office 2003.
Is anyone familiar with the AddinTools add-in or another alternative that you can recommend?
Thanks,
Pete
As a power user I find the Office 2010 user interface immensely frustrating. The menus were rearranged and what used to take 1 to 3 mouse clicks now may take 3 to 5 clicks.
I would like to restore the classic Office 2003 menus to Office 2010 if at all possible.
One add-in seems to do this by adding a Menus tab: AddinTools Classic Menus. It is listed in the Microsoft Marketplace. Costs $25, which is OK if it works.
I need whatever I use to be fully compatible, highly stable, and to allow the same type of toolbar customization that was available in Office 2003.
Is anyone familiar with the AddinTools add-in or another alternative that you can recommend?
Thanks,
Pete
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I experimented a bit with both AddinTools (AT) and UBitMenu (UBM). Some observations:
They both add the 2003-style menus and standard toolbars. The toolbars are as defined by MS and cannot be modified. They are always displayed. I sure wish both of these capabilities were offered. I would like to be able to add other 2003 toolbars (e.g. Draw in PowerPoint), add/delete items from the toolbars, and hide them and just use the Office 2010 QuickAccess toolbar. OK - so I am just saying that I would prefer the entire Office 2003 menu/toolbar functionality.
UBM is a set of templates added to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. AT is a COM add-in. AT comes in different versions matched to Office, and it provides the menu/toolbar for every Office app in that version of the Office suite.
UBM has no options. It installs very quickly. The Menu tab is added to the right of the Home tab. It did not seem to open to that tab automatically.
AT has a set of options in a control panel. None need to be set. The options allow: Show its Menu tab to the right or left of Home. (On the left, it is next to File.) Turn classic menu/toolbar on/off. Turn on/off each tab of the ribbon. Show an "All" menu which amounts to a vertical version of the Classic menus. Interesting although it takes an extra click to open it. These options may be set for each Office app independently.
With AT the Office Apps seem to open up with the Menus tab selected so there is immediate access. Not a big deal but useful.
At least for initial tests, each is compatible and caused no apparent problems on a system running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit with Office 2010 Pro 32-bit.
Between the two I will probably go with AddinTools. This despite the above limitations that are common to both UBM and AT, and primarily for AT providing (a) menus in all Office apps, (b) the ability to put menu tab to left of Home, and (c) the customization that is available.
I will leave this open another day or so to see if other solutions are mentioned. Then I'll close and award points.
They both add the 2003-style menus and standard toolbars. The toolbars are as defined by MS and cannot be modified. They are always displayed. I sure wish both of these capabilities were offered. I would like to be able to add other 2003 toolbars (e.g. Draw in PowerPoint), add/delete items from the toolbars, and hide them and just use the Office 2010 QuickAccess toolbar. OK - so I am just saying that I would prefer the entire Office 2003 menu/toolbar functionality.
UBM is a set of templates added to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. AT is a COM add-in. AT comes in different versions matched to Office, and it provides the menu/toolbar for every Office app in that version of the Office suite.
UBM has no options. It installs very quickly. The Menu tab is added to the right of the Home tab. It did not seem to open to that tab automatically.
AT has a set of options in a control panel. None need to be set. The options allow: Show its Menu tab to the right or left of Home. (On the left, it is next to File.) Turn classic menu/toolbar on/off. Turn on/off each tab of the ribbon. Show an "All" menu which amounts to a vertical version of the Classic menus. Interesting although it takes an extra click to open it. These options may be set for each Office app independently.
With AT the Office Apps seem to open up with the Menus tab selected so there is immediate access. Not a big deal but useful.
At least for initial tests, each is compatible and caused no apparent problems on a system running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit with Office 2010 Pro 32-bit.
Between the two I will probably go with AddinTools. This despite the above limitations that are common to both UBM and AT, and primarily for AT providing (a) menus in all Office apps, (b) the ability to put menu tab to left of Home, and (c) the customization that is available.
I will leave this open another day or so to see if other solutions are mentioned. Then I'll close and award points.
ASKER
I assigned a "B" rather than an "A" since the tool I initially found was the best suited to my needs. The suggestions were helpful although I needed to do my own experimentation to see which would meet the stated needs.
ASKER
The technibble UBitMenu app looks interesting although it seems the AddinTools version is more capable. It provides a classic toolbar for all the Office apps in Office Pro. (The Enterprise version at $45 does so for all the apps in Office Enterprise.)
AddinTools also seems to support toolbars. UBitMenu may although it isn't clear.
I'll wait a day to see if other recommendations come in or if someone has actual experience to report with the AddinTools app.