On 08/09/2012 02:43 AM, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote:
AFAIK, MSO 2007/2010 are the only major packages that use the ribbon interface. All other recent Windows software I have seen still uses the traditional menus. IMHO most users can adapt to a reasonable menu layout fairly quickly; it is more about finding how to access a command than fighting the interface and finding the command.On 08/08/12 22:26, T Hopkins wrote:The difference in cost of the initial license, when considered from the full deployment/productivity calculation of an IT manager, is often not the deciding factor. The primary cost of changing software is not the license, but installation, configuration, training, and lost productivity during conversion.The total costs of all that would be FAR lower by converting from Office 2003 or any of its predecessors to LO compared to converting to Office 2007/2010.....users could at least get going almost immediately with LO whereas the new ribbon seemed to be almost unfathomable to a lot of people, so yes, going from one version of MS Office to a SIMILAR version (as in Office XP to Office 2003 or Office 2007 to 2010) I agree. Going from a menu-based Office to a ribbon-based Office no, I don't agree.
I would expect most users could "learn" the LO fairly quickly because it is same familiar menu style interface they are using on most packages.
The total cost to install includes rolling out the software to the users. If a company is not planning a major office suite roll out then converting to any other suite will not occur. The ideal time to convert an organization is when they are planning to replace their current suite. Then the a comparison of all costs makes sense.
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