Office 2003 and Office 2007 Toolbar/Ribbon Size Comparison
I had been wondering for quite some time what the actual size difference was between the Office 2007 Ribbon and the Office 2003 toolbars. There is no better way to do the comparison than to put the two side-by-side.
As you can see in the screenshot above the Ribbon is obviously larger even when you have 3 rows of toolbars open in Office 2003. I measured the difference to be about 20 pixels but in Office 2003 I typically only have 1 row of toolbars…which measures in at a 72 pixel difference.
However, with the latest release of Office 2007 Beta 2 TR I have setup the Ribbon to auto-minimize itself. That means I actually save 20 pixels by using the Ribbon! The minimize feature is great because most of the commands that I need are now located on the right-click menu anyway.
Sometimes I miss having the toolbars flowing all around my window but the Ribbon also has a place in my heart now. 
Enjoyed the post? Subscribe to our feed to get a daily dose of CyberNet!
Tags: Pre-Release, Software
Related Posts:
- Office 2007 Trial Soon And File Converters Released
- Microsoft Office 2007 Gets A Small Facelift
- Download Office 2007 Beta 2 Legally And FREE
- Open And Save Office 2007 Files In Office 2000/XP/2003
- Microsoft Lets Users Test Drive Office 2007 Online
I personally love the new ribbon and would never conisder going back.
I think it is awesome as well. The UI differences are big, but better. Will take a little time for me to find where everything is now.
I think the size issue is relevant only for computers with small resolution. In my case, I have plenty of space, even with a double-size ribbon. Sooner or later, 99% of computer will have higher resolution that 1024×768, so ribbon will be no problem at all.
The massive menu bar (aka “ribbon bar”) is for Ads and things like a “live” search box.
Efficiently speaking, only when the screen is larger than 1024×768 does a massive menu bar make sense - but NOT at the top of the screen. On 19″ LCD and larger there is always more room on the left or right side - that is where a massive menu bar should be located - closer to where you are working on the screen. But the massive menu bar is not moveable!
So why does M$ not allow the massive bar to be moved? Be cause M$ wants the eyeball space at the top of the screen for ads, plain and simple.