Another One Goes Subscription Only

Overread · Aug 20, 2019

Yeh the UI changes are a nightmare because most of the time in software like word they just weren't needed and you can tell that because Excel kept its interface pretty much the same for a very long time (I've not used it recently so I don't know if they've gone in and mucked it up too). But Word was the family software whilst Excel was the pro one so for some reason family people need big shiny bright buttons that don't really tell you what something is until the tooltip pops up.

For me its painful because I know the software can do things but I can't find them to do it; however for those who get used to a system and are not adaptive to software changes (there are still people where if the icon moves or changes appearance on the desktop they get lost) its a nightmare. Heck when MS got rid of the start button menu that was a disaster of a choice. I honestly believe they've either got new students with changes just because its change for a dissertation in their team or they are changing just to produce change. Whatever the reason some of their interface choices just make no sense.

smoke665 · Aug 20, 2019

The big thing for business integrated software was and still is support, even for those with in-house IT. You might slide by on relatively inexpensive software, but when you start spending, five, six digits or more for a complex integrated package the support becomes a major element. In some cases because of the high initial outlays financing was required, which on a intangible asset meant high interest, and monthly payments. Then it wasn't unusual after spending thousands, to have to also buy a monthly service contract, for support. Finally throw in the fact that a lot of software didn't perform as promised or expected, leaving you with a worthless outlay which if you financed you were still making payments on. Businesses soon discovered that it was cleaner to expense the monthly expense of the software and support, you didn't tie up large sums up front or add liability to your balance sheet and if the software didnt perform, you had a quicker out. Before I sold out in 2007 many of the more expensive packages our industry used, were being offered on a subscription plan that included ongoing support. For us and others like us it was an ideal arrangement.

ac12 · Aug 20, 2019

One of the problem with a UI change is the documentation and user familiarity.
I used to work for a SW company, and I used to complain to the developers when they changed the menu.
Because the documentation was based on the menu path, when they changed the menu, the documentation was not correct. So we had to find and correct all those places in the documentation that used the menu paths that changed.

Then as a user, you had to find where in the menu, the developers moved the function to.

Because, they rarely document to the public, in an easily found document, where they moved a function. So we are left to manually search the menu to look for it, which is sometime easy to find, and sometime HARD to find. Then you have to retrain your brain, to use the new menu path.

Sometimes I think they change things just to make a change.
"We updated the menu in the new version."
And what was wrong with the old menu? Nothing.

Overread · Aug 21, 2019

I've also noticed that they move things around so they can removed features as well. Word used to have document binding which was a really neat feature where you'd have a single file on the desktop, but when you opened it Word would have multiple separate files within it, all bound with a little menu on the side so that you could flick between them. It was great for making a single document with many parts because you could split it down so that each chapter was its own section and thus edits to one part wouldn't have a roll-on effect onto other bits. You could add and remove huge chunks from the early part and the order and layout of the latter would remain the same. It was also great for any images because you could give them their own page etc..

This is long before the toolbar stacked files from the same application in a list- instead it just made more and more tabs so if you were doing any research or such you could fast end up with a very cluttered toolbar. I still miss it, it was a neat little feature.

However I suspect many never knew it was there and once they'd moved the menus around the lost feature wasn't noticed as much.

ac12 · Aug 22, 2019

Overread said:
I've also noticed that they move things around so they can removed features as well. Word used to have document binding which was a really neat feature where you'd have a single file on the desktop, but when you opened it Word would have multiple separate files within it, all bound with a little menu on the side so that you could flick between them. It was great for making a single document with many parts because you could split it down so that each chapter was its own section and thus edits to one part wouldn't have a roll-on effect onto other bits. You could add and remove huge chunks from the early part and the order and layout of the latter would remain the same. It was also great for any images because you could give them their own page etc..

This is long before the toolbar stacked files from the same application in a list- instead it just made more and more tabs so if you were doing any research or such you could fast end up with a very cluttered toolbar. I still miss it, it was a neat little feature.

However I suspect many never knew it was there and once they'd moved the menus around the lost feature wasn't noticed as much.

I did not, and it sounds like it would have been a cool thing to use.

smoke665 · Aug 22, 2019

Overread said:
. Word used to have document binding which was a really neat feature where you'd have a single file on the desktop, but when you opened it Word would have multiple separate files within it, all bound with a

It's been awhile since I used it, but I believe the feature you are referring to is now called Master Document/subdocument. Here's a video discussing how to set it up, it isn't that difficult.