Yet another feature yanked from the NEW Microsoft Office 2007

Submitted by Rick on March 25, 2008 - 11:05pm.

While working with a small business client today, they asked how to insert a picture into a Word document from their scanner. "Oh, that's an easy one", I said to myself. Then I realized they were using the new Office 2007.

In all previous versions of Microsoft Word and other word processor worth their weight, you follow these steps to insert a picture from a scanner into a document:

Click Insert from the menus
Click Picture --> From Scanner or Camera
Use your scanner software to select and scan the item you want and it instantly appears in the document

I looked for the same feature in Word 2007, and it wasn't there. I immediately clicked to the Help menu in Word and searched for scanner. The first item in the search results (from Microsoft...not on the web) was: "Where did the Insert Picture from Scanner feature go"? Clicking the item reveals this fun fact from Microsoft:

The From Scanner or Camera option for adding pictures to a document is not available in Microsoft Office Word 2007. Instead, you can add pictures from your camera or scanner by downloading the pictures to your computer first and then copying them from your computer into Word.

Wow! Great job Microsoft...let's take away features that are useful and have been around for years and add features and interfaces that decrease our productivity! Thanks.

Now let's go through the steps to Insert a picture from a scanner into a Word 2007 document:

Click Start
Click All Programs
Click the Windows Photo Gallery application
Click File from the menus
Click Import from Scanner or Camera
Click the name of your scanner
Click Import
Click Preview button to see your scan
Click Scan when ready
Add keywords to your scan
Click OK
Close Windows Photo Gallery
Start Microsoft Word
Click the Insert tab from the Word Ribbon
Click the Picture button
Navigate to where the scan was saved (usually Pictures --> then a folder named with the date you scanned the picture)
Double-click the pictures
After you finish with your Word document, remember to go back and delete the scan because you didn't really want to save it...just insert it into a Word document!

Woo hoo!! A brand new program that has already decreased my productivity by moving items around and making me hunt for features I could find in a second on older versions and taken away tried and true drop down menus has now taken away a feature that for more than 12 years could be accomplished in 3-4 steps and turned it into an 18 step feature! I challenge anyone reading this to show me how this is in-any-way-shape-or-form progress?

My favorite new features

Submitted by Smart Computer User on August 28, 2008 - 7:27pm.

Excel: Tables are way better. Check it out.
Word: Built in header and footer styles... nice
Word: Document themes... pretty cool
All apps: file size is way down with OXML... yay
Outlook: integrated RSS feed reader (works perfectly in concert with IE7)... love it
Excel: Pivot tables way easier to use
Excel: Auto-complete formulas... very nice!
Excel: REMOVE DUPLICATES!!! (been waiting for that one for a while)
Excel: More Rows and Columns
All Apps: Increased accessibility with Alt key and screen hints
Excel: Ctrl-Alt-V = Paste Values! Use it every day.

hmm missing feature or...

Submitted by Smart Computer User on August 6, 2008 - 1:16pm.

I would just call this a case of abstraction and simplification... though I am still trying to get to the interface in '07.

Good to know. I'm going to

Submitted by Smart Computer User on August 6, 2008 - 12:07pm.

Good to know. I'm going to go keep using openoffice.org. Free stuff works better then the over 100 dollar alternative. Crazy world.

Yeah, I love it when they

Submitted by Smart Computer User on March 28, 2008 - 11:30am.

Yeah, I love it when they change something that everyone is completely familiar with like the "File" button to a meaningless icon just for the hell of it.

way to go MS

Submitted by Smart Computer User on March 28, 2008 - 11:28am.

Tho I do use office 2k7, I sure am glad I didnt pay for it. Not worth the money when there are many free/better alternatives

Glad I'm not one of your clients

Submitted by Smart Computer User on March 28, 2008 - 11:03am.

It was an absolutely pointless feature - get over yourself. Boo hoo, so you had to copy them from your computer first. Just look over the rest of the features offered in the application and you will see what a bloody good job microsoft has done for once.

An why on Earth was this the first time you were familiarise yourself with the industry standard in word processing over a year since its release? If you are offering advice on the technology you should have known what features were removed and understand why they were. A line had to be drawn somewhere regarding how many features there are in an application and how large the files will be. Office is HUMUNGOUS as it is - and for good reason - with all the new features there had to be some slack put into the system somewhere.

I am thoroughly disappointed in your ignorance as a proffesional in the field. Brand new product? It's a year and 2 months old; practically stoneage.

Hello Microsoft

Submitted by Adam on March 31, 2008 - 10:09pm.

It is always cool to have the big wigs from Microsoft come by and defend their product. Even if their defense is vague and useless.

Perhaps this comment wasn't left by an employee of Microsoft but rather one of those computer geeks who gets mad and belittles his parents for calling him with a simple computer question.

Don't worry dude, we are here to help those who are lost and struggle through the muck of Microsoft's genius products.

I' m glad too

Submitted by Rick on March 28, 2008 - 5:06pm.

It's folks like you who enjoy buying over priced, proprietary, bloated software and swallow it like a bad pill that are PRECISELY the type of computer users I don't want for customers. MS made a HUGE mistake by abandoning their customer base in business and in the home with the Vista and Office 2007 fiasco.

And yes, I've been using Vista and Office 2007 since they were in beta, but since I and my customers need to be productive in our lives to make a living, I can't spend every waking moment hunting for where MS moved features that had prior been in the same place for more than 10 years.

Thanks for stopping by, and you may continue moving down the info highway!

snip < Just look over the

Submitted by Smart Computer User on March 28, 2008 - 12:42pm.

snip < Just look over the rest of the features offered in the application and you will see what a bloody good job microsoft has done for once. > snip

Just what are those features??
We, as an office, have switched back to 2003 and one of the main reasons was "insert picture from scanner".

Industry Standard?

Submitted by Smart Computer User on March 28, 2008 - 11:34am.

What industry are you in? First, OOXML or Ecma is A standard but not THE INDUSTRY standard. Big difference. Second, many people/organizations do NOT support OOXML document standards, this only screams that Office 2007 as a whole is not an industry standard, and that, in fact, it is the previous versions of office that are standard. Just because its Microsoft doesn't make it standard.

I am thoroughly disappointed in[sic] your ignorance as a "Smart Computer User". As a computer ENGINEER (I may not be smart I'll admit) but I'll tell you two things, first, 1 year is NOT stone age for software, it takes many years before things become standard. Second if it makes life more difficult for the user, it was a poor design decision by the Software Engineers. Kudos for being wrong on all counts.