I tried to use superscript/subscript in my Powerpoint presentation with Powerpoint 2007 – you need that often for any technical presentations. The keyboard shortcut for superscript(Ctrl+Shift+=) and subscript(Ctrl+=) still work, however pressing the shortcut key combo again doesn’t cancel the super/subscript as they do in Word 2000, 2003 or any older versions.
This is deeply inconvenient as all subsequent lines of typing all turned into subscript until you reformat them with slow menu-driven commands. Searching Microsoft help leads me to the training on “Ribbon” – the new name Microsoft dreamed up for very (in)flexible toolbars.
The problem becomes worse here. Microsoft stated clearly upfront in FAQ, the first thing you couldn’t do is customizing those ribbons like adding, removing or rearranging buttons. So you are stuck with what Microsoft thinks you should use. Superscript/subscript buttons are only available in Word 2007, not in the same ribbon in Powerpoint. And there’s no way to add them in place of the Bold/Italic/Underline (which I can live without since Ctrl+B/I/U easily takes care those) buttons for example.
So to recap,
- Microsoft removed some really useful keyboard shortcut capabilities for no good reason (it’s on the same keys) .
- It forces you to use the slower ribbon driven commands.
- When your favorite commands are not on the ribbon, you’re screwed since you can’t change anything about the ribbons.
So, why is this a better UI? It feels like the Republicans are running Microsoft these days.