That’s not really a true reflection of what I wrote. My overall opinion of Vista as an OS (which is actually pretty neutral) isn’t quite the same thing as how usable I find it on my specific system.

Full mouse functionality is a significant matter to me, partly because extended use of my hands causes me some discomfort. The ability to scroll windows that don’t have focus is a feature that saves me dozens, maybe hundreds of clicks a day.

Vista would have to be spectacularly better than XP to make up for losing that feature, and it simply isn’t. Like using a Ribboned app, there are some pros to using Vista and some cons. Overall, I find it about the same, or at least it would be about the same if I felt like putting in the time, effort and expense involved in researching and buying a new mouse. Which I don’t.

Find it amusing if you like, but usability is important to me and the “cool” factor leaves me cold.

granted screens are bigger and higher resolution, but how does wasting more of that drawing space improve my workflow? very simply doing the same thing with more space is not efficient use of space, and when you auto hide the ribbon you’re just adding more clicks or hovers to accomplish the same thing.

i’ve yet to hear a good argument as to why i should take more time and more space to do something.

is it easier to learn? maybe. realistically, if you can’t read “tools” or “edit” and sus out what they mean in the menu drop downs you probably don’t need to be using word, or acad.

But I consider myself somewhat tech savvy and had the exact same pre-conceived opinions of Vista. Simply, “what I heard”. I recently upgraded to Vista and have been pleasantly surprised. Sure, there have been some minor annoyances (like installing CATIA). But, the overall user experience in Vista is BETTER..

With regards to ribbons - are they easier? not sure. But from my perspective, once I got the hang of it - they are cooler than the older UI. Not sure I can quantify “cooler” other than from a user experience, I think its better.

We all have our quirks. But to hear that your overall opinion of Vista comes down to your mouse? IMO - pretty funny!

The question is, does an interface like that really need to be dumbed down any further? Was there an actual ease-of-use problem that needed fixing? When is an interface so easy to use that it doesn’t need making any easier? When 4 year olds can use it? Toddlers? Babies? Embryos?

Could my kids have produced more or less, with more or less ease, on a Ribboned PowerPoint? I could perform an experiment now, but it would be biased in one direction by familiarity with the 2000 interface, and in the opposite direction by familiarity with the underlying concepts. So I don’t know.

I do know that now I’m used to it, the Office 2007 Ribbon doesn’t make a significant difference to me in either ease of use or productivity. It isn’t significantly better or worse, it’s just different. In my view, pointlessly different.

That’s the Office 2007 Ribbon. AutoCAD 2009’s Ribbon, being much better in some ways and much worse in others, is something else again.