MS Office for Mac 2008 - Classic View?

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Why is it that the formula bar in Excel is no longer embedded in the page?

As best I can tell, it only appears as a separate window in the 2008 version. Am I doing something wrong ? And even if I am, it ought to be intuitive enough to figure out how to view it normally. And if I am correct that this is how it works now, why do these MS programers make such stupid changes? This stuff kills productivity - I spend more time having to relearn software than working.

Also I saw some files in my Excel folder that said "Classic View." Is there a way to view MS Office programs in a Classic or XP looking environment?
Thanks
 
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Why is it that the formula bar in Excel is no longer embedded in the page?I

As best I can tell, it only appears as a separate window in the 2008 version. Am I doing something wrong ?
It never has been; it was a separate toolbar since Excel 5.0, and probably even earlier.

What's changed is, Excel 2008 now has these two huge toolbars inside the window, between the formula bar and the cell grid, creating this huge disconnect between the spreadsheet and the formula you're editing.

You can hide the toolbars, but you can't move them above the formula bar (like you could in 2004 and earlier) nor can you move the formula bar into the spreadsheet window.

It's almost totally backwards: The main toolbar, which has document-independent commands like "Open," has been integrated into the document windows. The Formula bar, which is document-specific, has been orphaned from the document.
why do these MS programers make such stupid changes? This stuff kills productivity - I spend more time having to relearn software than working.
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It never has been; it was a separate toolbar since Excel 5.0, and probably even earlier.

I'm sorry, but there is a disconnect here. I do not understand what you are describing.
What I am saying is that when I choose to have the formula bar displayed, it appears by itself, as a separate window and not part of the primary window. If, for example, I grab the window that contains what I am working on and move it, the formula bar doesn't move with it. It just sits there. In previous versions of Excel, you could drag the formula bar to the toolbar section at the top, and it would anchor itself within the toolbar of the window. Make sense?

What's changed is, Excel 2008 now has these two huge toolbars inside the window, between the formula bar and the cell grid,

Between the formula bar and the cell grid?
This sentence sounds to me like you are saying the formula bar IS inside the window. WHat I am saying is that I cannot get the formula bar to anchor to the window.
 
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I'm sorry, but there is a disconnect here. I do not understand what you are describing.
What I am saying is that when I choose to have the formula bar displayed, it appears by itself, as a separate window and not part of the primary window. If, for example, I grab the window that contains what I am working on and move it, the formula bar doesn't move with it. It just sits there.
Makes perfect sense.
In previous versions of Excel, you could drag the formula bar to the toolbar section at the top, and it would anchor itself within the toolbar of the window. Make sense?
Also makes perfect sense, but is untrue, at least for all previous Mac versions of Excel going back (at least) to Excel 5.

Excel 2003 on Windows works a little differently. When you have it in MDI mode, the toolbar is anchored to the parent window and can't be moved. When you have it in SDI mode, the document window becomes the parent window and so the toolbar is anchored there, but it still can't be moved.

I know that Microsof made many changes to Office on Windows to get it to do MDI and SDI, so perhaps you're talking about one of the older Windows versions.

I've got screenshots of 2004, 2008 showing the two new, huge toolbars that seperate the formula and the cells, and two shots of 2003 showing its MDI and SDI modes. Hope this clears up any confusion.

2003mdi.png

2003sdi.png

2004.png

2008.png
 

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