It is true that the new Excel Ribbon presents a lot of shortcomings for veteran users (extra clicks, learning curve too tough, difficult to find things, etc.) but I decided to write an article about the good things that it undoubtedly offers you.

Here they are…

1) I love the ribbon because it is contextual

Reason:  the commands appear when I need them, this way I save space on the screen because the tools appear when they are relevant. For example, when I work with pictures, I know the relevant picture toolbar will be there; the same happens when I use a chart, the relevant commands are available for immediate use. Having the options you need at your fingertips is invaluable…

No more floating toolbars that remain there even after I have used them.

2) I love the ribbon because it looks great

Reason: my work is more pleasant because I enjoy looking at the colorful icons; additionally a change in the look and feel is always welcome to renovate our enthusiasm.

3) I love the ribbon because it has a quick access bar (QAT)

Reason: there are frequent-use-commands that you access no matter the type of task you are doing. For example, I always copy and paste values, insert columns, print preview so all these commands are in the quick access toolbar.

4) I love the ribbon because it has a better organization of things

Reason: I can search tools in relevant ribbons and in relevant groups. The organization is significantly better; the problem is that we are accustomed to the bad organization of the previous versions.

For example:  the command Goal seek is located in the Data ribbon instead of the Tools menu of previous versions.

Do you have some good thing to talk about regarding the Ribbon?