With each proposal that Microsoft presents in its office suite, users will have realized that each version always has a different design in its work interface; The part with the most work is found in the "options band", which, located at the top and in a horizontal position, differs greatly from what is seen now and in the most current version to what we could possibly have seen in Office 2003.
Although the new interface has a modernist design and should theoretically help all users find its functions faster than before, there are those who resist using it because they do not know where those functions are that they previously managed with greater regularity. With the integration of a few third-party tools, we will have the possibility of recover these buttons and the options strip, which theoretically would belong to the one seen in Office 2003.
Why recover the Office 2003 ribbon in the most recent versions?
According to what we suggested in the previous paragraph, this is a need for a few users who unfortunately have certain difficulties when it comes to finding a few options in their daily work. Some of these tools come as plugins while others as tools that will modify a few elements in the registry of this office suite.
RibbonCustomizer to get Office 2003 buttons back
This tool It is mainly compatible with versions of Office 2007, having a certain level of effectiveness in other higher versions. Once you run it, a small add-on will be integrated into the office suite, which you will find in the "View" tab and from where you have the possibility of choosing either of the two options present there. One of them refers to these classic buttons, which when selected will change the way the options band is normally seen.
The change is not a 100% replacement, as there are a few elements that will still remain unchanged.
The image that we have placed at the top represents the change that you may notice once you activate the plugin; if you are one of the users who worked for a long time with Office 2003, then you may be interested in integrating this trick into your current office suite.
UBitMenu to change the interface for versions higher than Office 2003
The alternative that we mentioned above may be of great interest to those who use Office 2007, since the compatibility with said version of the office suite is greater. Now, if you currently have the most recent version (or Office 2010), then the recommendation would come from «UBitMenu", which It is compatible with all of them together.
You will notice the change in Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint, so this is a better alternative than what we mentioned before. The best of all is in the language support, that is, if you have your office suite in Spanish, English, French or any other different language, "UBitMenu" will adapt perfectly well to said language in the interface.
Office Classic Menu to create a classic menu in office automation systems
Like the previous alternative, «Office Classic Menu» It is also compatible with the most recent versions of the office suite proposed by Microsoft.
A new button will appear at the top of the "options band", which will be called "classic menu" and which you can select each time you want to change this area of the interface to what was previously seen in Office 2003; Each of the alternatives that we have mentioned in this article are compatible with three of the elements of the office suite (Word, Excel or PowerPoint), while other modules are not supported, including Outlook, Publisher, OneNote, or Access among a few others.