To remain compatible with the majority of the businesses I deal with, I have to use the Microsoft Office suite including programs such as Word, Excel, Outlook and Powerpoint. Naturally, in my role as an IT consultant I often have to teach others how to use it too.

I don’t have to like it, though! On the matter of the Ribbon interface introduced in Office 2007, I’m by no means alone in my frustration.

The web is awash with anti-Ribbon vitriol, from users who don’t like having to learn a new way to do the same job they’ve done for years over several versions of Microsoft Office.

One of the biggest gripes is that there is no way to “switch off” the Ribbon or revert to the previous interface. Microsoft provides no “classic” mode, no transition phase and no way back to the menus we are accustomed to in any other Windows software.

Neither are there any simple guides within the Office programs to explain the “new” way of finding a command or function.

Fortunately, such guides do exist online as I’ll explain below.

It seems we’re stuck with the Ribbon as long as we use and upgrade Microsoft Office. Microsoft is incorporating the concept in many of their other products too – even the humble Paint program in Windows 7 now features a Ribbon. So, let’s see how best we can settle down with it then!

Thankfully, with the release of Office 2010, the Ribbon is a fair bit more flexible and customisable – great news for people who’ve got Office 2010, but not so good for those stuck with Office 2007, which features a fixed Ribbon design and a “one size fits all” approach to the placement of commands and functions.

Users were unable to easily change the position or selection of their favourite commands on the 2007 Ribbon – something easily achieved in earlier versions using customised toolbars.

The only Office 2007 facility allowing users to select their favourite commands is the “Quick Access Toolbar” – a small toolbar in the top left of the program window which can be customised with a choice of Office functions. It still exists in Office 2010, but tends to get crowded if you aren’t selective.

In Office 2010, you can create customised Ribbon tabs populated with commands of your choice, for any Office program. You can even design the “perfect” tab of Word or Excel commands applicable to your department or office, export it to a file, and share it with your colleagues running Office 2010.

A simple guide is available at www.tinyurl.com/ribbonguide01 .

In time, you’ll hopefully get used to the Ribbon. If you’re able to customise it as above, you may begin to appreciate some of its better features.

Every now and again, though, you’ll want to do something like inserting page numbers or a table of contents. You may have done this for years in previous incarnations of Office, but the Ribbon bears very little resemblance to these.

Microsoft has provided an easy online visual guide. The user navigates a virtual Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook 2003 screen, selecting a command as they “used to do it”. The guide then demonstrates how to do the same thing using the new Ribbon interface. This is the best way to learn where various features have moved.

Access links to these guides via www.tinyurl.com/ribbon guide02

If no amount of persuading can convince you to embrace the new Ribbon interface, there remains the option of using a third-party tool to add menus broadly resembling the classic Office layout to Office 2007 or 2010. I’ll review these in the first part of next week’s column as space is now limited – but have a look at www.tinyurl.com/ribbon guide03 to get you started.