In Microsoft® Office 2010, the enhanced FluentUI (previously known as the Ribbon) is available across all the applications, including OneNote® 2010, SharePoint® Workspace 2010 (formerly known as Microsoft Office Groove), Publisher 2010, InfoPath 2010 and even the new Office Web Apps.
In Office 2010 we have now made it possible to customize the Ribbon allowing you get the commands you use most in one personalized tab. Set it up for each application and all the features you need will be right at your fingertips (or mouse cursor as the case may be).
Step by Step:
1. Click the Office Button to enter the Backstage view. There, select Options from the lowest tab on the left.
2. In the Options dialog box that appears, select Customize Ribbon and then click New Tab.
3. In the Choose command from list, select your commands from the default list of Popular Commands or use the down arrow to select from amongst all commands. Pick out the commands you use most to add to your new tab, and click Add.
4. Position your tab anywhere you like on the Ribbon—it can be the first tab you see, or the last.
5. Click on the Rename button and in the Display name box, assign a name to the tab and click ok.
6. Click OK to update all your changes and check out the new efficient set of commands you’ve assembled in one convenient location.
No doubt you have heard of the so-called “GodMode” trick found on CNET as follows:
“By creating a new folder in Windows 7 and renaming it with a certain text string at the end, users are able to have a single place to do everything from changing the look of the mouse pointer to making a new hard drive partition.”
God Mode??? That is certainly an interesting name for it, but you could have called it anything. The name is defined renaming a Windows folder to “name.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}” so you could have called it “NewFolder” or, as noted on BrandonLive,… “ILikePuppies”.
Wow, you have discovered the “Headline Maker” trick in Windows… imagine the mayhem that can now ensue.
Please be assured that there are no security implications with this so called “trick”. It’s simply a documented feature of the Windows shell whereby file system folders can be easily made into namespace junctions or Control Panel items. The item in question is actually the All Tasks folder which simply provides a comprehensive list of possible Windows settings.
Beginning in Windows Vista, each Control Panel item was given a canonical name for use in programmatically launching that item to make it easier for developers to access core functionality in Windows. When you create a folder and give it the canonical name, the icon is transformed into the Control Panel item for the named task.
These canonical names are well documented on MSDN for Windows Vista and Windows 7 so feel free to have fun creating control panels all over your file system. There is no real magic here, but rather, a way for Developers to access the settings in Windows in an easy, centralized way.
For the rest of us… it’s just kind of cool to have an icon that gives you searchable access to every possible setting and have people ask about that nefarious “God Mode” icon on your desktop! :)