Finally have 3 displays set up for working from home. I have these vague memories, as if from some previous life, of using a computer productively with only a single display. How... how did we ever do that?
Here is Windows 9x and Word 9x at 800x600 resolution. Spacious. Comfy. Super Usable.
Here is a modern Word replaced (TextMaker from Softmaker) in an 800x600 window. Barely usable. Editing space is eaten up by TONs of GUI elements. text is hard to read. SMH
@48kRAM And here is Word 2019, which I daresay is even worse than TextMaker. Look at the big gap on the ribbon where you could put lots of nice buttons!
@lunarloony Yeah I feel like the ribbon paradigm is largely to blame for this issue. Unfortunately it's an all-or-nothing setting. You either see Everything or Nothing (if you collapse the ribbon). I remember spending time customizing my toolbars in Win 9x versions of Office and that was super powerful. I feel like that choice has been taken away from us largely. (Though I'll bet a terrible version of it still exists if I looked hard enough)
@48kRAM The closest thing I've found, save for reverting to Office 2003, is this: https://www.ubit.ch/software/ubitmenu-languages/
It's a little janky, but it's something!
Unfortunately, the "classic" menu is long gone from Office itself.
@lunarloony @fu Honestly, I can't stand anything descended from StarOffice anymore. It feels so slow, the install is mahoosive, and the GUI looks like.... well.... like it was descended from Java. Anyway, that's my Office Suite Hot Take for today