In a few months, you're likely to be exposed to the newest version of Microsoft's Office Suite, dubbed Office 2007. This upgrade likely will take many users by surprise, because its user interface is undergoing one of its biggest face-lifts in years.

		David Radin, a free-lance writer for the Post-Gazette and consultant, has been putting Office 2007 through its paces for weeks. You can contact him at www.megabyteminute.com.

The majority of the change is at the top of the window. That's where Microsoft is replacing the traditional Office Toolbar -- in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but not Outlook -- with a new concept, called the "ribbon." Like the traditional toolbar, the ribbon gives quick access to often-used tools, in many cases with a click of a single button. But it's larger, arranged differently and more functional.

First, the ribbon is multi-layered, so you have what amounts to separate ribbons for key functions. All your font buttons are together; all your styles are together; all your header and footer buttons are together. Microsoft has put so much emphasis into the ribbon that the drop-down menus seem to have disappeared. (They are there; just not in plain view anymore.)

According to Tim Pash, Office Specialist at Microsoft, the addition of the ribbon is in response to user requests for new features. However, 80 percent of the features requested already were in Office -- so the company recognized that the key was not to add features but to make the features more discoverable.

For new users, the ribbon should do that; although I suspect that most intermediate users will find the ribbon disorienting at first as they try to find functions they have been using for years. In response, the company made changes in the new Beta 2 version of Office 2007 that was released this week, including a better way to minimize the ribbon so it doesn't interfere when you don't need it.

Paul Coleman, Microsoft's Product Manager for Office 2007, believes the new interface will help users better master the product; a belief that needs to be born out in the work environments around the world. But there are certainly some key benefits to the updated interface.

Within each ribbon, the developers have introduced the concept of a gallery that previews your page live as you scroll over the function you're considering. For instance, if you highlight a paragraph in your Word document, you then can move your mouse to the ribbon to find a paragraph style. Your paragraph automatically mimics the style beneath your cursor so you'll know exactly what it will look like. Once you find the style you like, just click on the gallery icon and it saves what you see on the screen. This allows you to browse through various styles before applying them to your text.

You also can create your own style -- a favorite typeface, size, paragraph formatting and line settings -- and it will appear in the gallery with the styles that Microsoft provides off-the-shelf. This could be a huge time saver when custom formatting documents.

Where galleries don't show live previews, you'll often get descriptive help as you hover your mouse -- much better than the sparsely worded tool tips that used to pop up when you hovered over a toolbar button.

For productivity-oriented companies, upgrading to Office 2007 will be an obvious move. Still, it will take some time to get people up to speed. Companies will want to put together a coaching strategy so workers don't get lost at their desks with the new Office.