Live from PDC: Chunks and Floaties

We've heard the expression "chunks" and "floaties" a bunch today at PDC. While it might sound like some party gone terribly terribly wrong, chunks and floaties are actually names for elements of the new Office 12 User Interface. I just listened to Jensen Harris breakdown the new Office 12 UI in detail, and I am even more impressed with the revamped Office 12 interface now than I was at the keynote this morning. Here are some of the new UI features:

• Ribbon (dynamic UI element replacing File / Edit / Insert / etc. menus)
• Chunks (sub-sections of the Ribbon)
• Galleries (graphical elements within a Chunk)
• Live Previews (allows you to preview changes without actually applying them)
• Floatie (quick access to Galleries next to selected text)
• Super Tool Tips (floating context sensitive help)
• Key Tips (all Office 12 commands are now keyboard accessible!)
• Window Frame enhacements
• Context Menus now use Galleries instead of launching dialogs
• New File Menu
• New Application Settings / User Preferences (replacing "Options)

I found a website that posted new Office 12 screenshots if you want to check it out for yourself.

Jensen said that the following applications will receive the new UI in Office 12, and the rest of the Office applications would be updated later:

• Word
• Excel
• Outlook
• Access
• Powerpoint

The one question everyone wanted to know: will there be a "classic mode" so that users can work using the Office 2003 UI? The answer: no! All of the new features and the updated context simply don't map to the old UI so there won't be a classic mode.

To me, the best part of the Office 12 presentation was hearing that Microsoft made a lot of their design decisions based off data collected from actual Office 2003 usage...instead of making these decisions off "gut instinct". Even though the new UI is a drastic depature from Office 2003, I am confident it will drastically improve usability.