I’m lucky enough to have the latest version of MSWord and all the additional functionality that it offers. However I was surprised when I clicked the wrong button to change the page set-up to Landscape- for the second time. Then, despite my awareness of the tendency, a third, fourth and fifth time!  I couldn’t recall ever having this problem before I installed the 2003 version, so what had changed?

For the older version, there is a natural mapping between the shape of the display and the current page orientation. When you click on the circle next to Landscape, the display changes accordingly. For the new version, although you get to click on the display shape directly, the natural mapping is lost. Now, the Portrait symbol is surrounded by a Landscape box.

This may not create a problem when you have enough attention to spend on the task of selecting an orientation. But when your mind is preoccupied by the piece of work that you are developing you may not have attention to spare. It is times like this that lack of clarity may contribute to mistakes and unnecessary frustration.

I imagine that the reasoning behind the change is that it is easier for the user to actually click directly on the desired orientation symbol than the corresponding text. However I’d like the best of both worlds, natural mapping AND direct selection:

- Nikki