Microsoft Word 2007 Split Screen
Dear Microsoft (makers of Microsoft Word 2007), nobody ever wants their documents displayed like this:
The best part is that the pages are numbered consecutively in the following order: upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right.
Now, this difficult-to-read format is bad, but it wouldn’t be nearly half as bad if I could simply opt out of it. Word 2007 displays a document in two columns if you change the zoom from a position where only one column could fit, to a position where two columns could fit, regardless of whether you recently set the display option for single or dual column. The setting is ignored as soon as you start to zoom.
This is an infuriating quirk. Here’s a quick video demonstrating the problem:
And JW below was right, this is whiny. In the video I even have an exacerbated sigh!
July 24th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I’m not sure what I’m looking at and what’s wrong and/or desired. Is the problem that it puts you in outline mode, or that the document is run in two columns, or something else entirely?
I’m currently slightly peeved at iChat for not recognizing that I might want to simultaneously give a Keynote presentation to a remote viewer AND be able to use full-screen presentation mode on a projector while I see slide timers on my laptop. I fully recognize that it’s a huge hurdle to do what is already being done, but I just want everything to work perfectly, damn it!
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July 24th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Sorry, yeah, I wasn’t clear. Word displays a document in two columns if you change the zoom from a position where only one column could fit, to a situation where two columns could fit. It does this regardless of the fact that every single time this happens I change the setting back to single column format.
Is there anybody out there who likes looking at documents in this weird double column format? It’s very hard to read.
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July 24th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
This is such a white person whine…
http://whitewhine.tumblr.com/
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July 24th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
I agree.
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July 24th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Wow, that 2-column thing makes no sense to me. what happens when you scroll down? Do you see pages 3 and 4, or does the page on the right spill into the page on the left? Totally bizarre. I can zoom all the way out on, for instance, preview, and i’ll have one skinny little document and a whole lot of grey. no multi-column for me.
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July 24th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I made a quick video to show you what’s happening. I’m uploading it currently.
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July 24th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I’ve updated the post to include the video and I’ve clarified my complaint in the text of the post.
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July 25th, 2008 at 12:44 am
1) Ack! You used my real name! Quick, dub it over! With some funny official sounding censor sound!
2) You’re right, that is inane. It’s like they only expected graphic designers to use word to look at documents this way (it would make sense if, for instance, you had individual newspaper pages or graphic-heavy single-page layouts on each page).
3) You wrote an outline-style document to study for the bar that is at least 128 pages long?!!?!
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July 25th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Oh, I forgot. Really want me to change it? If so, I’ll do it tomorrow morning (or at least take it offline then). I shouldn’t even be awake now. Lousy inability to sleep despite waking up early.
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Troeltsch Reply:
July 25th, 2008 at 8:58 am
meh. leave it be if you like.
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July 25th, 2008 at 1:07 am
The outline is 152 pages. I winnowed it down from longer document that was 264 pages long. If there’s one thing I can do, it’s type.
Is your issue that I wrote too much, or that it’s not practical to study from such a long document?
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Troeltsch Reply:
July 25th, 2008 at 9:01 am
i have multiple issues, one of which is that you have basically studied this document by copying it, like the way monks study the bible. there must be a better way to study. it doesn’t seem like 264-152 is much of a reduction at all, so why not just study from the original document? And this further proves that despite my ideas to the contrary I probably wouldn’t do well in law school.
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July 25th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I’m not studying the document, the document exists to help me study.
The longer document is my classroom notes, which admittedly is based somewhat closely on the paperwork they provided for class. You can’t study directly from the paperwork, however, because it’s full blank spaces you’re supposed to fill in by hand. This annoyed me.
The shorter document was made by contracting the longer document into its most basic form, and cutting out anything that seemed unnecessary. This document acts as a supplement to the full, pre-written outlines they gave us. The process is irritating because the pre-written outlines often do not line up directly with the class instruction.
For example, when determining whether someone is an agent, the class teacher said there were three elements: assent, benefit and control. The pre-written outline says nothing about benefit. So, what do I do on the test? Do I talk about benefit or not? No idea.
Keep in mind the outline is not in fact one 150 page document, but a collection of 15 ten page documents, each devoted to a single subject. The breaking down of an area of law to a short outline and then writing it down in a clear and understandable fashion has always proved helpful to me, at the very least because you need to have some understanding of it in order to be able to properly transcribe and re-organize it.
The document is just one of many things I have to work with, including different pre-written outlines, pre-written flash cards, homemade flash cards, practice essays, practice multiple choice questions, in class lectures and the horror that is the performance test.
It’s somewhat unfair to point to the one long document and say it’s an unfortunate study system, since it’s only one system amongst many.
That being said, based on my continued inability to come even close to doing the right thing on the performance tests, I’m starting to think that everything I’ve done is completely wrong and I’m about ready to curl up into a ball and just hide under my bed sobbing for the next two or three months. \
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