As I walk another user through the magic that is an array formula, I become introspective. I have been enjoying my time in MS Excel for about seven years now and I must say that while a few may come close, I am the undisputed master of my domain. I may be a good programmer, decent artist, and generally a smart guy, but when it comes to Excel no man can be my equal. Yes that was a little Queen for you, what can I say? Tips for the proficient: pivot tables are evil and pointless, array forumlae are generally the solution to any problem, the help file is the best resource you have, and there are few limits to possibilities with Excel. Also, Excel 2007 is simply terrible. Don’t use it unless you want a significantly counterintuitive interface and to relearn the entire user experience from the ground up. Microsoft thinks they have a monopoly on the true user experience and program usability (see, “Why was the Microsoft Office system user interface redesigned?”), but what they truly have is a trashed system in which the proficient are newly lost. The reasons I love Excel are gone: fully customizable menus and toolbars, keyboard shortcuts for user macros, and a reliably standard menu system. The new circular button containing every menu is bad, just like removing the menus from Windows Media Player. At least WMP still has menus available.
Designing a site skin in Photoshop seems quite futile. I haven’t actually done any tangible work; just some example ideas to show the client. After spending the entire day at home working on this, the sense of wasted time is something of which I have had enough. Layers, shadows, glows, transparencies, complex merging with alpha layers, and duplication all of the best kinds. I still don’t have a satisfying page appearance. Frustrating as it may be, necessary it is also.
As we plan a huge programming project, I begin to see a future need for multiple desktops and laptops running various operating systems and system builds for testing of applications. Luckily I can get testing environments relatively cheap, and will not need them too soon. Is it worth the effort to write an enterprise application solo? I guess we will see in a few months, if we set ourselves down that path.
