UBitMenu

No doubt about it, Microsoft's Ribbon (which appears in most Office 2007 and all Office 2010 programs) can seem daunting to anyone accustomed to earlier versions of Word, Excel, and the like. If that's you, check out UBitMenu. This free plug-in brings pull-down menus back to Office 2007 and 2010, thus easing your transition. Thankfully, it keeps the Ribbon, too, so you can learn the new interface without totally abandoning the old one.

After installing UBitMenu, you'll see a new tab next to Home: the aptly named Menu. Click it and you'll find File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, and all the rest of those long-lost drop-downs. Even better, UBitMenu retains most of Office's newer features, like the more robust Save As submenu. You get the best of both worlds. The program is free for personal use. I can't recommend it highly enough.

--Rick Broida