Deep Freeze and the blinking Microsoft Office button: annoyance at its finest

If you’ve ever used Office 2007, I’m sure you’re familiar with this eyesore:

blinking ribbon

Microsoft’s support site states:

Why does the Office Button blink?

The Office Button should only blink when you have not clicked the button to view the commands. The blinking is a “look at me/click here” feature, because many people think that the button looks like a decorative logo, rather than a button to click to see commands. If you click the Office Button one time, it should stop blinking.

At this time, there is no way to turn off the blinking.

It stops blinking when you click it for the first time after installing Office. But of course, if your institution has Office and uses Deep Freeze, it blinks the first time you use Office, and then blinks again the next time you use Office after logging out. And the next time. And so on.

A side note: if you have to make your usability enhancement strobe at the user to get them to use it, it’s not a usability enhancement. It’s an obnoxious and misguided feature that should never have seen the light of day.

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