It looks like there is a serious bug in Powerpoint (Office XP). There is no
way to set the ruler in centimeters. It is in inches ONLY and there is no
information in help to change it! Inches are used mostly only in USA. Rest
of world uses the metric system!

DdJ

The ruler settings are controlled by the setting you have in your Regional
Settings in the control Panel. Change the measurement setting under the number
tab from US to metric.

--
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Michael Koerner [MS PPT MVP]


"Dario de Judicibus" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:e5zAX$(E-Mail Removed)...
It looks like there is a serious bug in Powerpoint (Office XP). There is no
way to set the ruler in centimeters. It is in inches ONLY and there is no
information in help to change it! Inches are used mostly only in USA. Rest
of world uses the metric system!

DdJ

Is MS aware of this bug?

"Dario de Judicibus" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:e5zAX$(E-Mail Removed)...
> It looks like there is a serious bug in Powerpoint (Office XP). There is
no
> way to set the ruler in centimeters. It is in inches ONLY and there is no
> information in help to change it! Inches are used mostly only in USA. Rest
> of world uses the metric system!
>
> DdJ
>
>

> Is MS aware of this bug?

No bug here...measurement units is a system setting, not an application
setting. Some apps might have their own measurement settings (DTP comes to
mind) but most rely on the system. See Michael's response...

-John O

"John O" <johno@#no^spam&heathkit.com> wrote in message
news:eiBZPV%(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Is MS aware of this bug?
>
> No bug here...measurement units is a system setting, not an application
> setting. Some apps might have their own measurement settings (DTP comes to
> mind) but most rely on the system. See Michael's response...
>
> -John O

First of all this is bad design, since, indipendently from my system
settings I must be able to set the ruler of a document to the units I need
for that specific document. MS developers have probably little understanding
of internationalization aspects, since they created links between word
styles, current keyboard, and local settings that are absolutely useless.
Outside USA, for example, in Europe, it is very common that I write a
presentation in English on an Italian keyboard with Swiss system settings
but using an inch-based ruler and letter size layout, to be sent to a
collegue in California.

PLEASE, LET US TO CONTROL OUR SYSTEM AND APPLICATIONS, NOT VICE VERSA!

Last, but not least, I have Italian settings now on a Windows XP Pro
English, but still ruler is in inches!

Dario de Judicibus

> "John O" <johno@#no^spam&heathkit.com> wrote in message
> news:eiBZPV%(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Is MS aware of this bug?
>
> No bug here...measurement units is a system setting, not an
> application setting. Some apps might have their own measurement
> settings (DTP comes to mind) but most rely on the system. See
> Michael's response...
>
> -John O

It makes no sense. Apart that in my WinXP English I have Italian system
settings (metric system) and still I see inches in PowerPoint. But why
system settings should determine rulers units in applications? The way I set
a drawing depends on needs, usage, audience, not current settings. The
Office approach that links application settings to system settings is
unfriendly in Europe, and I suspect in many other countries in the world.
There is a deep misunderstanding of USA about an internationalized
environment.

Dario de Judicibus

>
> It makes no sense. Apart that in my WinXP English I have Italian system
> settings (metric system) and still I see inches in PowerPoint.

Sometimes PowerPoint gets confused; visit this page and try the technique at
the bottom of the page:

PowerPoint ruler shows inches instead of centimeters. Or vice versa.
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00549.htm

> There is a deep misunderstanding of USA about an internationalized
> environment.

True, but it's getting better gradually. My guess is that this part of
Powerpoint's code has been around since the first version and whoever once
wrote and understood it is long gone so MS may be reluctant to change it.

However annoying it may be to you (and I understand why it would be), it
doesn't seem to bother that many people on the whole, so resources get
allocated to other problems first.

I'd recommend that you let MS know why this is a problem to you:

Contact Microsoft: Use MSwish to request features, report problems, etc.
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00545.htm

--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com