Microsoft Office "retro" look and feel

I had the same problem at work - I'm an IT engineer at a hospital.

A user worked with dual screens: one screen had the normal 32-bit color setting, the other had 8-bit color settings configured. Office had the 'retro look' you describe.

After changing the second screen to 32-bit color, Office looked normal again. For some unknown reason, Office was taking its color settings from the second screen. Just go to Display Options, select the second screen and modify the color settings to 32-bit.

I've just managed to replicate this under Windows 7, but the relevant setting is available under Windows XP.

Right-click on the program's shortcut then select the 'Compatibility' tab and under 'Settings' select 'Run in 256 colors' to replicate this.

I'm not sure whether the behaviour is exactly the same as you are seeing, but it seems very similar.