I've just moved from 2003 to 2010. I sometimes find ways to make 2010 work as efficiently as 2003, but this is a problem.

I need to insert a Greek alpha in a text box. In 2003, I would
make a text box
type the normal text
press Alt, i(nsert), s(ymbol)
the table comes up, with the highlight on the last used symbol, which is often the one I want
press Enter or click the desired character
press enter twice to insert and close

In 2010, pressing Alt i gives a box that says I can continue to enter menu keys from older Excels, but "s" does nothing. I have to go all over the ribbon to get the job done.

In 2010, the 2003 style alt i/s works when entering text into a cell. If you add a text box and try alt i/s, you get the symbol table, but the character goes into the forumla bar and you get a "reference is not valid" error.

I added the symbol command to the QAT (in Word it is sensibly "Insert Symbol" in Word, but it is "symbol" in Excel) but this is really a lot harder than the old version.

Is there a way to get Excel to respond like it says it will for the Alt menu keys?