If you use Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.), you may notice a whole new interface when you open the 2007 version. Let's take a look at the change and how oyu can work with it.
When you open Word, the first change you will first notice is a button in the upper left corner of the window. Think of that as a replacement for the word "File" on the menu bar. The Office button contains commands to print, save, save as, etc. To the right of the Office button is something called the QuickAccess Toolbar. This toolbar contains a few buttons, including save, undo, and redo. You can customize this toolbar to contain any of the buttons that you might use on a frequent basis. Continuing across the top of the window, you now encounter the Title Bar -- that just lets you know what you are working in and the file name of what you've opened. To the far right end of the window is the minimize, maximize, restore, and close buttons -- did you know that you can double-click on the Title Bar area to maximize or restore your window?
Underneath the Office Button and Title Bar are command tabs -- Home, Insert, etc. When working with '07, try to think more logically. If you need to put something into your document, you will start by selecting the Insert tab. Some tabs are contextual -- in other words, they will only appear when you are working with a specific thing. For example, if you put a picture in your document, tabs to format the picture will appear. If you click away from the picture, these tabs will disappear. They are only available in the context in which they are needed.On each tab is what's called the "Ribbon," and you can double-click the command tab to show or hide the Ribbon. The Ribbon contains commands in groups or chunks that relate to each other. For example, on the Home tab, there is a chunk for Font. All of the buttons in the Font chunk relate to what you can do with formatting your text (font type, size, color, bold, italics, etc.). In the corner of the "chunk" - where it says the word "Font" -- you will see a little arrow. Clicking this will bring up the old-school dialog box where you can make your selections.
Now, for a few new features. The first is called AutoPreview. While you are typing your letter, let's say that you want to select a different font. You would select the down arrow for the fonttype in the Font Chunk. Now, instead of clicking right away to select a font, hold your mouse slowly over each one. The font on your paper will change so that you can see a preview of what it would look like before you actually make your selection. Cool, huh?The other thing you might see while you are working is a box of commands that pops up on your text, like a ghost appearing out of nowhere. This is called the Mini Toolbar. Gives you the opportunity to select some commands without having to utilize the Ribbon. In the lower right corner of the window, you will notice a slider, which you to Zoom in and out on your document.
After you install Office 2007 on your computer, I highly recommend that you \go to the Microsoft website and download the add-in to create a PDF directly from Office. This eliminates the need for the distiller or Adobe Acrobat, allowing you to click the Office button, choose Save As, and save the file as a PDF. The second thing I'd recommend is to have all of your friends that live in a cave and have not yet upgraded to go to the Microsoft website and download the Compatibility Checker. This gives them the ability to open '07 files in their older software without you having to remember to do a Save As and save it as an older file.
Be aware, that the file extensions have changed for '07 due to the .xml we talked about earlier - a .doc is now a .docx, an .xls is now an .xlsx, and the biggest change is an Access database -- .mdb is now .accdb. This is why users of the older software must have the compatibility checker.
About the Author:
I'm a Microsoft Office trainer; www.itgirlfairbanks.com
