As an IT Trainer I have used and taught the Microsoft Office suite for 9 years and this is the most exciting change to hit our PCs in years.
It is not just an upgrade on an old idea but a complete overhaul of the system. Gone are the old menus and toolbars and in their place is a new feature called the Ribbon. Where once you could turn toolbars on and off accidentally never to be seen again this version allows its users to play around with all the features without the fear of losing any functionality.
For new users it is more intuative with the features being grouped together and being more visual. There are many Automatic Formatting features which give your documents a much more professional look in a much shorter time.
More Visible Features
Some examples of the earlier hidden features now being more available are the Change Case in Word, Repeating Print Titles in Excel, Master Slide improvements in PowerPoint and Side-by-Side Calendars in Outlook.
Excel
Excel is the package in which they have made the most improvements and additions. You now have the full 16,000,000 colour set, the row and column limits have increased dramatically and the Charting feature has been upgraded both in ease of use and the addition of some fabulous visual styles. These include 3D, shadows and multiple gradients. If you have used the Sorting & Filtering features before you will have found them somewhat limited. Now you can have upto 255 levels of Sort, the AutoFilter has check boxes for each unique item and you can now sort and filter by cell and font colour.
Word
Word has pushed the Styles feature to the forefront, Table Autoformats are available that instantly format your table to a highly professional standard, and the Mail Merge feature has change from the previous 'Power Users' domain to one in which anyone from beginers up can get to grips with fairly easily.
PowerPoint
If you are upgrading from 2000 you will find that the Custom Animation has changed from one object moving from top to bottom to multiple object animating at once with a huge range of preset animations including Change Colour, Zoom, Motion Paths and Neutron! The only limitation is time and your imagination. Even if you have had these features in XP or 2003 you will still find that the Custom Layout feature and much improved Master Slides are a massive help in making a professional presentation.
Outlook
Outlook has changed the least of the packages as it retains its menus and tollbars at least at the front end. When you create or open an email, appoitnment, contact or task the Ribbon is then available. This allows some previous hidden features like Delivery Receipts, Font Styles and Categories to be more accessable.
For those of you that have or want access to your colleagues' Outlook it is now much easier to Share your contacts and calendar.
Conclusion
From the slick use of screen space, through to the ever increasing number of functions this version or Office is a must have for any regular user. If you are proficient in any of the packages there will be some start up frustration as you learn where your previous known features are now placed but once you familiarise yourself you will wonder how you coped before!
PS. - If you do upgrade try the SmartArt feature!
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Office Professional 2007 is a complete, easy-to-use suite of productivity and information ... more
management software to help business professionals save time and stay organized. Powerful features centralize customer, sales and project information in one place...
Postage & Packaging: £3.16 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Office Professional 2007 is a complete, easy-to-use suite of productivity and information ... more
management software to help business professionals save time and stay organized. Powerful features centralize customer, sales and project information in one place...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
MLKs are only intended for sale with a new Microsoft Office Ready PC, and are priced ... more
accordingly. Office Professional 2007 is a complete, easy-to-use suite of productivity and information management software to help business professionals save time ...
Postage & Packaging: £5.10 Availability: 5 in stock
Advantages: Powerful with lots of features Disadvantages: Backward compatibility, a challenge for users of previous versions of MS Office and the Price
May 16th, 2008
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