Microsoft Office 2007

Businesses and Schools do not usually rush to upgrade to new Microsoft packages until bugs and other issues that gradually come to light are ironed out. Microsoft Office 2007 has had a major overhaul – both with the look and how you interact with it. The toolbar, known as a ribbon is one of the most noticeable features, and houses tools in a far more efficient and intuitive way. It learns which features are used most frequently and comes up with them without the user having to find them. This is a most welcome change – as much time can be lost scrolling through all the previous menus to find a certain tool.

Office 2007 introduced new document types, which implements Open Office XML (OOXML), a new standardised file format created by Microsoft. The implementation of OOXML allows you to easily integrate business information with documents, increasing the effectiveness of document assembly, data mining, and content reuse. Exchanging data between office applications and business systems is simplified. OOXML will help reduce the risk of file corruption and lost information, even if the document is created out of office, because the applications are designed to recover documents, increasing reliability. OOXML is more efficient as the file sizes are much smaller (by up to 75%).

Microsoft Word 2007

This is the most frequently used Windows application, therefore any major interface change will affect millions of users. Microsoft’s in depth help structure compliment this well, and make Windows 2007 a welcome upgrade. The major change to the word processing application is the ribbon toolbar, which greatly enhances productivity. It replaces the normal drop-down menu's and toolbars and instead categorises tool buttons into "tabs". Even for users who only use Word on an Ad Hoc basis will be able to work out where the existing commands have been moved to. If it seems like a struggle, Microsoft has created a Reference Guide

The live preview feature is new, and allows the user to see the possible formatting change temporarily before any amendments have been made. A preview can be made to the document without actually having to apply it.

You can also publish and update blogs directly from Office Word 2007. You can configure Office Word 2007 to link directly to your blog site with images, tables, and advanced text formatting features. You can do this by simply typing your username and password.

Office Word 2007 allows you to convert your Word documents to Portable Document Format (PDF) or XML Paper Specification (XPS) format without the addition of third-party tools to help ensure broad communication with users on any platform. You can also find demos at the Microsoft Office Site such demos include ‘How to make documents look great in Word 2007 – quite often you cannot use word, as you want your document to look professional, but now there are plenty of tips to assist with the production of a fabulous looking document!

Microsoft PowerPoint 2007

Presentations can be very stressful, especially if you are struggling to get the presentation looking professional. The upgrade helps the user dramatically - allowing you to create presentations looking more professional, yet with ease. The improved effects include drop shadows, perspective and bevelling, you can also preview how any proposed changes would affect the presentation. The improvements will also greatly help businesses, as documents can be made to look consistent, as theme and colour selections can be used in all Office 2007 documents.

Tables have also been simplified in PowerPoint. Data can easily be moved from Excel, and the formatting can be kept in tact. The new application’s dual-monitor support, which allows you to blank out a presentation, and do work on your laptop without affecting the presentation. However the option to add videos, audio and animation still seems to be pretty basic.

Microsoft Outlook 2007

Outlook 2007 now only functions with Exchange 2000 and above. The search tool has been speeded up, as Outlook now indexes the emails contacts, tasks, RSS feeds etc. This also features a word-wheeled search – displaying results as characters are being typed in. A very useful organisation tool has been added – flagged emails and notes can be converted to task items. This is a good way of keeping notes of completed, unfinished and new tasks. Another helpful organisational feature is the introduction of the ‘To Do’ bar. This integrates the calendar, appointments and task items. The Calendar view shows when tasks are due, and calendars can be shared between users – this is especially useful for managers. Another addition is the attachment preview, which allows users to view email attachments in the reading pane, without having to open another programme.

Microsoft Office Excel 2007

The most improved Excel 2007 feature is the Conditional Formatting. This allows users to create a conditional formatting rule – such as ‘display all prices over £50 in red’; Excel will automatically apply this to the cells specified. Excel’s graphs have looked dated for far too long. With Excel 2007 you can pick from preset styles with better colour combinations and effects, such as shadows and 3D shapes. This makes work look clearer and more professional.

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