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#1
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Can I make Word into a typewriter?
I used to have this neat little program in DOS called Professional Write. It
was just like using a typewriter and did exactly what I wanted it to do. But alas, DOS is gone, all in the name of "improving" things. Word drives me nuts, always hyphenating things I don't want hyphenated, indenting what I don't want indented, capitalizing what I don't want capitalized and generally making a mess out of my documents. Is there a way to stop it from "helping" me? Bob |
#2
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Start he
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/TameAutoFormat.htm And just in case: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...eformatted.htm On 1/4/05 8:55 PM, "rck" wrote: I used to have this neat little program in DOS called Professional Write. It was just like using a typewriter and did exactly what I wanted it to do. But alas, DOS is gone, all in the name of "improving" things. Word drives me nuts, always hyphenating things I don't want hyphenated, indenting what I don't want indented, capitalizing what I don't want capitalized and generally making a mess out of my documents. Is there a way to stop it from "helping" me? Bob -- Daiya Mitchell, MVP Mac/Word Word FAQ: http://www.word.mvps.org/ MacWord Tips: http://www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/ What's an MVP? A volunteer! Read the FAQ: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ |
#3
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G'Day rck,
Professional Write is still around, but of course is unsupported since the rest of the world has moved on. No one has taken DOS away! DOS is still around, but exactly the same applies to support. Feel free to find a copy of DOS and a copy of Professional Write, and let the rest of us go to h..... Of course that's where WE want to be!! -- Regards, Pat Garard Australia _______________________ "rck" wrote in message k.net... I used to have this neat little program in DOS called Professional Write. It was just like using a typewriter and did exactly what I wanted it to do. But alas, DOS is gone, all in the name of "improving" things. Word drives me nuts, always hyphenating things I don't want hyphenated, indenting what I don't want indented, capitalizing what I don't want capitalized and generally making a mess out of my documents. Is there a way to stop it from "helping" me? Bob |
#4
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And your point is?
Bob "Pat Garard" apgarardATbigpondDOTnetDOTau wrote in message ... G'Day rck, Professional Write is still around, but of course is unsupported since the rest of the world has moved on. No one has taken DOS away! DOS is still around, but exactly the same applies to support. Feel free to find a copy of DOS and a copy of Professional Write, and let the rest of us go to h..... Of course that's where WE want to be!! -- Regards, Pat Garard Australia _______________________ "rck" wrote in message k.net... I used to have this neat little program in DOS called Professional Write. It was just like using a typewriter and did exactly what I wanted it to do. But alas, DOS is gone, all in the name of "improving" things. Word drives me nuts, always hyphenating things I don't want hyphenated, indenting what I don't want indented, capitalizing what I don't want capitalized and generally making a mess out of my documents. Is there a way to stop it from "helping" me? Bob |
#5
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"E. Barry Bruyea" wrote in message ... On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 04:55:58 GMT, "rck" wrote: I used to have this neat little program in DOS called Professional Write. It was just like using a typewriter and did exactly what I wanted it to do. But alas, DOS is gone, all in the name of "improving" things. Word drives me nuts, always hyphenating things I don't want hyphenated, indenting what I don't want indented, capitalizing what I don't want capitalized and generally making a mess out of my documents. Is there a way to stop it from "helping" me? Bob All of the 'nasty' functions you've described can be controlled, but, unfortunately, that means you have to learn how to use the program. In case you hadn't noticed, MS doesn't include instruction books anymore, and the so-called "help" files don't give much help, so learning MS applications these days is a matter of trial and error. I just don't have the time to mess with it. From where I sit, software should be helping me not hindering what I want to do. I merely asked if there was a simple way to turn this stuff off and all the Mickeysoft people get their fur raised up and ready to fight. Bob |
#6
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Thanks, Bob
"Daiya Mitchell" wrote in message .. . Start he http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/TameAutoFormat.htm And just in case: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...eformatted.htm On 1/4/05 8:55 PM, "rck" wrote: I used to have this neat little program in DOS called Professional Write. It was just like using a typewriter and did exactly what I wanted it to do. But alas, DOS is gone, all in the name of "improving" things. Word drives me nuts, always hyphenating things I don't want hyphenated, indenting what I don't want indented, capitalizing what I don't want capitalized and generally making a mess out of my documents. Is there a way to stop it from "helping" me? Bob -- Daiya Mitchell, MVP Mac/Word Word FAQ: http://www.word.mvps.org/ MacWord Tips: http://www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/ What's an MVP? A volunteer! Read the FAQ: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ |
#7
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Rck,
Your quite right, Microsoft seem to be so preoccupied with new features to entice you onto the next version they overlook the fact that not everyone can afford the time to spend learning new features. The other issue is that existing features get modifed or moved, so the skills youve already learnt are lost upon moving to a new version. Years ago some software had a basic menu option "Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced" according to which option you chose, then features and menus became more advanced, thus basic everyday features were easliy accessible for the beginner, whilst more advanced options for the guru. A basic concept that worked well, and more simple than any "personalised menu" that attempts to hide features that you dont use, even if the likely hood of using a hidden feature is quite great. Tim "rck" wrote: I used to have this neat little program in DOS called Professional Write. It was just like using a typewriter and did exactly what I wanted it to do. But alas, DOS is gone, all in the name of "improving" things. Word drives me nuts, always hyphenating things I don't want hyphenated, indenting what I don't want indented, capitalizing what I don't want capitalized and generally making a mess out of my documents. Is there a way to stop it from "helping" me? Bob |
#8
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Bob,
As far as I know, none of the people that replied to your question is a Microsoft employee. To answer your question directly, no you can't turn Word into a typewriter. Have you considered buying a typewriter? There are several very capable models that cost less than a copy of Word. Of course even new model typewriters have these have moved on a bit with time and might dissappoint. I disagree with your assessment of Word Help. It is fairly compreshensive. Then you also have these support News Groups which provide quick and responsive help. Case in point, Daiya Mitchell responded with a very informative and polite reply in less than 45 minutes. Her fur didn't appear to be up. Word is a very powerful Word processor. I agree that it has annoying bells and whistles and that it can be frustrating at first to get it tamed to your liking, but it can be done. You have spent more time bantering here than it would take to resolve all the issues in your orginal complaint by following the helpful tips that Daiya provided. Usually when someone comes in firing for effect there will be a few rounds fired back. I suggest you just ignore them and get on with resolving your Word issue. If you just find that Word won't do then you can always try Note Pad. |
#9
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See http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/conc...ion/index.html and
http://home.earthlink.net/~wordfaqs/GettingStarted.htm -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "rck" wrote in message .net... "E. Barry Bruyea" wrote in message ... On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 04:55:58 GMT, "rck" wrote: I used to have this neat little program in DOS called Professional Write. It was just like using a typewriter and did exactly what I wanted it to do. But alas, DOS is gone, all in the name of "improving" things. Word drives me nuts, always hyphenating things I don't want hyphenated, indenting what I don't want indented, capitalizing what I don't want capitalized and generally making a mess out of my documents. Is there a way to stop it from "helping" me? Bob All of the 'nasty' functions you've described can be controlled, but, unfortunately, that means you have to learn how to use the program. In case you hadn't noticed, MS doesn't include instruction books anymore, and the so-called "help" files don't give much help, so learning MS applications these days is a matter of trial and error. I just don't have the time to mess with it. From where I sit, software should be helping me not hindering what I want to do. I merely asked if there was a simple way to turn this stuff off and all the Mickeysoft people get their fur raised up and ready to fight. Bob |
#10
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"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... See http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/conc...ion/index.html and http://home.earthlink.net/~wordfaqs/GettingStarted.htm -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Being of the old school where learning was done with books, I'm more comfortable with a manual or instruction book than trying to wade through screen after screen online. Earthlink also disconnects me if I read for more than 2 minutes without moving on. What would you recommend as a good book for learning not just Word, but all of Office. I have Office Pro 2000. Bob |
#11
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"Greg" wrote in message oups.com... snip You have spent more time bantering here than it would take to resolve all the issues in your orginal complaint by following the helpful tips that Daiya provided. snip I seriously doubt that a person could learn Word in 2 minutes, but your point is well taken that Ng's seem to attract some people who get their joy out of personally attacking others who may not agree with them, and thus it is best to ignore them and get on to solving the problem. I'm not saying DOS was better than Windows, but there were some great, simple DOS programs that got the job done with a short learning curve. These simple applications seemed to disappear when Windows came along, and while Word and other windows applications will do much more, the end user doesn't always need to use all these features and then the program becomes an impediment to getting the job done. I agree it is not practical to use DOS anymore because for better or worse, the world has moved on to something different and that's just the way it is. It would be nice if Word had a default setting that turned all "features" off in the beginning and then a user could add them one at a time as he learned how to use them. Bob |
#12
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rck wrote:
"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... See http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/conc...ion/index.html and http://home.earthlink.net/~wordfaqs/GettingStarted.htm -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Being of the old school where learning was done with books, I'm more comfortable with a manual or instruction book than trying to wade through screen after screen online. Earthlink also disconnects me if I read for more than 2 minutes without moving on. What would you recommend as a good book for learning not just Word, but all of Office. I have Office Pro 2000. Bob Hi Bob, I've generally found the books in the "Special Edition Using Microsoft Office" series from QUE Books to be pretty good. I haven't looked at the Word-specific one by Bill Camarda, but I have the overall Office version by Ed Bott. Be aware that even in 1400+ pages the book isn't going to cover every topic of interest to you in complete detail -- owing to the very feature bloat you're complaining about. :-( -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org |
#13
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Bob,
I agree that all of the default AutoCorrectAsYouType settings should be off when the user installs the Word program. It would save countless people a lot of grief. My reference to "2 minutes" is that turning those features off goes a long way in eliminating that frustration. I will say that for every hour (and there has been many) that I have spent trying to figure out Word features has been made up for in the countless hours that I have saved by using some of those features effectively. Notepad is not DOS (which horrifies me). It is a simple text application that will run circles around a typewriter without the Word clutter that you find distracting. Give it a try. StartProgramsAccessoriesNotepad |
#14
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Bob
You're not the first (or last) person to complain about the Auto-features in Word. The real problem is that if they are OFF by default - most users will never know about them. Because the are ON by default, most users don't know what the hell is causing all these unexpected actions and it drives them nuts! Some of them are useful IF you know the whats and whyfores and expect 'it' to happen; but generally speaking, even the dedicated (power) Word users keep most of the features turned off! -- Terry Farrell - Word MVP http://word.mvps.org/ "rck" wrote in message nk.net... : : "Greg" wrote in message : oups.com... : : snip : : : You have spent more time : bantering here than it would take to resolve all the issues in your : orginal complaint by following the helpful tips that Daiya provided. : : snip : : : I seriously doubt that a person could learn Word in 2 minutes, but your : point is well taken that Ng's seem to attract some people who get their joy : out of personally attacking others who may not agree with them, and thus it : is best to ignore them and get on to solving the problem. I'm not saying DOS : was better than Windows, but there were some great, simple DOS programs that : got the job done with a short learning curve. These simple applications : seemed to disappear when Windows came along, and while Word and other : windows applications will do much more, the end user doesn't always need to : use all these features and then the program becomes an impediment to getting : the job done. I agree it is not practical to use DOS anymore because for : better or worse, the world has moved on to something different and that's : just the way it is. It would be nice if Word had a default setting that : turned all "features" off in the beginning and then a user could add them : one at a time as he learned how to use them. : : Bob : : |
#15
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G'Day,
Way back in 1964, Eric Berne wrote a book - Games People Play. It was a popular sequel to his more comprehensive - Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy. One of the Games has the tag - YDYB - "Why Don't You - Yes But...." "The agent (White) presents a problem. The others start to present solutions, each beginning with 'Why don't you...?'. To each of these White objects with a 'Yes but...' A good player can stand off the others indefinitely, until they all give up, whereupon White wins." You are an accomplished Player!! -- Regards, Pat Garard Australia _______________________ "rck" wrote in message k.net... I used to have this neat little program in DOS called Professional Write. It was just like using a typewriter and did exactly what I wanted it to do. But alas, DOS is gone, all in the name of "improving" things. Word drives me nuts, always hyphenating things I don't want hyphenated, indenting what I don't want indented, capitalizing what I don't want capitalized and generally making a mess out of my documents. Is there a way to stop it from "helping" me? Bob |
#16
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See Using Office Special Edition. http://addbalance.com/word/wordbooks.htm.
"rck" wrote in message nk.net... "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... See http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/conc...ion/index.html and http://home.earthlink.net/~wordfaqs/GettingStarted.htm -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Being of the old school where learning was done with books, I'm more comfortable with a manual or instruction book than trying to wade through screen after screen online. Earthlink also disconnects me if I read for more than 2 minutes without moving on. What would you recommend as a good book for learning not just Word, but all of Office. I have Office Pro 2000. Bob |
#17
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Use notepad or wordpad instead. Word is _not_ a typewriter.
Otherwise, sit down and learn how to use it. If you do much typing at all, you'll be glad you did. A book written back in the 1980's "The Word Processing Book" should be required reading. It is short and humorous but filled with good points on how to not use a word processor like a typewriter. -- Charles Kenyon Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome! --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn from my ignorance and your wisdom. "rck" wrote in message k.net... I used to have this neat little program in DOS called Professional Write. It was just like using a typewriter and did exactly what I wanted it to do. But alas, DOS is gone, all in the name of "improving" things. Word drives me nuts, always hyphenating things I don't want hyphenated, indenting what I don't want indented, capitalizing what I don't want capitalized and generally making a mess out of my documents. Is there a way to stop it from "helping" me? Bob |
#18
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rck shared this with us in microsoft.public.word.newusers:
"Greg" wrote in message oups.com... snip You have spent more time bantering here than it would take to resolve all the issues in your orginal complaint by following the helpful tips that Daiya provided. snip I seriously doubt that a person could learn Word in 2 minutes, (...) I'm not saying DOS was better than Windows, but there were some great, simple DOS programs that got the job done with a short learning curve. These simple applications seemed to disappear when Windows came along, and while Word and other windows applications will do much more, the end user doesn't always need to use all these features and then the program becomes an impediment to getting the job done. I agree it is not practical to use DOS anymore because for better or worse, the world has moved on to something different and that's just the way it is. It would be nice if Word had a default setting that turned all "features" off in the beginning and then a user could add them one at a time as he learned how to use them. Bob Yesterday I read this anecdote about the autopilot in a certain airplane (it was in a book about Bash Scripting). The story was that this airplane had 5 different ways to configure the autopilot, just to be compatible with 5 other types of autopilot. The idea was to reduce training time. Of course, pilots have to know how to operate all equipment, so they had to learn all 5 ways of configuring the autopilot... -- Amedee Van Gasse using XanaNews 1.16.5.2 If it has an "X" in the name, it must be Linux? |
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