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  #41   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
Liontamer Liontamer is offline
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Posts: 36
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

JMB
I can relate to your frustrations. And I can offer you this piece of
advice. Everything takes time. Unfortunately, when it come to computers
everything is an exact science. There's always an answer for some issue or
concern. Your prior experience will help you digest new stuff. It may not
always work the same way. But at least you've got a sort-of head start. You
know something about the language being used, so you might have some insight
on how to proceed or what to look for in an answer. Look, I am also dealing
with a learning curve too. And I just can't believe how much information
there is to learn and comprehend. However, here's something I find helpful.
When things really start to "burn your brain" take a break! Get away from it
all. Come back later. You'll be refreshed and feel better. I used to teach
in the computer field a few years ago. And you don't lose stuff you've
learnt in the past. It just helps you learn new stuff in the future. Be
patient with yourself. You'll figure it out. It just takes time.

"JMB" wrote:

I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007. And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007 apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

  #42   Report Post  
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BK BK is offline
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Posts: 144
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

You may find the Microsoft interactive guides helpful. The screen display
is the familiar Word and Excel 2003 screen. By pointing and clicking on a
feature you want to use, a help tag pops up and tells you where to find this
feature in 2007. Give it a try and see if it helps. Click on the START THE
GUIDE button about halfway down each page.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ex...491511033.aspx

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/wo...744321033.aspx


"Liontamer" wrote in message
...
JMB
I can relate to your frustrations. And I can offer you this piece of
advice. Everything takes time. Unfortunately, when it come to computers
everything is an exact science. There's always an answer for some issue
or
concern. Your prior experience will help you digest new stuff. It may
not
always work the same way. But at least you've got a sort-of head start.
You
know something about the language being used, so you might have some
insight
on how to proceed or what to look for in an answer. Look, I am also
dealing
with a learning curve too. And I just can't believe how much information
there is to learn and comprehend. However, here's something I find
helpful.
When things really start to "burn your brain" take a break! Get away from
it
all. Come back later. You'll be refreshed and feel better. I used to
teach
in the computer field a few years ago. And you don't lose stuff you've
learnt in the past. It just helps you learn new stuff in the future. Be
patient with yourself. You'll figure it out. It just takes time.

"JMB" wrote:

I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB



  #43   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
Doug Robbins - Word MVP Doug Robbins - Word MVP is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,832
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

You may also find it helpful to the Office 2007 add-in that helps find
commands in Word, PowerPoint and Excel. It's a prototype developed by
Microsoft Office Labs and they want to get lots of feedback to understand
how it is used.

You can get it from this link:

http://www.officelabs.com/projects/s...s/default.aspx

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

"BK" wrote in message
...
You may find the Microsoft interactive guides helpful. The screen display
is the familiar Word and Excel 2003 screen. By pointing and clicking on a
feature you want to use, a help tag pops up and tells you where to find
this feature in 2007. Give it a try and see if it helps. Click on the
START THE GUIDE button about halfway down each page.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ex...491511033.aspx

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/wo...744321033.aspx


"Liontamer" wrote in message
...
JMB
I can relate to your frustrations. And I can offer you this piece of
advice. Everything takes time. Unfortunately, when it come to computers
everything is an exact science. There's always an answer for some issue
or
concern. Your prior experience will help you digest new stuff. It may
not
always work the same way. But at least you've got a sort-of head start.
You
know something about the language being used, so you might have some
insight
on how to proceed or what to look for in an answer. Look, I am also
dealing
with a learning curve too. And I just can't believe how much information
there is to learn and comprehend. However, here's something I find
helpful.
When things really start to "burn your brain" take a break! Get away
from it
all. Come back later. You'll be refreshed and feel better. I used to
teach
in the computer field a few years ago. And you don't lose stuff you've
learnt in the past. It just helps you learn new stuff in the future. Be
patient with yourself. You'll figure it out. It just takes time.

"JMB" wrote:

I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but
I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and
know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB





  #44   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
starcat starcat is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve


"Liontamer" wrote in message
...
JMB
I can relate to your frustrations. And I can offer you this piece of
advice. Everything takes time. Unfortunately, when it come to computers
everything is an exact science. There's always an answer for some issue
or
concern. Your prior experience will help you digest new stuff. It may
not
always work the same way. But at least you've got a sort-of head start.
You
know something about the language being used, so you might have some
insight
on how to proceed or what to look for in an answer. Look, I am also
dealing
with a learning curve too. And I just can't believe how much information
there is to learn and comprehend. However, here's something I find
helpful.
When things really start to "burn your brain" take a break! Get away from
it
all. Come back later. You'll be refreshed and feel better. I used to
teach
in the computer field a few years ago. And you don't lose stuff you've
learnt in the past. It just helps you learn new stuff in the future. Be
patient with yourself. You'll figure it out. It just takes time.

"JMB" wrote:

I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB


Well I've been using Word since Word 3.0 and I am finally throwing in the
towel on Word 2007. I cannot express how disappointed I am in how
needlessly complicated Microsoft has made this program. I will stick with
Excel and PowerPoint 2007, although they didn't improve them either. Word,
however, is my bread and butter - it's what I work in all day and what I
work in at night. I just can't get it to customize appropriately, no matter
how many ways I try. I finally got the AutoText imported and AutoCorrect
entries, but my custom toolbars and menus are lost. I get them to appear
once in a while, but they never stick, no matter how many different
convoluted ways I tried to get them to show up.

My macros are okay - they were easy to find, but everything else, which I've
worked so hard to fine tune exactly the way I wanted them, is just buried
under way too many clicks in this new version. I love learning new
software, but I'm throwing in the towel for the first time ever. It's back
to Word 2003 for me both at home and at work.

I'm beat, done, finished. I've never cried "uncle" before with any new
software, even Vista, but I've wasted far too much time and come to the
conclusion that Word 2007 will never meet my needs. Ever.


  #45   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
Jim Vaught Jim Vaught is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

Herb: I bought your book yesterday and am finding it useful so far, but I've
still got a LOT to learn
about Word 2007. Something I've been curious about: How do people such as
yourself write a book
on new software programs or editions of those programs? Do the software
companies provide you and other software guide manuals' authors with their
documentation generated when they were developing the program, or what?

"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the same
problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object rather than the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using Word 2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass was
achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but there are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least, you have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will surely
build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is the best option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard to get
used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be more difficult
several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a hurry, but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach. This is a
good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but you don't need to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can use, as
well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where to find Word 2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents that rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using the Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word 2007's
Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used tools from Word 2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my everyday
work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB





  #46   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
Suzanne S. Barnhill Suzanne S. Barnhill is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 33,624
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

I'll be interested in Herb's answer, but my impression is that authors have
to figure it out mostly for themselves, working with a beta version and just
trying out all the program features. To be sure, they build on their
knowledge of previous versions, but discovery of new features, I think, is
left up to the author. If MS provides any guidance, I'd be interested to
hear about it.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Jim Vaught" wrote in message
...
Herb: I bought your book yesterday and am finding it useful so far, but
I've
still got a LOT to learn
about Word 2007. Something I've been curious about: How do people such as
yourself write a book
on new software programs or editions of those programs? Do the software
companies provide you and other software guide manuals' authors with their
documentation generated when they were developing the program, or what?

"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the same
problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object rather than
the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using Word
2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass was
achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more
productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but there
are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least, you
have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will surely
build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is the best
option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard to get
used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be more difficult
several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a hurry,
but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach. This is a
good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but you don't need
to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can use, as
well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where to find Word
2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents that
rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using the
Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word 2007's
Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used tools from Word
2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my everyday
work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic
inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office
2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and
spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user
friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but
I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and
know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB






  #47   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
Jim Vaught Jim Vaught is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

That's something I don't understand then, because you would think they would
want "how to guides" out on the market ASAP to increase sales of the
software. I assumed they at least provided documentation to authors in order
to facilitate that process.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

I'll be interested in Herb's answer, but my impression is that authors have
to figure it out mostly for themselves, working with a beta version and just
trying out all the program features. To be sure, they build on their
knowledge of previous versions, but discovery of new features, I think, is
left up to the author. If MS provides any guidance, I'd be interested to
hear about it.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Jim Vaught" wrote in message
...
Herb: I bought your book yesterday and am finding it useful so far, but
I've
still got a LOT to learn
about Word 2007. Something I've been curious about: How do people such as
yourself write a book
on new software programs or editions of those programs? Do the software
companies provide you and other software guide manuals' authors with their
documentation generated when they were developing the program, or what?

"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the same
problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object rather than
the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using Word
2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass was
achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more
productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but there
are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least, you
have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will surely
build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is the best
option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard to get
used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be more difficult
several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a hurry,
but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach. This is a
good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but you don't need
to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can use, as
well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where to find Word
2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents that
rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using the
Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word 2007's
Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used tools from Word
2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my everyday
work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic
inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office
2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and
spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user
friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but
I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and
know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB






  #48   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers
Terry Farrell Terry Farrell is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,904
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

Jim

In a different era, MS provided manuals with the applications. They dropped
that idea (probably some tree-hugging evangelist's idea) and replaced them
with Help files. However, the help files still have a long way to go to meet
most users' requirements. There is far more on line content available
through the Help button, but finding it is horrendous.

Terry Farrell

"Jim Vaught" wrote in message
...
That's something I don't understand then, because you would think they
would
want "how to guides" out on the market ASAP to increase sales of the
software. I assumed they at least provided documentation to authors in
order
to facilitate that process.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

I'll be interested in Herb's answer, but my impression is that authors
have
to figure it out mostly for themselves, working with a beta version and
just
trying out all the program features. To be sure, they build on their
knowledge of previous versions, but discovery of new features, I think,
is
left up to the author. If MS provides any guidance, I'd be interested to
hear about it.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Jim Vaught" wrote in message
...
Herb: I bought your book yesterday and am finding it useful so far, but
I've
still got a LOT to learn
about Word 2007. Something I've been curious about: How do people such
as
yourself write a book
on new software programs or editions of those programs? Do the
software
companies provide you and other software guide manuals' authors with
their
documentation generated when they were developing the program, or what?

"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the
same
problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object rather
than
the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using Word
2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass was
achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more
productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but
there
are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least, you
have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will
surely
build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is the best
option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard to
get
used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be more
difficult
several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a hurry,
but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach. This is
a
good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but you don't
need
to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can use,
as
well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where to find Word
2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents that
rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using the
Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word
2007's
Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used tools from
Word
2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my
everyday
work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic
inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a
positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office
2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and
spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office
2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions,
but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user
friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here,
but
I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out
there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and
know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB







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[email protected] sherrykappel@gmail.com is offline
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Posts: 1
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

One familiarization asset you'll all enjoy are the Search Commands
Ribbons, available free from Microsoft's Office Labs site (http://
www.officelabs.com). There's one each for Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
Essentially, you type into a text field the command you're looking for
and an expandable group of possibilities is shown. Best of all, for
each command served up in the search, the 'Super Tooltip' tells you
just where it can be found in the application.

Search Commands Ribbons
http://www.officelabs.com/projects/s...s/default.aspx

Hope it helps!

Sherry Kappel



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Suzanne S. Barnhill Suzanne S. Barnhill is offline
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Posts: 33,624
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

I think you'll find that manuals such as Herb's appear almost simultaneously
with the apps, but at the expense, sometimes of accuracy if features are
changed (or dropped) at the last minute (a drawback of working with beta
software). I recall that Herb had to redo a bunch of screen shots because
the look of some dialog or other was changed at the last minute.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Jim Vaught" wrote in message
...
That's something I don't understand then, because you would think they
would
want "how to guides" out on the market ASAP to increase sales of the
software. I assumed they at least provided documentation to authors in
order
to facilitate that process.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

I'll be interested in Herb's answer, but my impression is that authors
have
to figure it out mostly for themselves, working with a beta version and
just
trying out all the program features. To be sure, they build on their
knowledge of previous versions, but discovery of new features, I think,
is
left up to the author. If MS provides any guidance, I'd be interested to
hear about it.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Jim Vaught" wrote in message
...
Herb: I bought your book yesterday and am finding it useful so far, but
I've
still got a LOT to learn
about Word 2007. Something I've been curious about: How do people such
as
yourself write a book
on new software programs or editions of those programs? Do the
software
companies provide you and other software guide manuals' authors with
their
documentation generated when they were developing the program, or what?

"Herb Tyson [MVP]" wrote:

When I agreed to write a book about Word 2007, I faced exactly the
same
problem you're facing. But, because Word 2007 was the object rather
than
the
means, I had no choice in the matter. At the outset, I was using Word
2003
to write the book, but at some point, critical productivity mass was
achieved, and I found that new Word 2007 features made me more
productive,
and so I wrote the last half of the book using Word 2007.

I don't know if there are "classic" interface tools for Excel, but
there
are
several for Word 2007:

http://www.addintools.com/english/menuword/

http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/04/20/111

I believe that the second option is free. So, for Word, at least, you
have
at least three choices:

1. Bite the bullet and learn Word 2007, knowing that Word 14 will
surely
build on Word 2007/12 rather than on Word 2003/11; this is the best
option
if you need to keep up with future versions of Word. If it's hard to
get
used to the new interface now in Word 12, it will only be more
difficult
several years from now with Word 14.

2. Use a classic interface tool, relying on it when you're in a hurry,
but
otherwise dabbling and gradually learning the ribbon approach. This is
a
good option if Word 2007 has features that you need, but you don't
need
to
learn Word 2007 in a hurry. There are other learning aids you can use,
as
well, such as the interactive guide that shows you where to find Word
2007
commands and features:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...HA100744321033.

3. Revert to Word 2003. This is a good option if Word 2003 provides
everything you need and if you won't need to work with documents that
rely
upon Word 2007-specific features that aren't preserved when using the
Office
2007 Compatibility Pack.

A 4th option--not incompatible with #1 and #2--is to set up Word
2007's
Quick Access Toolbar so that it contains your most-used tools from
Word
2003
(do the same for Excel 2007). This is the approach I use for my
everyday
work, and it has alleviated a lot of Word 2007's ergonomic
inefficiencies.
One approach to this is shown he

http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2...more-familiar/


--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" wrote in message
...
I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a
positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office
2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and
spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office
2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions,
but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user
friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here,
but
I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out
there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and
know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB











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Andre Andre is offline
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Posts: 4
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

I'm so glad to have read all of this...here is what I had posted which seems
to reach most of your comments.

As an experienced legal secretary, Information Technology Support Specialist
and soon-to-be on-the-job trainer in a renowned legal firm, I believe it is
mandatory for me and for Microsoft Word users in this work environment (and
others similar to it)to share my opinions and observances of the totally
remodeled Word 2007 interface.

Although I am now an advanced Word user, I was once a devoted, passionate
and unconditionnal WordPerfect user and was for many years. I believed and
still believe that Wordperfect was really user friendly, easy to customize,
flexible, and mostly, transparent with regards to the logic used in the
structure and management of word processed documents. All of which I believe
Word does not have.

My transition to Word was done with teeth-grinding, frustration,and regrets.
With years of hands-on experience (and sweating), extensive and diversified
training, and a huge microsoft library (books, videos, learning software and
cd's and dvd's) .... I have finally managed the use of advanced functions in
creating long complex documents, in this not-so user friendly interface and
rigid structure. I now know most of the workarounds necessary to function
with Word.

Last year, almost converted to Word, I had the shocking experience of
meeting with the new Microsoft Word 2007 new interface. Past the initial
shock, I did extensive reading of your Microsoft Office 2007 books, visited
numerous specialized Word sites, and used Office 2007 for a year. Before
writing this email, I was still trying to convince myself that I would adapt
sooner or later, and forget this transition. However, I am convinced I will
work with Word 2007 because I have to, but will never appreciate the
interface that has been totally remodeled considering (no doubt)the needs
and opinions of beginner users.

I believe, the new interface has been developed on the basis (according to
my analyses and experience)of answering the needs of beginner users to create
fancy and good looking documents rapidly.

This would be fine if the sale of document processing software was intended
for a clientele of beginner users and high school students who use word
sporadically for basic tasks. However, I believe, that word processors are
destined for intermediate to advanced users evolving in the professional
workplace to answer to the demands of professionals who make it possible for
users to have access to expensive and rapidly changing software.

The new concept of a "contextual" working environment does not favor a
logical use of Word and the mastering of its functionalities. According to
me, (and many experts) this concept has left, experienced intermediate and
advanced users looking and searching for tools and functions necessary to the
logical structure of documents in Word.

Tools now made available in this new contextual environment are limited too
the particulars of the document being worked on. Therefore, focusing
user-actions to be task and document-specific rather than promoting and
facilitating structured, logical and methodical working methods which result
in well-structured, logical, stable, efficient and professional documents
through the use of templates, styles, outlining and numbering.

Also, this new concept does not create, a smooth-flowing and efficient
work-flow process obtained by the acquisition of automation processes
resulting from the repeated execution of actions in a logic and methodical
way.

The only work-around suggested for this major obstacle is to create
customized toolbars (which most experienced users do not use anyways, because
it is much more efficient to use keyboard shortcuts) and go back time and
time again to the Microsoft Home button. Note, that inexperienced users
usually do not take the time to create a customized environment.

My main concern here, is not only that this new interface, may cause
document processing to become a nightmare and encur lost of time and money
for users, consequently businesses, but that it may also compromise
companies' strive to achieve and maintain a professional, consistent and
unified corporate image. The basics of marketing will be at peril.

If you wish to obtain specific examples in support of what I have advanced I
can supply you with them, but Word specialists have written books and books
bringing out the importance of understanding and mastering complex document
structure mechanics to achieve long, complex, stable documents. Several
specialists also mention the increased efficiency of document production when
using keyboard shortcuts. Why go back to using the mouse more often with
toolbars, buttons, contextual menus and contextual work interface.

For a final Word, why not change the programming of your interface (Word
2008 maybe?)to the one used by Wordperfect programmers?

Why try to reinvent when a majority of users agree that Wordperfect was the
most user-friendly word processing interface.

I thank you for taking the time to read me, and I sincerely hope that I will
be able to reignite my passion for long complex documents.
--
Andre
Support representative (Law Firm
--
Andre
Support representative (Law Firm)


"JMB" wrote:

I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007. And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007 apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

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DDE DDE is offline
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Posts: 1
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

I have a problem when I save a word file that I have downloaded off of the
internet site where I do online teaching. If I click save as, I then choose
the location in my computer. And it works fine. If I download the file, and
then click save, and then edit the file, and then click save, and then close
the file, it disappears. I can not find it anywhere in my computer. The
search option in my startup menu will not find it.

Where is it? How do I get to it?

Help, please.
--
DDE


"JMB" wrote:

I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007. And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007 apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB

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ben ben is offline
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Posts: 23
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

You may have opened the Word file directly from your browser without
saving it first to a folder. The browser will download the file to a
temporary internet directly to open it and that is where it gets saved
when you don't use "save as". You need to either right click the link
and save it to a specific folder or once in the word document do a "save
as" to specify to save it somewhere other than the temporary internet
folder that your browser has placed it. If you do a save as from MS Word
from within the document, you can also usually determine where the
temporary folder is located.

Regards,
Ben


DDE wrote:
I have a problem when I save a word file that I have downloaded off of the
internet site where I do online teaching. If I click save as, I then choose
the location in my computer. And it works fine. If I download the file, and
then click save, and then edit the file, and then click save, and then close
the file, it disappears. I can not find it anywhere in my computer. The
search option in my startup menu will not find it.

Where is it? How do I get to it?

Help, please.

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ben ben is offline
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Posts: 23
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

Ben wrote:
You may have opened the Word file directly from your browser without
saving it first to a folder. The browser will download the file to a
temporary internet directly to open it and that is where it gets saved
when you don't use "save as". You need to either right click the link


I meant to say that the browser will download the file to a temporary
internet *directory* (i.e. folder). The word "directly" was a typo.

Regards,
Ben
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Graham Mayor Graham Mayor is offline
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Posts: 19,312
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

When you open a document from an e-mail attachment it opens as a temporary
file. You make and save your changes to that temporary file and when you
close Word the temporary file is gone - so don't do it! See also
http://www.gmayor.com/outlook_attachments.htm

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




"DDE" wrote in message
...
I have a problem when I save a word file that I have downloaded off of the
internet site where I do online teaching. If I click save as, I then
choose
the location in my computer. And it works fine. If I download the file,
and
then click save, and then edit the file, and then click save, and then
close
the file, it disappears. I can not find it anywhere in my computer. The
search option in my startup menu will not find it.

Where is it? How do I get to it?

Help, please.
--
DDE


"JMB" wrote:

I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB





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Terry Farrell Terry Farrell is offline
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Posts: 2,904
Default Word 2007 Learning Curve

If you don't use SaveAs and choose a location, the file will be in the
Temporary Internet Files - and usually there are many thousands of these on
a busy computer. Nor are they indexed, so finding them using Search is
tricky too.

--
Terry Farrell - MSWord MVP

"DDE" wrote in message
...
I have a problem when I save a word file that I have downloaded off of the
internet site where I do online teaching. If I click save as, I then
choose
the location in my computer. And it works fine. If I download the file,
and
then click save, and then edit the file, and then click save, and then
close
the file, it disappears. I can not find it anywhere in my computer. The
search option in my startup menu will not find it.

Where is it? How do I get to it?

Help, please.
--
DDE


"JMB" wrote:

I'll make an honest attempt to give this question/feedback a positive
twist.
I have been using Word/Excel etc. for years now and consider myself
somewhat
of an expert user. Now I have a new computer with Vista and Office 2007.
And
I essentially find myself facing this predicament of going up an
enormously
steep learning curve, i.e. relearning how to wordprocess and spreadsheet
almost from scratch all over again. The new and improved of Office 2007
apps
may look much more "politically correct" than in previous versions, but
so
far my experience has been that it can hardly get any less user friendly
and
more convoluted than this. I'm giving it a very serious try here, but I'm
also beginning to think about throwing in the towel. Anybody out there
that
can offer any useful advice as to how I can actually start using the
Office
2007 applications without letting all my previous experience and know-how
completely go to waste?
--
JMB


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