Suzanne,

I think you miss the point of my suggestion and maybe I confused it by going
into the whole €œTyping Practice€� thing. That was really an afterthought.

It would be a feature, if enabled, which would allow the creation of a list
of words that the user can study. This feature would be useful for anyone to
continue to enhance their vocabulary and more specifically for students who
need to work on spelling. The Word application as it is does a fine job of
auto correcting and a superb job of offering suggested corrections.

Thank you for your feed back.


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Word is not a typing application. Word does make it easier to work around
common typos, however. When you right-click on a word marked as misspelled,
instead of selecting the correct spelling, you can click on AutoCorrect and
choose the correct spelling. From then on, whenever you type, for example,
"sotre" (one of my bugaboos), you'll get "store" automatically.

Where Word most often gets into trouble is through trying to be all things
to all people. I don't imagine, however, that the Word developers will ever
so far lose sight of the primary functions of Word as to incorporate
features that make it a spelling tutor.

--
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.

"rndthought" wrote in message
...
Suzanne,

I think you miss the point of my suggestion and maybe I confused it by
going
into the whole €œTyping Practice€� thing. That was really an afterthought.

It would be a feature, if enabled, which would allow the creation of a
list
of words that the user can study. This feature would be useful for anyone
to
continue to enhance their vocabulary and more specifically for students
who
need to work on spelling. The Word application as it is does a fine job
of
auto correcting and a superb job of offering suggested corrections.

Thank you for your feed back.


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Word is not a typing application. Word does make it easier to work
around
common typos, however. When you right-click on a word marked as
misspelled,
instead of selecting the correct spelling, you can click on AutoCorrect
and
choose the correct spelling. From then on, whenever you type, for
example,
"sotre" (one of my bugaboos), you'll get "store" automatically.

Suzanne,

You make a good observation in regards to trying to be all things. As for
keeping MS Word from loosing sight of the "primary functions" (or focus)... I
believe even a cursory overview of the options and abilities in Word show's
the ship has set sail (Invoicing with macros, auto creation of TOC, auto
formatting, Auto fill forms, creating HTML documents, altering Image
attributes - all on a word processor???). It seems to me that MS Word most
definitely has higher aspirations than that of a functioned word processor or
computerize type writer.

If a spelling tutor, I like that term Suzanne, doesn't belong in a program
whose primary purpose is to type words in the creation of documents,
presumably for purpose of communicating information accurately...where then?

This isn't a fundamental change in the program or a complete change in the
interface (which is coming in the next version)...simply an option (or if
possible a macro as Greg has shown in a limited fashion) that could be
enabled for those that wish to expand their spelling abilities. Why so much
resistance and need to voice it?

Thank you again for the thoughtful comments.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Where Word most often gets into trouble is through trying to be all things
to all people. I don't imagine, however, that the Word developers will ever
so far lose sight of the primary functions of Word as to incorporate
features that make it a spelling tutor.

--
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.

A word processor is a way for people who know what they want to say and how
to say it to put those words on paper. Some of the functions you mention
(such as automatic creation of TOCs) are fundamental to this purpose. Auto
formatting certainly facilitates it. Keep in mind that a huge target market
for Microsoft is "knowledge workers" (secretaries and the like) and
executives in large corporations. They need to be able to create letters and
reports and easily and quickly as possible. It is assumed that they either
know how to spell or will depend on spell check to correct their spelling.
I'll grant you that this is an unreasonable assumption in the first instance
and a dangerous one in the second, but there you have it.

--
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.

"rndthought" wrote in message
...
Suzanne,

You make a good observation in regards to trying to be all things. As for
keeping MS Word from loosing sight of the "primary functions" (or
focus)... I
believe even a cursory overview of the options and abilities in Word
show's
the ship has set sail (Invoicing with macros, auto creation of TOC, auto
formatting, Auto fill forms, creating HTML documents, altering Image
attributes - all on a word processor???). It seems to me that MS Word
most
definitely has higher aspirations than that of a functioned word processor
or
computerize type writer.

If a spelling tutor, I like that term Suzanne, doesn't belong in a program
whose primary purpose is to type words in the creation of documents,
presumably for purpose of communicating information accurately...where
then?

This isn't a fundamental change in the program or a complete change in the
interface (which is coming in the next version)...simply an option (or if
possible a macro as Greg has shown in a limited fashion) that could be
enabled for those that wish to expand their spelling abilities. Why so
much
resistance and need to voice it?

Thank you again for the thoughtful comments.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Where Word most often gets into trouble is through trying to be all
things
to all people. I don't imagine, however, that the Word developers will
ever
so far lose sight of the primary functions of Word as to incorporate
features that make it a spelling tutor.

--
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.

Suzanne, spelling is Fundamental to this purpose. Period.

Again, why so much resistance and the need to voice it?


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

A word processor is a way for people who know what they want to say and how
to say it to put those words on paper. Some of the functions you mention
(such as automatic creation of TOCs) are fundamental to this purpose. Auto
formatting certainly facilitates it. Keep in mind that a huge target market
for Microsoft is "knowledge workers" (secretaries and the like) and
executives in large corporations. They need to be able to create letters and
reports and easily and quickly as possible. It is assumed that they either
know how to spell or will depend on spell check to correct their spelling.
I'll grant you that this is an unreasonable assumption in the first instance
and a dangerous one in the second, but there you have it.

--
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.

"rndthought" wrote in message
...
Suzanne,

You make a good observation in regards to trying to be all things. As for
keeping MS Word from loosing sight of the "primary functions" (or
focus)... I
believe even a cursory overview of the options and abilities in Word
show's
the ship has set sail (Invoicing with macros, auto creation of TOC, auto
formatting, Auto fill forms, creating HTML documents, altering Image
attributes - all on a word processor???). It seems to me that MS Word
most
definitely has higher aspirations than that of a functioned word processor
or
computerize type writer.

If a spelling tutor, I like that term Suzanne, doesn't belong in a program
whose primary purpose is to type words in the creation of documents,
presumably for purpose of communicating information accurately...where
then?

This isn't a fundamental change in the program or a complete change in the
interface (which is coming in the next version)...simply an option (or if
possible a macro as Greg has shown in a limited fashion) that could be
enabled for those that wish to expand their spelling abilities. Why so
much
resistance and need to voice it?

Thank you again for the thoughtful comments.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Where Word most often gets into trouble is through trying to be all
things
to all people. I don't imagine, however, that the Word developers will
ever
so far lose sight of the primary functions of Word as to incorporate
features that make it a spelling tutor.

--
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.

I'd have to agree with Suzanne here. Word Processing is what Word does. Just
because it uses words does not mean that it does, or should, provide every
imaginable function that might also use words; before you know it someone
will be suggesting that it solve crosswords.

It is generally true that adding essentially unrelated functionality is
likely to bring problems. Imagine trying to add a dish-washing facility to
your washing machine; they both use water and detergent to get things clean,
so why not?

--
Enjoy,
Tony


"rndthought" wrote in message
...
Suzanne, spelling is Fundamental to this purpose. Period.

Again, why so much resistance and the need to voice it?


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

A word processor is a way for people who know what they want to say and
how
to say it to put those words on paper. Some of the functions you mention
(such as automatic creation of TOCs) are fundamental to this purpose.
Auto
formatting certainly facilitates it. Keep in mind that a huge target
market
for Microsoft is "knowledge workers" (secretaries and the like) and
executives in large corporations. They need to be able to create letters
and
reports and easily and quickly as possible. It is assumed that they
either
know how to spell or will depend on spell check to correct their
spelling.
I'll grant you that this is an unreasonable assumption in the first
instance
and a dangerous one in the second, but there you have it.

--
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.

"rndthought" wrote in message
...
Suzanne,

You make a good observation in regards to trying to be all things. As
for
keeping MS Word from loosing sight of the "primary functions" (or
focus)... I
believe even a cursory overview of the options and abilities in Word
show's
the ship has set sail (Invoicing with macros, auto creation of TOC,
auto
formatting, Auto fill forms, creating HTML documents, altering Image
attributes - all on a word processor???). It seems to me that MS
Word
most
definitely has higher aspirations than that of a functioned word
processor
or
computerize type writer.

If a spelling tutor, I like that term Suzanne, doesn't belong in a
program
whose primary purpose is to type words in the creation of documents,
presumably for purpose of communicating information accurately...where
then?

This isn't a fundamental change in the program or a complete change in
the
interface (which is coming in the next version)...simply an option (or
if
possible a macro as Greg has shown in a limited fashion) that could be
enabled for those that wish to expand their spelling abilities. Why
so
much
resistance and need to voice it?

Thank you again for the thoughtful comments.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Where Word most often gets into trouble is through trying to be all
things
to all people. I don't imagine, however, that the Word developers
will
ever
so far lose sight of the primary functions of Word as to incorporate
features that make it a spelling tutor.

--
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.

Tony,

First, dont debase yourself. You do not €œhalf to€�, you choose to. Second,
neither you nor Suzanne has established how €œword processing€� explicitly
excludes building a personalized list of misspelled words for further study,
personal development.

You and Suzanne have chosen a difficult point to argue (and for no reason).
If MS Word can manipulate HTML with web page previews, embed Excel tables
able to be edited from within the document and manipulate image
characteristics; the word processor has shattered the complexity barrier it
would take to build a simple list file - if the option was selected €“ of
misspelled words. The text to voice feature is already in place. The
argument that my request would add too much complexity is simply absurd and
baseless. My suggestion is not unreasonable and certainly not close to the
horrible washer parallel. Trying to negate a "spelling is to word
processing" relationship? You will half to try very hard.

While MS Word is ubiquitous, not just CEOs and MPV use the program daily but
it is on essentially every school computer in my district, it is not always
possible to rely on the crutch of spell check and auto replace in the real
word. This spelling tutor feature is one from which my children and I
believe many children and adults would greatly benefit.

The cause for so much resistance and the need to voice it still baffling€¦ It
is just a list of misspelled words. Why would this be so disconcerting?

As always, except for the washer thing, thank you for the thoughtful comments.


"Tony Jollans" wrote:

I'd have to agree with Suzanne here. Word Processing is what Word does. Just
because it uses words does not mean that it does, or should, provide every
imaginable function that might also use words; before you know it someone
will be suggesting that it solve crosswords.

It is generally true that adding essentially unrelated functionality is
likely to bring problems. Imagine trying to add a dish-washing facility to
your washing machine; they both use water and detergent to get things clean,
so why not?

--
Enjoy,
Tony


"rndthought" wrote in message
...
Suzanne, spelling is Fundamental to this purpose. Period.

Again, why so much resistance and the need to voice it?


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

A word processor is a way for people who know what they want to say and
how
to say it to put those words on paper. Some of the functions you mention
(such as automatic creation of TOCs) are fundamental to this purpose.
Auto
formatting certainly facilitates it. Keep in mind that a huge target
market
for Microsoft is "knowledge workers" (secretaries and the like) and
executives in large corporations. They need to be able to create letters
and
reports and easily and quickly as possible. It is assumed that they
either
know how to spell or will depend on spell check to correct their
spelling.
I'll grant you that this is an unreasonable assumption in the first
instance
and a dangerous one in the second, but there you have it.

--
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.

"rndthought" wrote in message
...
Suzanne,

You make a good observation in regards to trying to be all things. As
for
keeping MS Word from loosing sight of the "primary functions" (or
focus)... I
believe even a cursory overview of the options and abilities in Word
show's
the ship has set sail (Invoicing with macros, auto creation of TOC,
auto
formatting, Auto fill forms, creating HTML documents, altering Image
attributes - all on a word processor???). It seems to me that MS
Word
most
definitely has higher aspirations than that of a functioned word
processor
or
computerize type writer.

If a spelling tutor, I like that term Suzanne, doesn't belong in a
program
whose primary purpose is to type words in the creation of documents,
presumably for purpose of communicating information accurately...where
then?

This isn't a fundamental change in the program or a complete change in
the
interface (which is coming in the next version)...simply an option (or
if
possible a macro as Greg has shown in a limited fashion) that could be
enabled for those that wish to expand their spelling abilities. Why
so
much
resistance and need to voice it?

Thank you again for the thoughtful comments.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

Where Word most often gets into trouble is through trying to be all
things
to all people. I don't imagine, however, that the Word developers
will
ever
so far lose sight of the primary functions of Word as to incorporate
features that make it a spelling tutor.

--
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.

I am almost positive this group *has* seen requests that Word should solve
crosswords. Or perhaps I have it confused with the request that Word should
help write poetry by providing a rhyming dictionary.

Not to mention all the demands that Word should include a template for "how
to word a cover letter", a template for a letter of condolence to a friend,
a template for a letter of reprimand for an employee, etc, etc, etc.

Rndthought,

Suzanne's resistance to your idea comes from a context of seeing years of
ridiculous requests for Word. The ability to "export a list of misspelled
words in this document" could be quite useful, and I might vote for that,
but Greg's add-in has it covered.

But I am *solidly* against any implication that it is Word's responsibility
to teach people how to spell, and that's what you seemed to be asking.

I personally think that the more we depend on computer programs to *think*
for us on an everyday level, the closer we move to the apocalypse. So
resisting such a suggestion becomes a matter of principle.


On 12/6/05 1:51 AM, "Tony Jollans" wrote:

I'd have to agree with Suzanne here. Word Processing is what Word does. Just
because it uses words does not mean that it does, or should, provide every
imaginable function that might also use words; before you know it someone
will be suggesting that it solve crosswords.