Re: Word 2007 Learning Curve
- From: "Herb Tyson [MVP]" <herb@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:34:26 -0500
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/assistance/asstvid.aspx?assetid=XT100766331033&vwidth=1044&vheight=788&type=flash&CTT=11&Origin=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 here:
http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com/2007/05/02/making-word-2007-a-little-more-familiar/
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
"JMB" <jmb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:0AB12808-0879-4AD7-B3EE-57299613C21A@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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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