Office 2007 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) (Paperback)
Office 2007 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) (Paperback)
Office 2007 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) (Paperback) Reviews
The biggest changes in Office 2007 seem to be the new GUI (Graphical User Interface) which Microsoft calls the Ribbon. This is a complete change from the earlier GUI which we have all come to know and love. The Ribbon organizes the commands into what Microsoft calls contextual tabs. Each tab has a logical grouping of commands. This is not unlike the way you used to click on the Edit or View command and then got a list of commands, but in 2007 there are far more commands that you can reach without having to go to subsidiary menus.
The Ribbon is, of course, the result of many hours of definition, testing before audiences and of course a lot of programming effort. There’s the old saying that ‘user friendly is programmer difficult.’ The ribbon is a common interface that is used in all of the Office applications, so learning about it is mandatory for using Office 2007.
Of course there are an awful lot of new features added to each of the applications. It’s easier to get a ‘Live Preview’ of what you are doing in word. It’s easier to do Pivot Tables in Excel, and so on. These applications have been around so long that they are not getting big massive upgrades. I frankly don’t know what more they could add. ==Of course this is a ‘For Dummies’ book. This means that the writing is good, the proof reading catches all the mispellings, and there’s even a bit of humor.
There are two Office 2007 For Dummies books. This is the bigger, Desk Reference, version, that is about twice as long as the other one. Part of this is because this book covers Publisher 2007 as well as the other software. Part of this is because each subject is covered in a bit more depth. My honest selection is that you buy both books. They are by different authors and they have a different way of expressing themselves. Often when there is a stumbling block, having two sets of words helps to understand the problem. If you’re only going to buy one book, then it’s this one, simply because there is more here.
Being new to any Microsoft Office product, when I purchased Office 2007, I was pretty lost. Microsoft’s on-line tutorials were useless, so I purchased Office 2007 for Dummies, thinking I would use it mostly as a reference. It was so well written and easy to understand, I actually read the entire book, and am looking forward to using Publisher and Power Point (I initially purchased Office for Word and Excel). I found working with Office 2007 easy after reading this book, and have had to utilize the book as a reference very minimally. Utilizing the table of contents and index, I can quickly locate what I am looking for. I am sure this book saved me hours of frustration by laying out the concept behind the Office 2007 design, and showing me how to quickly hunt for commands that I know are there (from reading about them in the book). I am sure my learning time was greatly reduced. Great job Peter Werverka!
The Office 2007 All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies is very helpful for someone trying to weather the transition from previous versions of Microsoft Office to the new Microsoft Office 2007. This book not only covers common office applications, but gets into more detail for each program (Word, Outlook, Excel, Access, etc.) I would highly recommend this book to anyone who needs an easy-to-follow guide to the new software.
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