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What Can Office 2007 Do For You?By Claire Blinman |
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So will anyone bother to upgrade? What’s the point? Isn’t it just yet another version of Microsoft Office?
The answer is no – this time it’s different. This time it’s more powerful, looks smarter with a complete redesign, and allows you to cleverly combine your business applications.
As usual, Office 2007 comes with several different versions, varying from Basic to Professional depending on your needs. How your business operates will dictate which version you need to buy. You need to ask yourself pertinent questions such as:
Do I need to give presentations to clients or staff? Do I need to manage large lists of clients? Would it make sense to keep records of every telephone call that is made to my clients? Could my invoicing processes benefit from streamlining?
These are some of the questions that will guide you into purchasing the Basic, Home, Standard, Small Business or Professional editions of MS Office 2007. Try http://office.microsoft.com and then click on the Products tab to compare the versions in more detail.
MS Office 2007 saves documents differently than previous versions of Office as it uses a technology called XML. The main benefits for you are that it makes sorting and searching through your files much easier. Don’t worry though, you can still share these documents with clients or colleagues using earlier versions, as there are free converters available or you can choose to always save files in a compatible format.
This time Microsoft have decided to group icons together in an innovative way using blocks that actually work as tabs – just like the tabs in the new version of Internet Explorer for those of you who have already upgraded (looks like tabs are the way Microsoft want us to go!). This time the toolbar blocks cannot be moved around so you will have to put up with their default positioning – but the advantage is no more searching for the correct icon on a toolbar if working at a colleague’s computer!
Each of the applications has acquired curiously useful new features that you may find has answered questions you never knew you had, such as Excel 2007’s ability to offer instant conditional formatting, Outlook 2007’s new ability to download a news feed or blog directly to our inbox, and Word 2007’s ability to offer contextual spelling (it can now finally correct our misuse of their or there – hurrah!)
So, is it worth your while taking a look at Microsoft Office 2007? The only way to tell is by having a look for yourself what it has to offer.
Computer Training Solutions in Bristol is currently offering 1 day courses for you to learn for yourself “What’s new in Office 2007?” that should help you to make your decision, or if you’ve already made a purchasing decision, to get the best as quickly as possible out of your new software.
Notes for editors:
For more information visit our website at www.computertrainingsolutions.co.uk or call 01454 851770. We provide training in all types of software, including Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Access, Outlook, PowerPoint), Visio, FrontPage, Project, Dreamweaver and Adobe Creative Suite (Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop and Acrobat). Our training courses can be run either as public open courses from our schedule or alternatively we can run tailored courses to suit you. |
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About the Author |
| Claire Blinman is the training manager at Computer Training Solutions in Bristol. |
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