CyberLogic Blog

Although Microsoft Office 2007 has been around for some time and Microsoft 2010 is already available, many people are still using Office 2007 for the first time. While Office 2007 offers many benefits over previous versions, it does have a slightly different interface and first-time users of Office 2007 might feel like they are using a new product altogether!

One of the first things you’ll notice when you first start using office 2007 is the new Office Button which is the big circle with four colourful squares in the top left of your window. This similar to the old file menu on previous versions.

Another noticeable difference is the ribbon which replaces some of the menus and toolbars in previous versions. The ribbon organizes commands together by the type of activity, helping you to quickly and easily find the commands you are looking for.

While there is no way to replace the ribbon with tools and menus to make it look and feel like previous versions, you can minimize the ribbon if you would like to reduce the amount of space it uses in your window. You can achieve this by using one of the following methods:

1. Double click the name of the active tab to minimize the ribbon and double click again to maximize.
2. Click Customize Quick Access Toolbar , then select Minimize the Ribbon.
3. Press CTRL+F1

Another toolbar I found very useful is the Quick Access Toolbar, which contains the small icons you see on the right of your Office Button by default. They include Save, Undo, Redo Next Item and Previous Item. This toolbar allows you to quickly access commands you frequently use.

You can add commands to the Quick Access Toolbar by right clicking on the command and selecting “Add to Quick Access Toolbar” from the drop-down menu. You can remove them in a similar way by right clicking the command on the Quick Access Toolbar and selecting “Remove from Quick Access Toolbar”.

In order to help uses get accustomed to Office 2007, Microsoft have provided a number of Office 2007 training videos. These can be accessed at this URL.