The latest version of the Microsoft Office Suite, Office 12, has so much to offer, we asked our readers to download the trial version and tell us something they had learned. We have a whopping 24 winning tips to share and help you get started discovering
Office 12.

Check out these amazing, 24 winning tips!

• Before you share, use the Document Inspector
• Insert tables with the new Ribbon feature
• Make stunning tables with the grid
• Keep in line with the ruler — when you want it
• Math made simple — add equations to your Word doc
• Add an address into any program
• Make it STAND OUT. Change the Case.
• Now that's a cool font!
• Make your presentations stand out with a theme
• Excel — Word — Outlook, they are all improving
• Go global with a variety of dictionaries
• Save time with themes
• Easily find data with the Excel Ribbon
• Quick Access to Shortcuts
• Go directly to a file
• ALT key with just a tap of a finger
• Add features to the Quick Access Toolbar
• No more searching for menus
• Zoom in for a better view
• Keep it all in notes
• Print faster with a customized toolbar
• Use Word to make professional labels
• Easily manage your references and footnotes
• Customize your slides

Before you share your document with other people, use the Document Inspector to check the document for hidden metadata, personal information, or other hidden content. The Document Inspector can find and remove information such as comments, versions, tracked changes, ink annotations, document properties, document management server information, hidden text, custom XML data, and information in headers and footers.
— Trevor Stenson, Edmonton, AB

I discovered that in Microsoft Word 2007, inserting tables has changed slightly from the previous version of Office. It really is a piece of cake with the new Ribbon. Once you have created a table, it is very simple to add a splash of color. If you click on the table you have just created you will notice a new set of tabs appears in the Ribbon. Click on the Table Styles selector and click on your favourite color scheme. The result is a very attractive, very simple table.
— Stephanie Lin, Richmond, BC

I use a lot of tables in my business and have always liked using the grid system. I was surprised to find that now the grid is actually shown on the page as you are selecting it. It makes it really easy to see exactly what you are going to get when you are trying to make a table. I also thought it was really great that you can select colours for the table from the tab that pops up — nice and easy!!!
— Craig Brownridge, Brampton, ON

When you are typing and don't want the ruler on all the time, place your cursor on the grey line between the document and settings above, and the ruler will come on temporarily so you can see it and adjust if necessary. Works great!
— Kim MacDonald, Halifax, NS

Something I figured out right off the bat is that equations can be put into your Word document with ease. Click Insert and Equation and you're off and running; no more looking for the program with which to import it. You can also set it up automatically, like automatic numbering or bullets, because it assumes the equation will continue on the next line. I was completely amazed by this feature and would recommend this program over Microsoft 2003 any day. This is a great upgrade, especially for students. It saves time and frustration when trying to complete math assignments.
— Camille Stewart, Gravenhurst, ON

If you keep your addresses in the database, they can be used in any of the software components offered in Microsoft Office 2007. When you want to do address labels in Word, or send e-mails in Outlook — they can be accessed. I love that!
— Brad Kamieniecki, Yorkton, SK

A really handy feature I found in Word 2007 is the "Change Case" button. It is located below the "Font Size" drop-down in the "Font" section of the Ribbon. To use it, highlight/select the sentence or word you wish to change and then click on the "Case" option you want. This is just GREAT for emphasizing titles, headings, and abstracts.
— Guan Wang, Richmond, BC

When you go to the Font dialogue box and click on a particular font type, the example shows up as a balloon and gives you a better look at how the font will appear.
— Nicholas Clark, Montague, PE

Creating a theme in Microsoft Office PowerPoint makes things a whole lot easier when you create a presentation. Where I work we only use particular colours and fonts in our presentations, so by setting the theme a certain way, each time you go in to create a new one you can easily pick the theme and get started with all the right colours and fonts.
— Sharleen Nielsen, Halifax, NS

Excel 2007 has an increased spreadsheet row and column capacity of 1 million rows by 16,000 columns, which enables you to import and work with massive amounts of data. In Word 2007 you can remove unwanted information from your documents. The new Document Inspector feature can remove comments, tracked changes, or other unwanted information. In Outlook 2007 I used to press the 'Send' button, and then realize something was wrong, but it was too late to stop the e-mail from going out. I love that you can now defer the delivery of an individual message or all messages by at least one minute. Thanks!
— Angela Gonzalez, Vancouver, BC

If you constantly work in a bilingual context, enable Tools > Language and check Detect language automatically. The two dictionaries must be loaded in order to use this feature. When typing a document, you can even have paragraphs switching languages, and the dictionaries will check spelling for each paragraph separately. The languages must be selected at the installation stage of Office.
— Robert LaFortune, Orleans, ON

I save tons of time with the use of themes. Changing the theme of a document not only changes the background colour, but also the colours, styles and fonts of the diagrams, tables, charts, shapes and text. You can get great looking results fast and easy.
— Richard Mraz, Toronto, ON

A very handy tool for helping find a command or function in Excel 2007, which you used in Excel 2003, is the Excel Ribbon mapping workbook. It makes the transition much easier. To find the location of menu and toolbar commands in Excel 2007, open the Excel Ribbon mapping workbook. Instructions on the first tab of the workbook provide tips for customizing, finding, and printing data.
— Nolan Wallin, Fort McMurray, AB

This new feature is one of my favourites. With older versions of Word, not everybody knew all the shortcuts or where to find them. If you press the ALT key in Microsoft Word 2007 it will display all commands on the Quick Access Toolbar. No more trying to figure it out. It's all there for you in Word.
— Patrick Oliveira, Kelowna, BC

When I open a file and want to use Home Office/Student, I can click "Always Open this type of file with this program", and I don't have to go searching through useless programs to get directly to the file I want to see.
— Lesley Kent, Nanaimo, BC

In Office 2007, you no longer have to hold down the ALT key to use shortcuts to access menus and their corresponding commands/sub-menus. It was awkward to keep my pinkie finger on the ALT key while pivoting on that same finger hoping to hit the right keys at the same time. Now you just have to hold it down long enough for the letters to pop up next to the menu headings. This enables a far more accurate and faster method of reaching the commands that you need!
— Edwin Sanchez, Calgary, AB

One of my favourite features of the new Microsoft Office Word 2007 is the Quick Access Toolbar. For example, to add the Translate feature to the Quick Access Toolbar, click on the Review Tab, then right click the Translate button. Click on Add to Quick Access Toolbar. The Translate button now appears on the Quick Access Toolbar next to the Office button.
— Chris Youngdale, Haliburton, ON

In order to get your word processing done in no time, you can customize the Quick Access Toolbar. All commands are listed in alphabetical order in More Commands in the Quick Access Toolbar. By adding the more frequently used commands to this toolbar, you can finish your job faster by clicking on the icons in the toolbar instead of navigating around the menus.
— Amy Yuen, Vancouver, BC

One feature I've found really useful is the zoom slider at the bottom right corner of Word and other Office 2007 applications. Now, zooming out to see how the text looks on paper before printing, and zooming in to enlarge font is a breeze compared to all the menu navigation in older word processing software. For more precision, you can also click on the buttons beside the slider: Print Layout, Full Screen Reading, Web Layout, Outline and Draft.
— Swee Low, Coquitlam, BC

Office OneNote is very handy for taking quick notes of something I want to use or check out later.
— Les Ens, Campbell River, BC

Add commonly used commands to the Quick Access Toolbar on the top left corner. Simply right click on it and go into customize the toolbar. Sometimes adding the print command will speed up productivity.
— Kent Marks, Winnipeg, MB

It's easy to make labels or envelopes in Word — just go to Tools > Letters & Mailings > Envelopes and Labels, and you can be sure that your outgoing mail will look professional.
— Veronica Savage, Toronto, ON

While I was tooling around in Word 2007 I discovered the References tab. This tab handles almost any type of citation you may be required to utilize for your writings. Divided into six sections: Table of Contents, Footnotes, Citations & Bibliography, Captions, Index, and Table of Authorities, everything is organized in an efficient and self-explanatory fashion.
— Udo Rosenberg, Gibsons, BC

Under the "Background Style" tab you're able to choose a different background for every slide and completely customize it with shading and every colour imaginable. The gradient and textured backgrounds create eye-catching presentations.
— Christopher Bahen, Brockville, ON