New offerings in Microsoft Office 2007

Check out the fresh features in this reworked software package

By Marc Saltzman

Candace Alper is not unlike millions of other Canadians who rely on Microsoft Office to manage her business.

The creator and executive producer of Name Your Tune, which sells custom-made music CDs for children, says she couldn't imagine running her company without it.

"We use Outlook to stay in constant communication with customers and stores, to e-mail music files between the studio and the office, and to send out our newsletter," explains Alper. "Excel, of course, helps keep us organized when it comes to our extensive media database, mailing lists and customer information."

"I can't wait to see what's new in Office 2007," adds the 33-year-old entrepreneur from Richmond Hill, Ont.

Microsoft's latest suite of Office applications — there are, in fact, eight suites to choose from — includes the latest in Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Word, and other tools to keep you or your growing business organized, productive and competitive. Enhancements have been made in areas such as user interface, collaboration and search.

Let's have a quick look at a few of these key changes:

New look, new interface

After launching Microsoft Office 2007 for the first time, you'll immediately notice an improved look. But the attractive interface isn't just for show — it has been redesigned to help speed up work through more intuitive (and thus quicker) access to all of its features.

For one, the older pull-down menus and toolbars have been replaced with a tabbed "Ribbon" that efficiently displays the commands most relevant for that section. For example, the "Page Layout" Ribbon in Microsoft Word 2007 opens up aesthetic options. In Microsoft Excel 2007, when you click the Formulas tab, the ribbon changes to contextual options such as inserting a function or finding specific cells.

"The Ribbon alone is reason enough to upgrade to Office 2007," says Kevin Restivo, an analyst with Toronto's Seaboard Group. "Now some of those Office features you never used in the past are in the forefront to explore."

The circular Office Button stays in the top left-hand corner of most Office programs; when clicked, it displays the most commonly-used commands such as Open, Save, Print, Send or Publish.

Another welcome feature is Galleries. Rather than seeing a list of complex dialog boxes, users are presented with a visual set of formatting options to choose from when working on a document, spreadsheet, presentation or database. This proves to be a faster and more efficient way to create professional-looking work.

What's more, before you make any changes, you see a "Live Preview" of the change in your document just by rolling your mouse over one of the options. For example, if you want to change fonts in Microsoft Word 2007, simply highlight the desired text, move the mouse over the font options and you'll see the words change shape and size in real-time before you make a decision.

Other cosmetic and organizational upgrades in Office 2007 include: a Document Inspector feature that helps you easily find and remove unwanted comments or revisions, hidden text and other information in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint; a new To-Do Bar on the right-hand side of the screen that gives a consolidated view of day-to-day priorities, including e-mails flagged for reply, calendar appointments and tasks; and a handy Instant Search window that lets you easily find keywords throughout any Office application (even attachments).

For more information on Microsoft Office 2007 or to download a free 60-day trial, click here.