Tools, links, and advice for the Office 2003/2007 transition, entirely free

The Word 2003 to 2007 transition *

...is going to be harder for some people than for others! The more experienced you are with Word 2003 and the busier you are, the more of a pain you will feel in this transition. The reason is summed up in a question trainers like me hear over and over again: "How do I do (whatever) now??" The new "ribbon" interface provides a logical grouping of functions, but a vastly different grouping than Word 2003 did.

Microsoft provides a superb transition aid in the form of an interactive "Here's how to" tool. You can run this from the web using the link at the right, download it from there, or download it from here. Unlike most references, this one doesn't ask you to look anything up. Instead, it gives you the old Word 2003 screen, and you simply perform the action you want to take. The tool then fades to the new Word 2007 screen and animations show you how to take that action.

Click here for a truly excellent reference on Word by Shauna Kelly, a designated "Most Valuable Professional" at Microsoft. Her coverage of styles can be found here and is especially relevant to Word 2007 since styles assume much more prominence now!

TechRepublic offers a set of ready-to-go training materials for the entire Office 2007 suite including Word 2007, packaged in the form of "Lunch and Learn" one-hour modules. The materials include slides and exercises and cost less than $100, which is quite a bargain for trainers to ease the burden of the transition in an organization. Check it out by clicking here!

A little help goes a long way...

Links and downloads

Microsoft's tool is a superb interactive animated reference. If you know how to use Word 2003, this web-based tool is all you need to make the transition to Word 2007. And it's free!

Download the Word 2007 guide from Microsoft It's free!

Download the Word 2007 guide from here (1.5 Mb) It's free!

Jeff Jones of Western Kentucky University and colleagues have prepared a series of concise video training tutorials (free!) covering much of Office 2007. Click here to see the 4-minute overview of Office 2007, a "smorgasbord". Click here for the index page for their whole series.

If you are compelled to move to Word 2007 faster than your work schedule can accommodate the learning curve, the vendor at this site offers an add-in product that is highly rated and provides the Word 2003 menu bar in Word 2007 for less than $20.