Office O7

I have a moral conundrum. When teaching someone how to use the new features in Office 2007, is it OK to show them how to install a “classic” user interface to regain the old menu structure? A product such as Ribbon Customizer allows a user to do just that with a free version of their Office 2007 plug-in (advanced features can be had for an additional $29).

There are numerous new tools now available in Office 2007, and the new Ribbon structure to the menus makes this functionality more accessible. The company marketing RibbonCustomizer admits that “If one defers learning the Ribbon, one will eventually be simply behind.” I choose to look at it much the same way I view nicotine patches… not great in their own right, but a useful tool for someone looking to change their habits.

Here’s how to control your recent documents list in Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

If you want to get tips and tricks straight from the horse’s mouth than this is the place to do it. The very people responsible for writing the code behind Powerpoint 07 have a blog where the give you advice on how to use it. The site is searchable and each post is tagged with keywords to make browsing by subject easier.

Here’s a link to the official Microsoft Powerpoint 2007 training materials. They cover everything from the basics to creating custom layouts.

Each tutorial has information regarding the time it will take to complete, learning objectives, user ratings and they all have video components.