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Microsoft Office 2007 is available in a variety of different suites, each offering a different feature set, and price point. Additionally applications may be purchased on a stand-alone basis. To learn more about the different suites available, and to determine which is best for your needs have a look at the Microsoft Office web page - and why you are there look at the Templates and other Downloads that are available. Each of the tools in the Suite performs specific tasks, and with this release the focus was on building a more efficient set of tools that were 'easier to use', offered 'increased sharing' of data between applications, and new tools designed to met the needs of the information worker.

At Training IT we can help you get the most out of Microsoft Office, and can deliver training programs tailored to suit your individual needs. Courseware can be purpose written (see Resource Development), modules can be purchased and packaged to your requirements (eg. Excel 2007 Data Analytical Techniques), or training delivered from existing course material. If you have other specific requirements be sure to email us to discuss how these can be implemented.

In addition to Courseware Training IT is able to assist in the development of short user guides (we suggest no larger than A5 in size) designed to provide users with 'quick tips', commonly used Keyboard Shortcuts etc. Visit the 'Training Manuals' page for more details.

Office 2007

The current release of Office has seen the largest version change occur since the move from Office 97 - Office 2000. The most prominent of these changes is the Ribbon - the name given to the new 'menu' system. Traditional menus have been replaced with the new Ribbon Interface, although not in every application - the exception being Publisher, and parts of Outlook. This new interface has been designed to group tools together into logical subsets of tools, and can be a little daunting at first - however it does not take long till the new layout begins to become second nature.

A quick summary of the new features includes:

  • New Ribbon Interface
  • Standardisation of feature sets between applications, allowing a user to learn a feature in one application and not have to relearn a different process in another application. Once such example is the process of creating a chart - The Chart Toolset is the exactly the same for Word, Excel, PowerPoint & Access)
  • New File Format - Word, Excel & PowerPoint use an XML based file format - creating smaller, more portable files. Each application can read and save files in the previous version
  • Many New Tools, including SmartArt, Themes, Building Blocks - just to name a few
  • Document Themes can be created. A Theme is a set of formatting choices that include a set of colours, fonts (including heading and body text fonts), and effects (including lines and fill effects). Once created (or edited from an included Theme) these can be applied to documents created in Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
  • Improved Help Interface, which is common to all Office Applications
  • The Spell Check has been improved, and is now common to ALL Office Applications
  • Files can be 'Marked as Final' ensuring that no 'accidental' changes are made

Microsoft have also made available an Add-In that allows any licensed user of MS Office to 'Save to PDF', this does not require any further software to be installed on the users PC. It should be noted though that no further enhancements can be made to the PDF (such as locking for editing, disabling Printing etc) without other tools (such as Adobe Acrobat Professional).

To learn more about the Office 2007 read the course outline for 'What's New to Office 2007'

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Access 2007

Microsoft Access is the premium Desktop Database program on the market today, and the current version has seen one of the most significant version upgrades since Office 97/2000. Some of the new features includes many features that were designed to assist new users to create function databases. These new features do not mean that existing power users were left behind - with new features available to help the Database Developer.

  • For ALL Users Access 2007 has many new features, including enhanced Sorting and Filtering, Rich Text Formatting (Memo Fields), Improved Help Viewer
  • For New Users to Access the process of building a database from scratch has been significantly improved - with the inclusion of many new (and customisable) templates - and an ample supply of others that can be readily downloaded from Microsoft
  • For Existing Access Developers a selection of the new features include:
    • New/Enhanced Data Types (Attachment Data Type / Improved OLE Compression / Date Picker for Date Fields / Multi value Fields)
    • Ability to create Table Templates
    • Better support for Queries, including options to create Union, Pass Through and DDL Queries (via the Ribbon)
    • Forms and Reports have been given a boost with new Views and Editing Formats. Reports can now be created with 'Drill Down' features - normally only found in enterprise level Database tools
    • Enhanced Macro Features (these do not trigger security warnings)
  • For the Enterprise Developer three features stand out:
    • The first being an option to create Template Databases. These are stored as TEXT files and are small and easily distributed
    • Better support has been added for working with External Database Servers - such as SQL Server and SharePoint.
    • An new feature is the ability to create a form that can be sent via Outlook, and the results (once completed by the recipient) sent directly back to the sender! These results can then automatically be inserted (or the entry updated) in the designated Database.

To enquire about Access Training use the form on the Contact Us page.

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Excel 2007

With the current release of Excel Microsoft has made very significant enhancements, the most obvious being the new user interface. This interface change is only a fraction of the modifications made. Some of the changes made have been designed to help those new to Excel become more efficient users, whilst perhaps a more significant portion of the changes have been made to assist the more experienced user of Excel. Some of the key changes are listed below:

New Limits:

  • Now 1 Million Rows * 16 Thousand Columns (per Worksheet)
  • Able to use up to 2Gb of RAM (was 1Gb)
  • Supports Dual Processors and Multi-Threaded Calculations
  • Sorting,Filtering & Conditional Formatting have increased from 3 levels to 64
  • Formulas can now be nested 64 levels (was 7)

Features For All Users:

  • Easier Formula Writing
  • Improved List Management and Data Sorting/Filtering
  • Simplified and Enhanced Charting Tools
  • Printing Improvements, including a new Print Layout View

Features For Existing Users:

  • Inclusion of a new Name Manager
  • Significant changes to Data Analysis Features, including Grouping & Outlining, SubTotalling & Summarising, Pivot Tables/Charts
  • Chart and Table Tools can be customised and Templates created - these can be shared between Multiple Workbooks, and may be stored on a central Network Server, enabling enterprise level standardisation

To learn more about the Excel 2007 read the course outline for 'Excel 2007 New Features', or submit an enquiry.

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Outlook 2007

Most people who use the internet will be familiar with email, Microsoft Outlook is the premier email client that ships as part of most versions of the MS Office Suites. Many users of Outlook only ever send and Receive email - this is only a portion of what Outlook offers.

A skilled users of Outlook will be able to:

  • Manage a personal Network (using Contacts)
  • Effectively Manage their time - including planning meetings, appointments & events (via the Calendar)
  • Keep track of projects and planned work (using Tasks)
  • Store miscellaneous snippets of information by taking advantage of the Notes tool

To learn more about the Outlook 2007 read the course outline for 'Upgrading to Outlook 2007', or submit an enquiry.

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PowerPoint 2007

In this release of PowerPoint microsoft have added many new features to help the designer create professional presentations with greater ease. The common Office Features, such as the Drawing Tools, SmartArt Features, Standardised Themes and Chart Tools are available to PowerPoint. Other features are specific to PowerPoint.

New PowerPoint Features:

  • Master Slides & Slide Templates have been given a complete overhaul
  • Text Formatting has been enhanced by enabling effects such as Shadows, Glow & 3D Styling
  • Tables & Charts use the common features of Office, and no longer use the PowerPoint Specific Styles
  • Support has been added for Multiple Monitors
  • Slide Libraries can be created to allow individual slides to be effectively re-used
  • Presentations can be 'locked' for editing with greater ease, helping to ensure that the presentation maintains its integrity

To enquire about PowerPoint Training use the form on the Contact Us page.

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Publisher 2007

Publisher 2007 was not included in many versions of the Office 2003 Suites, and needed to be purchased separately. Many of the current MS Office Suites now include this application, which is designed to allow individuals to create, design, and publish professional-looking marketing and communication materials. The end product can be designed solely for printed outputs but may also be used to create documents designed to be part of a Web or email based marketing campaign.

If Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager is installed on the same PC as Publisher then an additional toolbar will be available - enabling tracking of emails and documents created in Publisher but sent out to Business Contacts (via Outlook).

To enquire about Publisher Training use the form on the Contact Us page.

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Word 2007

Word 2007 is designed to allow users to produce documents that range from simple, unformatted text up to business documents and beyond. In this version of Word the (already large) feature set was expanded further providing a comprehensive set of tools to assist the author when creating and formatting the document. The new Ribbon Interface is fully integrated into Word and includes all the previous tools plus many new features as well.

For All Users:

  • Formatting Tools have been given a greater presence, now forming part of the 'Home' Tab
    • Enhanced Font Features
    • Expanded Paragraph Tools
    • Styles have been enhanced, no longer 'hidden' from the general user
    • The 'Mini Toolbar' is a new feature that is similar to the right click (context sensitive menu). This floating toolbar appears close to the highlighted text, and is initially quite opaque - becomes increasingly solid as the mouse moves towards it
  • Inserting Objects into the Document has been made easier with all the tools located on the 'Insert' Ribbon, some of these are common to all Office Applications that use the Ribbon - others are Specific to Word, these include
    • Header & Footer Tools - now part of the main Interface, not inside a sub Menu
    • Links within and between Documents have been given greater focus
    • Text Objects (such as 'Text Boxes', 'Quick Parts', 'Word Art' plus more) are also now immediately visible
    • New Symbol & Equation Galleries have been included
    • A new 'Cover Page' feature has been added to help create stunning opening pages to your documents
  • Page Setup tools have been expanded and improved

For Advanced Users:

  • Creating a document that keeps the user reading and interested is a real skill, the new Page Layout Tab combines all the tools required to control the position on the page, page size etc. The key features include:
    • Expanded Page Setup tools
    • A simplified Watermarking feature
    • Improved document consistency via the Theme feature
  • The References Ribbon includes tools to help authors of larger documents include features such as:
    • Table of Contents - new formatting styles and custom schemes have been added
    • Footnotes/EndNotes are now part of the ribbon and not buried within sub menus
    • Where a document requires references to external sources of information the new 'Citations & Bibliography' features help simplify and standardise this process
    • When a document includes elements (such as pictures) these usually have captions. The new Captions Tools simplifies this process, and also includes additional tools - such as the cross-reference feature.
  • Mail Merging has been given an upgrade and now warrants its own Ribbon element - the Mailings Tab
  • When a document is reviewed by multiple users the most efficient means of working is to use the Track Changes features, these are now included within the Review Tab. The features include:
    • Expanded Document Proofing Tools
    • Increased Visibility of the Comments tools
    • Tracking Tools that include (and expand upon) previous Track Changes features
    • New features to assist in the process of Comparing multiple documents
    • Expanded Document Protection features

To learn more about the new features of Word 2007 read the course outline for 'Word 2007 New Features', or submit an enquiry.

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