Advanced Microsoft Office Documents 2007 Edition Inside Out (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: click the dialog launcher, ppt folder, style aliases, Microsoft Office, Office Open, Quick Parts (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Learn everything you need to know for creating dynamic, robust, more secure documents with the 2007 Microsoft Office system--from the inside out! This book packs in hundreds of time-saving solutions, troubleshooting tips, and the workarounds you need for creating and sharing powerful documents and templates--all in concise, fast-answer format. Ideal for users with more advanced experience using either the 2007 Office suites or earlier editions of Office, this comprehensive guide moves beyond the basics. You will learn how to use Microsoft Office Word 2007, Microsoft Office Excel® 2007, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2007 to create exactly the document you need--from business communications to sophisticated business reports and professional-looking presentations. You'll learn how to create templates and custom macros and how to build custom add-ins. You'll even learn how to exploit new XML document formats. Plus, you'll get tools, eBooks, and more on the companion CD. With INSIDE OUT, you get all muscle and no fluff!

From the Publisher

Key Book Benefits:

-Makes hundreds of tips, tricks, and workarounds easy to find and apply with the award-winning INSIDE OUT format
-Includes advanced coverage of Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
-Covers new features in the 2007 Office system programs
-Offers primers on using Microsoft Visual Basic® for Applications (VBA) and XML to extend the power of your documents while saving time
-Includes a companion CD with tools, eBooks, and more

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press (March 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073562285X
• ISBN-13: 978-0735622852
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,856 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #91 in

  Books > Computers & Internet > Software > Business > Accounting

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ask not what your software can do, ask what you can do with your software., March 24, 2007

By	William N. Coan (Hortonville, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Whom would your boss rather have on staff: an expert on Microsoft Office System 2007 or an expert on creating effective, easy-to-manage office documents?

Stephanie Krieger's new book is based on the arresting and gratifying notion that what your boss wants and needs is someone who can create effective, easy-to-manage documents (including worksheets and presentations), because such documents are the foundation of an effective organization.

Does this mean that Krieger's book gives short shrift to the capabilities of the new Microsoft Office System 2007? Not at all. It just means that the book offers effective ways to think about documents, worksheets, and presentations while showing how best to create and manage them with the Microsoft Office System 2007.

The fact that the word "Advanced" appears in the title is not an accident. The book doesn't tell how to save or print documents or check spelling. Instead, it tells how to plan documents and how to stay in control of them. It discusses special considerations governing documents that will be distributed electronically. It describes how work teams can effectively collaborate on documents. Within this conceptual framework, it offers detailed overviews of features that are new to the applications in Microsoft Office System 2007, plus step-by-step procedures for using those features to improve personal and organizational efficiency and the quality of documents.

The book exhibits respect for the reader throughout. Each advanced section starts by declaring what the reader needs to know ahead of time in order to benefit from that section. Cross-references (to other locations within the book and to other resources found elsewhere) are provided for readers who need more information.

An abbreviated, high-level table of contents appears at the beginning of the book, followed immediately by a more detailed table of contents. A specialized index of troubleshooting topics is found at the back of the book, just before the main index. A fully searchable electronic version of the text is provided on an accompanying CD that also includes recorded webcasts by the author and numerous other resources.

Experienced users of Office who are new to the Microsoft Office System 2007 will appreciate the book's focus on new features. They needn't worry about becoming bogged down in discussions of features already familiar to them from previous releases of Office.

The book covers the new Open XML file formats, the new Ribbon interface, the new graphics engine, and the new Themes for managing the look and feel of documents across applications and across document sets.

The chapters on Word 2007 cover new tools for managing and applying styles, new tools for working with graphics, new Quick Parts for rapid assembly of new documents, and new Content Controls for displaying data pulled from external sources or entered by the user. The chapters on Excel 2007 cover new tools for formatting worksheets, new charting capabilities, new refinements in working with PivotTables and PivotCharts, and tips for generating Visio diagrams from worksheet data. The chapters on PowerPoint cover new tools for working with presentation graphics, new functionality for custom slide layouts, and new tools for formatting text.

OneNote, Windows SharePoint Services Workspaces, and Groove Workspaces are discussed only briefly, with an eye toward helping users understand how these items can contribute to personal and organizational productivity.

In keeping with the book's advanced level and its goal of creating and managing effective documents, Krieger shows how templates can contribute content, design, and functionality to such documents. She argues that even non-programmers can exploit the new Open XML file formats and other new features of Office by relying on the VBA macro language. Then she removes one possible barrier by providing an impressively comprehensive (and comprehensible) introduction to the VBA language and to the VBA editor built into Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The book contains occasional passages that could have been made more clear by a knowledgeable editor, but for the most part Krieger's writing is not only clear and well structured but free of the overly technical character exhibited by some books on software. Most readers will appreciate the practical perspective that she brings to her subject, particularly when addressing how to think about the formatting and organization of documents. (Many readers will be left wanting even more guidance on these important yet too-often-neglected topics.)

The book has an insider quality to it, which isn't surprising, given that it was published by Microsoft Press. The positive side of this is that Krieger clearly enjoyed frequent access to the development teams responsible for Microsoft Office System 2007. Such access undoubtedly contributed to the accuracy and completeness of her work. Krieger also benefited from the insights of her technical reviewer (Beth Melton, a widely respected authority on Microsoft Office).

The negative side of Krieger's close association with the development teams is that she sometimes includes gratuitous descriptions of her interactions with them. She also includes a few personal anecdotes that will be viewed by some readers as important foundations for her recommendations but by others as a failure to separate herself from her subject.

In a crowded field that includes beginners' step-by-step tutorials and comprehensive but undiscriminating 1,200-page doorstops, Krieger's book stands out for its thoughtful effort to help experienced users create and manage effective documents. Users who read her book are likely to find themselves in a better position to please their bosses and move their organizations forward.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In one word - praesto , May 20, 2007

By	Allan Bach (Allentown, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Stephanie understands MS Office software. But, better than that, she understands people. People want results. People need properly created documents. People need help.

Ms. Krieger's other book was a knock-out (Microsoft Office Document Designer). In less than 200 pages, she addressed the task of proper document design. In this book, she takes this to a much higher level.

As a full-time software trainer, I have seen that people only use a small percentage of the features that programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint offer. Is this due to a lack of ability? No, it's due to a lack of knowledge.

Stephanie's book will provide the reader with the knowledge required to assemble a "proper" document. Filled with advice, information, and the perfect mix of programs, the pages glow with a light that removes the sometimes dark areas of document creation.

For users of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint who do not read this book, they will continue to struggle, using "band-aids" to hide the cuts and bruises their documents contain. For those who read and apply the information in Stephanie's book, they will not need a trip to the emergency room to save their creation.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a "How To", May 25, 2007

By	Jan Ilacqua - See all my reviews

As a Microsoft Office programs training instructor in my own business, and a part-time Office Programs Instructor for two local Community College Workforce Dept's., I find the Advanced Microsoft Office Documents 2007 Edition Inside Out to be a very comprehensive book that is very helpful to even experienced users, as well as new users. The written and graphic details are very simple, yet concise, and make the learning process much easier. It is a book that I not only recommend to my students and clients, but, it also has a home on my own desk.