Customer Reviews

Microsoft® Office Word 2007 Inside Out

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What do you want to know about Word 2007?

If all you want to know is how to click the buttons on the new fluent ribbon interface, then any book on Word 2007 will probably meet your needs. In that case, I recommend whichever book will look nicest sitting next to the other books on your bookshelf.

If you want to know how styles and themes work (and how to exploit them), or when to customize document defaults on the one hand and when to customize a style or a theme on the other, then how a book looks next to your other books probably isn't a matter of grave concern to you. In that case, I recommend Microsoft Office Word 2007 Inside Out.

This is a book that is extremely task-oriented, by which I mean that nearly every single section of every single chapter discusses how to DO something. Yet the book doesn't just tell you what to do, it tells you how Word works so that you can continue to put Word to work for you long after you put the book down. (Background information and special tips are presented as sidebars so that you can focus on the steps of a procedure when that's all you're interested in.)

The book is extremely comprehensive. I've worked with Word since 1985, yet I gained important new insights into the program within minutes of picking it up. The authors have been working with Word for many years, too, and this has enabled them to offer helpful notes and tips for users transitioning from earlier versions of Word to Word 2007. For readers completely new to Word, the book's discussion of foundational concepts such as paragraphs, tables, and sections, and global and attached templates (user and workgroup) will prove revelatory.

Some software books read like a catalog of features, but this one is organized around the small, medium, and large tasks associated with creation of documents. This approach has two advantages: 1)the major divisions of the table of contents let you turn instantly to the part of the book where the information you need can be found, and 2)as you're reading about, say, controlling text placement with textboxes, you'll find closely related subjects nearby.

The book is just as authoritative as it is comprehensive. In addition to reflecting the long, varied experiences of the authors, it offers special, difficult-if-not-impossible-to-find information gleaned from senior program managers on the Word development team. The book's companion CD, with its searchable ebook version of the content, is well worth installing on your computer for quick access while you're working.

This book suffers from the "new" Microsoft viewpoint. For example, "toolbar" apparently is an unacceptable concept nowadays. At any rate, "toolbar" is not in the index.

Wonder where the "help" facility has gone in the new menu system? Well, "help" is not in the index either. Wonder how to paste an Excel Chart into Word as a picture (rather than linked to the spreadsheet)? Not in the index either: not under "Excel", not under "Paste".

My biggest objections to this book are its poor index and cross-referencing. As a comparison, Faithe Wempen's "Using Word" has a three-level index of 41 pages. "Inside Out" has a two-level index of 26 pages.

For a book of this type, used constantly to find how Word handles a particular problem, such failure is fatal.

Where are the editors when you need them? The book was supposedly written by experienced authors, but they must have been paid by the word. Just removing the wordy phrase "need to be able to" would have shortened the book by pages. When I read the phrase "Planning up front is usually best," I had to ask just when planning behind was better. After reading the word "simply" time and again to modify a verb, (as in simply click) it was obvious the authors assumed the readers would be simpletons.

Insets such as notes and tips should be used sparingly to emphasize the special information found inside the inset. Too many insets are a sure sign that the body text on the page is lacking of information. When the front cover gushes about the "Supremely organized book and CD," you can rightly assume that this puffery is preparing you to overlook the mush inside. Supremely organized? Really?

There is content, but the poor sentence structure, the weak verbs, the misspellings, and the wordiness make this book a difficult read and a poor guide. The manuscript should have been sent back for a re-write.

Word 2007 INSIDE OUT is a handy reference, but I found two things wrong with it and the first is enough to say I would not buy the book again knowing what I know now: the print is a faint gray, not black. To read this book you must have daylight or bright illumination in your room. I read a lot using a bedside light with a 75 watt bulb. It is a strain to read this book under moderate or low-level illumination. Second, for a reference book on Word I found nothing specific about field codes. Another book says field codes are rarely needed unless you are dealing with an older Word document. I think this is a serious omission. If someone can point out that I missed field codes in the book, I'll correct my submission of this review.

This book, like so many other computer books, comes with a wealth of information that is so difficult to assimilate--because the editor not only fails to color code various types of info, but doesn't even bold the typeface so that it stands out from regular text. For example, every page lists software COMMANDS that could and should be listed in one color (say, orange). There are keyboard shortcuts that should be listed in another color (say, purple). There is always info the reader is told to enter from the keyboard, like URL's and many other types of input the reader told to enter from the keyboard at the cursor prompt (this data could be in a red typeface). And fourth, are listings of all kinds of software programs and operating systems, which I use the color blue to denote. The point is that all of this info would be so much easier to discern if it were differentiated from regular text. This book, like others, doesn't even bother to BOLD any of the above categories of data. Consequently, I spend weeks going thru the whole book color-coding this info with highlighters to differentiate the above data, when it could very easily should of been done by the editors before being sent to the printer. The first computer book company that starts incorporating these changes will easily outsell all of their competitors if they incorporate these reader friendly changes. Review from Scott Stevensen (s_stevensen@hotmail.com)

I, BEING UNFAMILIAR WITH WORD, WAS UNDERSTANDIBLY CONFUSED WITH WORD TERMINOLOGY AS OPPOSED TO WORKS. A PERSON FAMILIAR WITH WORD SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM. I FOUND THAT IT IS THOROUGH AND COMPLETE.

Most of the stuff contained in the book is just basic word processing stuff. Book level is improperly categorized as "intermediate-advanced" and there are really only a few few advanced principals contained in the text.

I sent mine back-not worth it it all.

I expected this book to have a lot more useful value than it did. Even the CD it came with had very little content on it. If you're looking for a good book about Word with helpful tips and useful resources and references I'd look elsewhere.

The ebook on the CD is useful as it saves me having to carry a bulky book around

Book came earlier than expected. Was in exact condition as stated. Very pleased with this transaction and would definitely buy from this vendor again.