Customer Reviews

Microsoft Office 2007 For Seniors For Dummies

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You don't have to be a senior to find this book very helpful, interesting, and useful. While I have become a "senior" during the many years I have been "into" computers, my intention has never been to become a technical wizard who writes programs for Microsoft. As a writer and publisher, I want software that does what I need it to do when I need it done. And I don't have time to spend hours and days pouring through the four-pound book I have that covers only Word and is written in engineering Swahati. Office 2007 for Seniors in the Dummies series enables me to look up a procedure and find it written in clear, concise English, solve my dilemma and continue my work without taking a day of personal leave to try and find the solution. Now, a word about the "Dummies". If your pride will not allow you to put this book on your desk, do it anyway and hide it with a book cover (lots for sale now that school is starting). Just get it whether you use Word, Excel, or the other fine programs in Microsoft Office for 2007. One last note, if you have been using previous versions of Word, as I have been doing, you definitely need more help for 2007 that you think It's not the easy switch we had between 2000 and 2002. Help is on the way. You just have to pick it up.

I am very happy to have acquired this book on Microsoft Office 2007. I recently installed Home and Student 2007 to my computer which has Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook in its software. I had been getting along with a previous Microsoft Word program from the year 2000, so I thought it best to take it to a higher level.

I have never worked closely with Exel or Powerpoint but needed the new technology of each to do budgets, photo tributes, etc. As the book states: "Powerpoint is a great tool for almost any situation where you need to convey a visual message." The chapters on this alone are quite extensive and very easily digested. The lingo this book uses is clear and precise and I highly recommend this book for those who need a bit more explaining...

In truth, I'm not a Senior yet........but I sure do have "Senior Moments.."

This is a useful introduction to MS Office on many fronts. Like others in the "Dummies" series, it is not insultingly simple (and it is not just "for Seniors"). Instead, the instructions here on uses for Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook are clear and "for Dummies" or Seniors only in the sense that they make it possible to teach yourself these skills--at any age.

This is one of the best technology books in the "Dummies" series. I know Word very well, but 2007 is utterly different from 2003 (and, in my mind, can be dauntingly confusing and frustrating). "Office 2007 for Seniors" does an excellent job of teaching Word in a way that is logical and easy-to-follow.

Likewise with Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook. If you want to create a spreadsheet, a slide show or send an email, you should be able to succeed in doing so using this book.

Patience is always important when learning new technology--and not being overly ambitious. If you are new to the MS Office suite, start with one goal and don't try to learn too much, too soon. Choose the skill that you think will be most useful to you in your life (usually email or word processing) and take lots of time to apply and use everything that you learn--realizing that even with a good book like this, the learning curve for technology will be steep--but gets easier and easier because there is so much transference from one MS program to the next.

Well organized instructional book. Recommended.

It caught me by surprise when I realized that new `innovations' and `technological developments' were getting harder to adapt to. I began the process, so prominent as we age, of recalling with fondness the way things used to be and preferring them that way. So it was when I first opened up the Office 2007 Suite.

The Word, which I use more often than the other programs, took me entirely off guard. Tabs.... And tabs on tabs. Things not obvious and easy to access on one page any longer. I missed my Office 2003 SBE and almost went back to it. I had similar experiences with the new design and functions in the Excel, Access and Power Point programs that have been the core of the Microsoft Office Suites for many years.

I had become a Luddite! (One dedicated to technological restraint or, more radically, opposed to any increased technology at all.) I was so flummoxed with the Word 2007 program that I found myself beginning to revert to the never-before-seriously-considered Microsoft Works basic word processing program built in to many computers as a `give away.'

Then, I came across Faithe Wempen's Microsoft Office 2007 For Seniors For Dummies

And began to feel the Earth shifting both under and within me as, as step at a time, I was walked through the many features and possibilities created by this newly designed software. Taken one tab/section at a time, the changes seemed less overwhelming and although I make no claims to using them all (yet?!) I am no longer avoiding it for fear of being crushed by too many choices!

I don't consider myself `old' although the ticket sellers at theatres no longer ask how old I am - They simply presume and sell me "Senior" tickets. I still drive, feed myself, take vacations, work full-time and use a computer quite a lot. Still-in-all, I found, as many older users may, this newest version of what was `old reliable' software to be somewhat bloated and intimidating.

This paperback volume in the "... For Dummies" series is inexpensive, clearly organized and written and makes the best technology available as a practical matter to those of us who fear being pushed beyond our capacities to understand. In this way, Wempen's book is probably helpful to many people, seniors or otherwise. Don't be put off by the title. I know many young people who could benefit from it as well.

This is the first "book for dummies" that I have owned, or actually it was provided to me for a review, so it's not like I picked it up and said, "Wow, this is worth spending money on". Microsoft Office 2007 For Seniors For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) is targeted for seniors, or as the introduction states: "This book is written specifically for mature people like you, who are relatively new to using Office applications and want to master the basics." If you are not new to Office applications (WORD, EXCEL, PowerPoint, Outlook), then this book may be too basic for you.

I am very familiar with Office applications, especially prior versions (Office 2003, Office XP, Office 97, etc). Office 2007 has a very different user interface (how and where the options and functions are launched, such as how to set up pages, margins, spacing, etc). Basically, most-all functions that one uses in Office, other than typing the text into the applications, have a new look and feel, compared to prior versions of Ofice. I wondered if this book would help me understand the new Office 2007 user interface (which takes a lot to get used to!). Well, I didn't find that this book was a tool for helping me with that translation - to figure out how to do those things that had become very familiar to me. (That's why the 2-star rating)

Conclusion: if you have used versions of Office on a Windows PC, prior to Office 2007, then I don't think this book will help you. If you are new to the computer and want to learn the high level basics of using the Microsoft Office application, WORD for word-processing, EXCEL for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations, Outlook for email, etc., then this would be a good place to start. (If this is your case, then you might find that this is a 4-star rating for your needs).

I have enjoyed the Dummies books I have reviewed for their approach to topics. Generally, the authors find a way to communicate an idea to the reader in terms that are easy to understand without skipping content or taking leaps that leave you re-reading sections to see something you obviously missed. In the "for Seniors" version, the thing I first noticed is the typeface is a larger size. This helps a great deal with the readability. There are plenty of illustrations and step-by-step guidance for performing a number of basic tasks in the core Office applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook). They even manage to slip in a mail-merge (I have yet to apply this functionality since first learning how to back in the early 90's). This is a good, gentle introduction to help someone get acquainted with the software and prepare him or her for more exploration.

I reviewed this book because I have parents who are not proficient with computers in general, especially with Microsoft Office. I have a fairly advanced level of understanding of Microsoft Office and believe this book provides about as basic an introduction as possible to Office, while still enabling a novice to obtain enough expertise to be very satisified with their ending level of proficiency. In fact, for most true novices, this book may be all that they will ever need. I recommend this book for those who have a difficult time understanding how computer software work in general but would like to get over their fears of learning.

At first glance I was put at ease by the title of this book. I am unquestionably old. A quick survey of my friends will verify I am a dummy. This book appears written specifically for me. Don't judge the book by its title.

I can only judge this book by what it does for me. I bought Office 2007 for word processing, that is the only function of Office that I use. Are you interested in Excel, Power Point, or Outlook? I suggest that you read a different review, because I will not judge something I know nothing about.

So let's go to Word. I have a problem this book did not cover, maybe a problem I alone have. I like to put headers on my pages and page numbers so I can keep them straight after my cat knocks them on the floor. My problem is I don't know hoe to get my machine to do both. Your logical solution is, of course, get rid of the cat. Are you interested in a fine feline companion? Getting back to the book there is no solution offered for the problem I have. For me the best part of this book is Chapter Six, "Taking Word to the Next Level". It showed me in a way even a dummy can understand how to do many things.

My more astute friends will ask why I gave the book so many stars. It would be unfair for me to criticize the coverage of sections I never read and have no use for. As a computer dummy I have bought and read many more elaborate and expensive books to help me with my work. This one beats them all in what I need. The examples are simple and clear. Maybe you have been turned off by other books in the "For Dummies" line but I think you will find this more useful. Either I am getting smarter or the publisher is getting better equipped to produce a not so useless dummy book.

This is another of those works that simply make life easier for people like me. I am quite familiar with a number of the "Dummies" books and admit to using them often for various reasons. They give me basic information which I need in areas that while I may not be making a profession of, or do not want to become an expert in, but that I do want to know something about, either out of curiosity or, as I stated, just to make life easier.

Office 2007 for seniors fits my above stated needs perfectly. I am certainly classified as a "senior," and I suppose if you took a survey of those who know me, I would probably rank pretty high in the dummies department also. I have been using computers for a number of years now but have made no effort what so ever to learn beyond what I need at a particular moment in time, or for a particular project I am working on. I have absolutely no need to become an expert with the use of Office 2007, nor do I particularly want to become one, as in general, computers bore the life out of me. I view them as a tool, a tool I must endure to get a particular job or project done. I do want to be able to perform the basic functions the various aspects of these programs provide and to at least have the skills to advance in the areas that I want and need to advance in to make my life a bit better and more interesting. This book has and is allowing me to do this. This book fits my needs perfectly!

I was and am particularly interested in becoming more knowledgeable and proficient in the use of Word. This book more than fulfilled my expectations. If you are able to turn a computer on and are able to read, the format, easy going text and attention to detail this book provides make it almost impossible not to learn. I was under the false impression I knew a little bit about Word, but found I was actually pretty clueless and was only using a tiny fraction of the useful functions available.

What I particularly personally liked about this book:

One: You do not have to set down, start from page one and read it cover to cover. You can pick and choose the particular function or task you want to lean.

Two: the text was note overly "techie." It was understandable and everything was simply, yet extremely comprehensive. The book was relative free of the technical jargon that drives me up a wall. I did not have to have an additional technical dictionary or technical background to understand what they were talking about. No "Geek Speak," no condescending 14 year old kid snickering as he or she tries to explain a (to them) very simple procedure...you can do this in the privacy of your own home! I love that!

Three: Due to being very user friendly, it is a snap to find what you want without having to dig through a bunch of stuff you don't want.

Four: the pictures and schematics were readable and went perfectly with the actual window being viewed on my computer.

Five: The information in the book did not go "too far" and load me down with a bunch of information of which I had absolutely no use for.

Six: The applications addressed, and there were many, were all practical, useful and appropriate for my personal everyday use.

Seven: The physical book is rather light and flexible while being relative well made so is good to work at my desk with and also packs in my lap top carrier when I travel...yes, after reading and working with this book I am actually going to have this program installed into my lap tops.

Nine: For a book that falls into the "technical" category, it is rather inexpensive.

Ten: It covered Excel and Power Point, two applications I have had absolutely no knowledge of. Now that I do have a bit of know-how in this area, I find that there are indeed areas of my life where this will be most useful. I have always felt I had little need and indeed had little interest in Excel, but after scanning this section of the book, it is quite possible that a new world may have opened for me. I like that.

Eleven: I have been using different versions of Word on four different computers. Office 2007 is drastically different than those previous versions. There have been many, many functions I simply have not been able to figure out for myself. This work took care of that!

While this book may be too basic for the advanced "expert" in the areas covered, it must be remembered that it was NOT written for them; it was written for beginners and people like be who are or in my case were, (and you will note I used the passed tense here..."were"), pretty clueless as to the many functions of this popular program.

I am Gland they came out with this book and wish I had it from the moment Office 2007 was installed on my computer.

Don Blankenship

The Ozarks

I wish I had this book when I was trying to teach my 80 year old mother how to use MS Office. She was such a novice to PCs that she picked up the mouse and kept clicking it at the screen as though it was the remote control for the TV. Needless to say we were both frustrated by the experience. It would have been extremely helpful to have had "Office 2007 for Seniors for Dummies" as a training aid. This book is written in a very straightforward, easy to understand manner. It doesn't dumb things down, but it does avoid jargon which is a blessing since a lot of MS instructions are self referential - if you don't understand how MS products work already it's very difficult to pick it up when the instruction book uses other MS terms in their definition. I've been using Word and Excel for 20+ years and I still learned things from this book.

Highly recommended!