Customer Reviews

Microsoft Word 2007 Bible

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

 

 

When Microsoft Word 2007 was released at the end of January this year I read in one publication that there are an astonishing 1,500 commands available in the newest version of this industry standard word processing program. I installed the new Office 2007 Suite on my home PC in mid-February and found out for myself that there are in fact hundreds of commands, functions and tools both visible and hidden in the new Word interface that opens in front of me each time I start a new document. Even though I am an advanced Word user, when I saw the Word 2007 Bible advertised on this website I knew I needed this book to survive.
I am not disappointed. The author has indeed written a Bible for anyone that uses Word and wants to advance to the latest version with its new look and feature rich contents. I have found simple step by step explanations in the Word 2007 Bible to do what were previously maddening tasks because one could not find the command or tool to make them work. The author adds humor to the text of this publication so it almost seems like light reading rather than a boring procedure manual. This huge volume is well indexed making it easy to find the pages pertaining to the tool or function you need.
It is stated on the cover the author, Herb Tyson, is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional so I partially expected a book that would present Word as being perfect, flawless and as easy to use as a can opener. The book is not like that at all, but to the contrary points out problematical functions, things you can not easily do and things that are missing or do not work well. We truly have an objective view of Word presented here that makes one feel the author is on your side rather than in Microsoft's court.
A CD-ROM is included with segments recorded by the author that display in Windows Media Player. An animated overview of several basic and advanced features of Word are presented. After viewing a few of the segments I copied the entire CD-ROM to my external hard drive because I knew I would be referring to it frequently in the future.
This book is excellent and a great addition to the library of any novice or advanced Word user.

I am an experienced Word user. I bought this book because the differences between Word 2007 and Word 2003 were so significant that I considered it necessary to get some assistance in getting up to speed with the new version. This book does nothing for that; there are significant notes throughout the book on the changes, but absolutely nothing on how to tackle, address, work round or otherwise cope with these very major changes. If you are a first-time user of Word, starting on Word 2007, then the author will describe it's operation moderately satisfactorily, however you will get bored with the comments on the fact that Word 2003 does it differently. If you are an existing user of Word, upgrading, you will find that those areas which have not changed will be described in fulsome detail; those areas that have changed and you want advice/assistance on will be noted as a change but very little assistance will be offered. I do not recommend spending your money on this book for those users wishing to upgrade.

While some people never read computer manuals, I've found that unless I do read them I never try anything new with the application. Word 2007 Bible brings you up to date with all the changes made to this fine word-processing software. In fact, I enjoyed the CD that came along with it the best! It was like having a private training course but doing it at your own speed. My need to know how to do various types of presentations is expanding. Now with Word 2007 Bible, I know I will be ready for the challange.

Many people were baffled when Microsoft Office 2007 was released because of the vast differences it had with Office 2003. For those using Microsoft Word this was especially the case. Herb Tyson's book helps one make the switch. It is very easy to read. I highly recommend it!

The book is written well, and conveys a lot of the details of Word 2007. I am new to Word, and so everything is new to me, but this book does cover all the relevant topics. There are some attempts at jokes which slow the reading down, and probably add to some of the bulk of the book, but do not detract from it's intended goal. One problem I did notice, which may be related to my older eyes, was that paper seemed to be of the "yellowish" pulp variety. Something like the paper from cheap paperback books of the 1970's. It's "brightness" scale is probably in the order of 70% - 80% (check out the brightness of printer paper you buy from an office supply store, if you don't know what I mean). In addition, the print is small, and the text is not crisp or dark. This makes it difficult for me to read, especially in dim light.
In summary:
The content is excellent, and for someone who is learning the new Word interface, it will server them well. It will also help those who are used to word already. The physical characteristics of the book could be improved, to allow easier reading. Would be ideal as a e-book for the Kindle!?

I thought I was going back to my 1992 WordPerfect 5.1 summer computer camp with this guy's obsession with "Keyboard shortcuts like control alternate shift whatever" that make up most of his tutorial. Anyone who wants to truly learn a Windows program for what we moved up to since then--icons and the like--and where they are "on the ribbon" and how to do what you want with using whatever icon one needs should skip any Windows tutorial book by this guy.

I love the 'Bible' series of computer program books. This was a real good buy and came in a short time. I'm very pleased with the results.

I was so disappointed with this book. I needed answers on merging pictures into a document template - no help given by the book. I needed to create and use some macros - the information was limited. I created a macro according to instruction but when it failed to work, the book was useless. I regret the purchase and would advise Word users to just use the online help which is free. Slow but free.