This tutorial, Introduction To Word, explains the user interface of Word 2007 and helps the user adjust to the changes of the new software. A video of this tutorial is located at the bottom of this page.

Microsoft offers a downloadable trial version of Word 2007 and the rest of the Office 2007 suite at:

http://us20.trymicrosoftoffice.com/default.aspx?re_ms=oo&culture=en-US

This is Word 2007. The user interface is very different than previous versions of Word. The most noticeable change is that the menu system has been replaced by a tabbed ribbon system. The changes are not hard to learn, but takes some time to find the commands needed to get the job done.

In the upper-left corner of the window is the Office Button. The circle with the MS Office Logo, in the center, is the Office Button. Inside, are the commands New, Open, Save, Save As, Print, Prepare, Send, Publish, Close, Recent Documents, Word Options, and Exit Word

Just to the right of the Office Button, is the Quick Access Toolbar. This, is a customizable toolbar, that holds sets of commands that are independent of the Ribbon. The user can set commands, that are frequently used, and convenient for, the user. The toolbar can be customized by clicking on the more button next to the toolbar.

Ribbon Menu Tabs (Ribbon) are a combination of the menu and toolbar system that previous versions of Word used. Each tab is organized with different commands that the user can select from.

Many sections of Ribbon Menu Tab have a small box with an arrow in it. This box is a dialog box button and is found in the lower right hand corner of the section. This box opens the respective dialog box showing more commands and options that are not displayed in the ribbon tab area. For example, the font section has this feature. Paragraph is another example of an area that has a dialog box available to it.

In addition to the drop-down lists, the Ribbon Tabs can also hold scroll buttons and a button called More. These buttons look similar to a drop-down list, but act in different ways.

The small question mark in the top right of the screen is where help is located.  When the question mark is clicked, the Help Dialog Box opens.

Just under the Ribbon is a button that looks like a dash. This is the Split Screen Button. By click-holding and dragging the mouse up or down, the split screen can be created, adjusted or removed.

Next, is the View Rulers Button. By clicking on this button, the rulers are shown or hidden.  If the ruler that is hidden needs to be temporally shown, the mouse must be in position over the area where the rulers normally are.

Below the view rulers button is the Scrollbar, the Previous Page Button and the Next Page Button. Between the two page buttons is the Select Browse Button.

Next, is the Zoom Scroll Bar and the area that shows the percent of the zoom is really a button in disguise.  This button displays the Zoom Dialog Box.

To the left of the Zoom Button, are the Document View buttons. Each button shows the document in a different view.

On the other side of the screen is the proofreading button. This button brings up the Spelling and Grammar Check.

Left of the grammar check is the Word Count Button. By clicking on the Word Count Button, the Word Count Dialog Box appears.

Finally, the button that displays the page numbers is called the Go To Button. This button goes to the area that the user selects and also finds and can find and replace items in the document.