Ten Things to Help (or Not) With Microsoft Word
Freeware caution: always scan free downloads for viruses and other bugs before you dump them on your hard drive.
1. Become more productive with Word efficiency tips from Jody Gilbert's article, 10 Obscure Word Tricks That Can Expedite Common Chores.
2. If you'd rather not fiddle with Word for everything, AkelPad 3.4.8 freeware is "an open source editor for plain text. It is designed to be a small and fast" (OS: Win 9x/ME/NT/2K/XP/2K3)
3. For the Mac lovers, who are lucky and don't have to deal with Word at all, iVerbum 2.3.2 is a "FAST index & search program" that allows you to "search & view RTF/DOC/PDF/HTML files, create and index textual databases, search for desired "hits" and bring data up in document window" (OS: Mac OS X.4)
4. KKopy freeware for Microsoft Word evidently makes cut 'n pasting text and code a breeze (OS: Windows 2000 or above + Microsoft Word 2000 or above)
5. The National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE) has a good article on how to make Word more accessible for the disabled here.
6. Wouldn't you know it, just as I was finally getting the hang of the 2003 version? The powers that be at Microsoft are offering a free 60 day "fully featured" trial download of Office System 2007, which includes updated and retuned versions of Word, Excel, Outlook and Power Point. (OS: Windows XP with Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, or later operating system)
7. Find out the "five things you need to understand in order to troubleshoot and fix most of your Word problems" with Linda Johnson's article Troubleshooting Microsoft Word. None of these include the use of a sledgehammer or breaker bar, much to my disappointment.
8. Not really Word-related, but sounds cool anyway -- WinPDF Writer "allows any user of a computer running a Microsoft OS to create PDF-files from any printable document out of any Windows application which is able to print on an installed printer. WinPDF Writer installs as a virtual Windows printer driver. The only thing you have to do to create a professional looking PDF-document is to print it with the Windows application of your choice and choose WinPDF Writer as the printer in the print-dialogue." Could be a viable alternative to the very pricey Adobe software, too (OS: Microsoft Windows 98/Me/2000 Professional/XP/2003 Server/VISTA)
9. Where were these guys when they made me stop using Word Perfect? The 15-day free trial of Yeah Write is an "easy to use fill-in-the-blank word processor for the computer illiterate or for those business professionals that want to create a document quickly and easily, without having to worry about formatting" (OS: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, & Vista)
10. One more for you smart Mac users -- Z-Write 1.5 is a beta testing upgrade of Z-Write, the word processor program for creative writers. Looks like you can download the beta version as freeware until March '08 (OS: Mac OS, OS X)
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Actually, I can sum up the ONE thing you need to know about Word quite easily:
ReplyDeleteIt is a program that was designed under the assumption that the end user is a computer-illiterate moron who would use it for a few limited applications; therefore, use of the program by people who are not, in fact, morons is not recommended.
(The new version of WordPerfect has a feature that will let it run in WP 5.1 emulation mode. [5.1 being the pinnacle of word processing software.] When I can afford to buy a computer powerful enough to run it, I'm SO there. Until then, I'm just trying to limp my old desktop along.)
Thanks for the Mac bits!!
ReplyDeleteI think the troubleshooting articles will come in handy. I often have trouble I need to shoot. You always find neat links. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I'm glad that you also mentioned Mac app. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMac's are taking over the world. Submit and all will go well with you.
ReplyDeleteRe item #6: I have tried the "new and improved" 2007 version of the MS Office suite, and I hated it. Hated it. With a passion. I finally removed it from my computer and loaded in the 2003 suite. The 2007 version has been completely redesigned. The commands are hard to find, and it takes more digging around and clicking on things to do simple tasks. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteHere's a Word tip. Don't send people .docx files without first checking if they can open them.
ReplyDeleteWay to alienate that editor!
In the same vein of #8, I use CuteWriter, which is basically the same thing just from a different vendor.
ReplyDeleteIf all you need is to create the PDF file, this is great. You only really need the Adobe software if you need the other features.
Another Word tip ~ for those who self-publish their own e-books, you can create MS Reader (LIT) format e-books from Word 2000 with Microsoft's free Reader plug-in.
ReplyDeleteI find it nice because my e-book reader doesn't display PDF e-books well. I just convert them to text or HTML, open them in Word, and covert them to LIT.
Download from Microsoft's site.