Old Word is Good Word
Written: Oct 12 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Standardization
Cons: New features irritating
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| robndea's Full Review: Microsoft Word |
So you finally took the old Underwood to the undertaker, eh? About time! (We’ve been into the twenty-FIRST century for a while, now, you know…) If Word 2000 is your first venture into the world of word processing (which, by the way, is NOT the same as “typing”), then congratulations! You have embarked on a wonderful adventure certain to bring many rewards, and Word 2000 is as fine a place to begin as any other.
Word 2000 should come with a “quick start instruction page (mine was installed on my employer’s network, so I didn’t get one). Installation generally involves placing a CD into your CD Rom drive and following the instructions as they appear on the screen. I generally accept all the “typical installation” defaults (defaults = “normal” or “generally accepted” methods of doing something, unless you change it).
Once you get the software installed, pat yourself on the back and welcome to the wonderful world of software! If you are new to the PC world (you “experts” can skip the next section and read the balance of my opinion below), there are some things about which you will need to be aware:
1. If you haven’t figured it out already, a personal computer keyboard and the old Underwood typewriter are not exactly the same. There are keys on the keyboard you may never have seen before…look closely at those six – ten keys located between the letter keys and the number keypad. Those End, Home, Page Up, Page Down, the arrows (directional) keys and most importantly, the Delete Key are used extensively in any word processing program.
2. The keyboard “touch”. If you are coming fresh off even an IBM Selectric II (man, I loved that machine!) you might find that the PC keyboard is especially “touchy”, often resulting in typing repeating letters….like tttthhhhiiiiiissssss. Take a few minutes after you first start your word program to type something (like the text from the back of a cereal box, or something) and get used to the lighter touch. There are enough frustrations when learning new software, you don’t need this one!
3. The monitor. What you see on the screen is not always EXACTLY like what you could see on your page in the typewriter. When Word first starts, it may allow you to view the screen in “Normal” view. In Normal View, the cursor appears to be in the uppermost left hand corner, and many beginners believe they need to “carriage return” down six times for the top margin before they begin to type. Not true! Where the cursor is blinking on the page is actually a full one inch from the top edge of the paper, and 1.25 inches in from the left margin. Don’t believe me? Well then, go up to the Menu toolbar (it starts with File, Edit, View, Insert…) and click once on the “V” in View. A drop down menu will appear. Click on the third item from the top “Print Layout” . Suddenly, without having typed anything at all, your margins will appear. Go back and click on View and select Normal….the margins seem to disappear. Remember, the margins didn’t change at all, they were just “hidden” and “unhidden”. Get used to it, that sort of stuff prevails not only in Word 2000, but the whole Microsoft Office Suite!
4. Word wrap. Not unique to Word 2000, all word processing software uses this. Instead of doing a “carriage return” or “enter” at the end of each line, Word expects you to keep typing until you have completed the ENTIRE paragraph. Try it! When Word sees the right hand margin, it will automatically move the last word typed to the next line and you can keep typing. I admit, I missed that comforting “ding” that signaled your progression through the document, but it is much faster, once you get used to it.
Most of us, however, have already had some exposure to the word processing world. For those folks, I have to say, if you already own some word processing software that is working well for you, I can’t see any compelling reason to upgrade to Word 2000. Most of the changes are cosmetic in nature and not actual functional changes. The newest significant “feature” has to do with the ability to compose a Word document and then send it immediately as an Email without having to exit the Word program.
Oh, did I mention that this nifty “feature” only works IF you have Outlook installed as your default Mail program? Pretty big assumption on the part of Microsoft, if you ask me. In addition, this particular feature uses two methods, one that works very well, and one that I urge you to not use AT ALL. The first version, File, Send to, Mail Recipient….looks fine from the SENDER’S perspective. You type a document and zip, bang, off it goes to your coworker or friend. When they receive it, however, it has been converted from a Word document to an HTML document. Pretty useless if you expected them to make edits and zip it back to you. In addition, the TO, FROM, SUBJECT mail headings are now embedded in the document, making it nearly impossible to print out.
The better method is the File, Send to, Mail Recipient (as Attachment). Zip, bang…it still gets mailed to your buddy, but your document is now an attachment to the email (and not embedded in the email), allowing for edits, revisions, printing…all the things for which you use Word in the first place.
Another irritating new element (“…it’s not a bug, it’s a feature”…MS Marketing Group) is the method by which you Insert clipart. You still go to Insert on the menu bar and select Picture, Clipart, but instead of a list of file names with a preview box on the right (as in some older versions of Word), you get a dialog box with a library of clips from which to choose. First note, the clips you first see are intended to represent the library behind, (i.e., a drawing of an elephant representing “animal” clipart. Guess what? That’s right, they have everything except an elephant…sigh). Well, so maybe I’ll take a picture of a lion, so I click on the lion and I get a hokey graphic representation of an arrow pointing down. I was surprised to discover that graphic meant “insert picture”. It seemed a lot more straightforward to me in the older versions when I selected a file name and clicked on the word “Insert”. Microsoft appears to have adopted the same presumption as the makes or highway directional signs…that none of us can read. Not only that, but when you finally do figure out the icon and click on it…nothing happens. The window remains open showing the Insert Clipart dialog box. Most first time users will click repeatedly on the selected clip art icon and finally return to the document only to find two to twelve copies of the clipart patiently awaiting your return. Sigh.
The most irritating “feature” of all, is the change in the menus. Microsoft has preset them to show only those commands you use most often, with the recently used commands showing first on the menu. The other commands eventually “fall down” if you wait two to five seconds, or press the double chevron at the bottom of the menu. Most beginners, and even some pros, can’t always remember which command they are searching for and mistakenly slip through several menus hoping to recognize the name. Waiting two to five seconds at each menu is irritating. I advise you to turn this feature off by going to Tools, Customize, select the Options tab and uncheck the box that says “Menus Show Recently Used Commands First”.
Conclusion – For the brand new word processing user, it couldn’t hurt to get familiar with any Microsoft product, as many of the menus are functionally similar across several programs. So purchasing Word is not a terrible thing and has some benefits. You could, however, probably find a used copy of an older version at an auction site or garage sale for tens of dollars rather than hundreds of dollars.
For the experienced word processing user – save your money and save yourself the aggravation of learning useless interface changes. Stick with your old word processing software until something truly better comes along.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
robndea
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Member: C. Deane Campbell
Location: Chehalis, WA
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Forty-something mother of two, computer support technician, nature preserve inhabitant (that would be sarcasm).
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