Microsoft Word's file format, interface and some features -- very nearly every aspect of this word processor -- have changed. Although Microsoft has put the finishing touches to Word 2007, the product won't be available in retail outlets until early next year -- in step with the release of the new Windows Vista operating system. In the meantime, a downloadable version of Office Small Business 2007 will become available on 30 November 2006.
We tested the RTM version of Word 2007 -- the same code that will come preinstalled on desktops and notebooks sold by vendors that have software partnerships with Microsoft. Installation of Office 2007 RTM on our Windows XP computer took us about 10 minutes -- shorter than prior editions of Office.
Word 2007 will operate in Compatibility Mode, shutting off some of the new graphics-rich features, should you, for example, open a Word 2003 DOC file without converting it to the new DOCX format.
Once you have Word 2007 running, you will notice a completely redesigned toolbar, with many familiar commands not where they used to be. Instead of the old, gray drop-down menus atop the page, Microsoft's new and very colourful Ribbon clumps common features into tabs: Home, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review and View. At first, you'll need to wander around to find what's been moved around from prior versions of Word. Clicking the Office 2007 logo in the upper-left corner drops down a menu of staple functions -- such as opening, saving and printing files -- that were under Word 2003's File menu. We had the hardest time locating commands from within Word 2003's Editing and Tools menus. To insert a comment in Word 2007, for instance, you must look under the Review tab -- not the Insert tab. Prepare to relearn Word.
Aside from the interface, the other radical change to Word is its new file type. For the first time in a decade, Microsoft is foisting by default a new file format upon users; the old Word DOC files will make way for the new DOCX type in Word 2007. Microsoft has taken steps to ease this transition, but we anticipate that it will not be smooth for many users.
Word 2007's new Picture Tools options let you hover over galleries of changes to preview how they'll look. In the past, you may have applied a change out of curiosity, then hit Undo when it didn't meet your expectations.
What happens when you're sharing work with people who use an older version of Word? Older versions, such as Word 2003 and 2000, are supposed to detect when you first try to open a DOCX file, then prompt you to download and install an Office 2007 Compatibility Pack. After you've done this and from that point forward, the older Word should convert your Word 2007 files, removing incompatible features. When you reopen that same DOCX file again in Word 2007, the file's original elements are supposed to stay intact. On the other hand, if you open an older DOC file within Word 2007, it will also run in Compatibility Mode, shutting off access to some of the newer program features, which explains why two documents within Word 2007 may display different formatting options.
Among the small tweaks in Word 2007 that make formatting easier, you can now see how various fonts appear by mousing over a gallery of styles. It takes just a couple of clicks to insert a JPEG, a GIF, a BMP, a PNG or another image type. Click the graphic, and the Picture Tools Format tab lets you tweak the brightness, the colour mode, and the contrast of a picture; you can also rotate it, crop it, skew its angle, add 3D effects and shadows to its borders, and convert it to all manner of shapes, such as a thought bubble, an arrow or a star. Options for positioning an image and wrapping text around it are also prominent, which should be helpful for creating professional-looking business documents, as well as casual party invitations. You don't get nearly the amount of control offered by QuarkXpress or Adobe's InDesign, but Word 2007 may do the trick for ultra-basic desktop publishing projects. And deep integration throughout the Office 2007 suite means that you can insert content from other applications into a Word file, such as a table from Excel 2007 or a SmartArt graphic from PowerPoint.
The Prepare menu offers choices for inspecting, encrypting, and restricting access to your Word files in addition to checking to see how its elements will appear in older versions of Word.
We were frustrated occasionally by things that should have been more intuitive. For example, we couldn't make a photo disappear by clicking it and hitting Delete on the keyboard. Nor did right-clicking the picture help; from that menu, the Cut option didn't make the image budge. We couldn't find a Delete option, which is under the File menu in Word 2003. Finally, we realised that our efforts seemed to fail only because we were in Track Changes mode. We were able, in fact, to delete the image with the Delete key and by right-clicking, but the photo didn't change in appearance to indicate that it was gone. We wish that Track Changes mode would have greyed out the picture, for instance.
If you deal with sensitive information -- in a private diary entry, a CV or a company financial statement, for example -- Word 2007 allows more control over buried data, such as the original author's name or your supervisor's comments. Office 2007's Prepare options step you through inspecting that metadata, as well as adding a digital signature and encrypting a file. You'll also find some of these options under the Review tab's Protect button. However, should you plan to black out text, you'll have to turn to Adobe's Acrobat 8 to make secure redactions (highlighting the font in black within Word won't do it).
Unfortunately, Microsoft isn't providing most non-enterprise users with an option for storing or editing Word files online; there's no browser-based version of Word. Need to collaborate on a file with specific people or take work on the road? At this time, you may have to email those documents. Otherwise, you could upload a Word file into one of the many free, Web-based word processors served up by other companies, including Google and the lesser known Zoho and ThinkFree.
Options for blogging include an editing interface that lets you insert art and charts and lets you post entries without leaving Word.
Is Word 2007 worth the upgrade? If you primarily work with plain text and don't need to pretty up reports and newsletters and the like, then it might not be right for you. For our purposes as editors, for instance, Word 2007 doesn't introduce must-have goodies, although commenting commands are within easier reach. At the same time, Word now handily presents options for footnotes and citations under its References tab, which researchers should appreciate. So, too, are mail-merge functions easier to reach. Plus, bloggers can now compose and post blog entries in cleaner HTML without leaving Word. Above all, Microsoft's new word processor is most upgrade-worthy if you want to play with pictures, charts and diagrams in addition to text.
Microsoft has prepared an abundance of online help resources for users of Word 2007, including Flash-based tutorials that walk you through finding where specific features have moved from Office 2003. Without relying heavily on such support, we were able to adjust to the new interface within several weeks. We'll continue to test the new Office software and will provide rated reviews when the final edition is available. In the meantime, you can test-drive the beta edition of Word 2007 for free by visiting office.microsoft.com.
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