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New Features in Office 2003

General Office 2003 Features

Task Pane

The Task Pane is a window that opens in Office 2003 to the right of whatever file you currently have open. Within this window you can perform common tasks like get help, insert clip art, create a mail merge, and other items that are specific to the program that you are working in. The Task Pane was designed so that common tasks can be done while you are still looking at your document.

The Task Pane will automatically open depending on what you are doing in Word, PowerPoint, Access, Excel, Publisher, or Outlook. If you do not see the Task Pane, click on View to Task Pane.

task_pane_picture

The Clipboard

A useful feature of the Task Pane is the history of cut and paste. This history will show you the last 24 items that were cut and paste. Your history is called the Clipboard. To see the Clipboard:

  1. Click on the down arrow located at the top of the Task Pane. A dropdown list will appear.
  2. From this dropdown list, choose Clipboard.
  3. Items from your clipboard can be reused by clicking on the specific item within the clipboard list.
clipboard

Smart Tags

A Smart Tag is an icon that appears to provide you with choices for enhancing content and layout. You will see Smart Tag icons appear when you perform certain tasks, such as pasting items or undoing a spell-checked word. When a Smart Tag appears, you can click on it and see a dropdown list of options.

paste smart tag smart tag options

Some people may want to turn off the Smart Tag feature. To turn off this feature:

  1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options, and then click the Smart Tags tab.
  2. Deselect the Label text with smart tags check box.
  3. You will need to turn off Smart Tags in each Microsoft Office Application.

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Word 2003

Research Task Pane 9 (Note: In order for the Research Task Pane to work, you must be connected to the internet.)

The Research Task Pane has combined the abilities of the dictionary, thesaurus, and translation features all into one tool! To use the research task pane:

  1. Click on Tools to Research.
  2. Copy and paste or type the word you want to research into the Search For box.
  3. Click the green arrow after the search for box.
  4. Scroll down the research task pane to see all of your results.

Reading Layout View

New in Word 2003 is Reading View. When you open a Word document from an e-mail message, the document opens in reading layout view. This view displays your document like pages in a book and displays two full pages on your screen. To see what a document looks like in reading view:

  1. Click on View to Reading View.
  2. To close out of reading view, click close on the toolbar or click View to either Page Layout or Normal.
  3. If you do not want Word documents in e-mail to be opened in Reading View:
  4. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the General tab.
  5. Deselect the Allow starting in Reading Layout check box.

Style Locking

(The following information about Style Locking was taken from Microsoft's online help)

When you restrict the formatting of a document, you prevent users from applying styles that you don't explicitly make available. You also prevent users from applying formatting directly to text, such as bulleted or numbered lists or font characteristics. When formatting is restricted, the commands and keyboard shortcuts for applying formatting directly are unavailable. To lock styles:

  1. Click on Tools to Protect Document.
  2. In the Protect Document task pane, select the Limit formatting to a selection of styles check box.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. In the list of formatting styles in the Formatting Restrictions dialog box, select the check boxes for the styles you want to allow, and clear the check boxes for the styles you don't want to allow in the document.
  5. Click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.
  6. Type a password in the Enter new password (optional) box, and then confirm the password.

Track Changes

Track changes itself if not a new feature in Word 2003, however, the look and feel of the track changes is substantially different. In Word 2000, track changes appeared within the paragraph. In Word 2003, the default track changes style is to have deleted text appear in the margins in "balloons".

track changes

To change the default track changes style in Word 2003 to resemble the look and feel of track changes in Word 2000:

  1. Click on Tools to Options.
  2. Click on the Track Changes Tab.
  3. Next to Use Balloons, change Always to Never.
  4. Click OK.

Two New Styles: List and Tables

In previous versions of Word, styles could only be applied to either characters or paragraphs. In Word 2003, styles can now be applied to lists and tables. To create a list or table style:

  1. Click on Format to Styles and Formatting.
  2. Select New Style.
  3. Name your style in the Name box.
  4. Next to Style Type, choose either Character, Paragraph, List, or Table.
  5. Format your Character, Paragraph, List, or Table below and then click OK.
  6. To use your new style, select the text you want to apply the style to and then click your new style from the task pane. If you do not see your style list, click on the down arrow in the Task Pane and choose Styles and Formatting.

Reveal Formatting

Similar to WordPerfect's reveal codes feature, Word 2003 offers a feature that will display formatting codes. This is beneficial if you want to see the formatting that is used for a specific word or paragraph. To see the formatting:

  1. Select the word or paragraph for which you want to see the formatting for.
  2. Click on Format to Reveal Formatting.
  3. All of the formatting for that word will appear in the Task Pane to the right.

Mail Merge

Word 2003 still offers an excellent mail merge feature, however, the look and feel for creating a mail merge is considerably different. In Word 2003, all of the steps for completing a mail merge are displayed in the Task Pane. The Task Pane will walk you through the steps needed to complete the mail merge. To start your mail merge:

  1. Click on Tools to Letters and Mailing to Mail Merge.
  2. The Task Pane to the right will display the first out of six steps.

For step by step instructions on how to create form letters or mailing labels in Word 2003, please visit How to Create a Mail Merge in Word 2003.

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PowerPoint

Using the Task Pane

In PowerPoint 2000 there was an icon called Common Tasks. In Common Tasks, you could create a new slide, change the slide layout, and choose a slide design. In PowerPoint 2003, this icon is no longer available. Now, to change the slide layout or choose a slide design you will need to use the Task Pane. To insert a new slide, a New Slide icon is available on the toolbar. To change the slide layout or choose a slide design:

  1. At the top of the Task Pane, click on the black down arrow . A dropdown list will appear.
  2. Slide Layout and Slide Design will appear in this dropdown list.
powerpoint task pane

Package For CD

PowerPoint has the ability to "package" your presentation to a CD. Packaging your information to a CD will not only save your presentation and associated files, but will also include the PowerPoint Viewer. This means that you can run your PowerPoint presentation from any PC even if PowerPoint is not installed. This feature was called "Pack and Go" in PowerPoint 2000 and was renamed to "Package to a CD" in PowerPoint 2003. To package your presentation to a CD:

  1. Click File to Package to CD.
  2. Insert your CD and then click Copy to CD.
package to CD

Creating Diagrams

New in PowerPoint 2003 are pre-created diagrams. These diagrams include target , pyramid, and radial designs. To insert and use a diagram:

  1. Click Insert on the Menu bar and choose Diagram.
  2. Choose a diagram and then click Ok.
Diagram

Multiple Slide Masters

A slide master is the design template behind your presentation. Changing the formatting in the slide master will change the formatting on every slide in your presentation. In PowerPoint 2000, there was only one slide master. In PowerPoint 2003, you have the ability to create more than one slide master. To create multiple slide masters:

  1. Click on View to Master to Slide Master.
  2. On the slide master toolbar, click on New Slide Master.
  3. Format your new slide master.
  4. To apply different slide masters to a specific slide:
  5. Click on the slide for which you want to apply a different slide master.
  6. On the menu bar, click on Format to Slide Design.
  7. In the Task Pane on the right, move your pointer over the slide master you want to apply. A blue arrow will appear.
  8. Click on the blue arrow and choose Apply to Selected Slides.

Considerations when running a PowerPoint 2003 Presentation in PowerPoint 2000

  1. PowerPoint 2003 offers new and flashy animations. While these animations will work in Office 2003, it is important to note that these animations may not run in earlier PowerPoint versions.
  2. Presentations created in PowerPoint 2003 that have passwords will NOT OPEN in PowerPoint 2000.
  3. PowerPoint 2003 allows you to create more than one slide master. Multiple slide masters may not be viewable in earlier PowerPoint versions.
  4. Comments created in PowerPoint 2003 WILL NOT appear in earlier versions.
  5. PowerPoint 2000 will not be able to edit diagrams created in PowerPoint 2003.

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Excel

Compare Side by Side

Excel 2003 allows you to conveniently compare two workbooks side by side. To compare two workbooks side by side:

  1. From the Menu bar click on Window to Compare Side by Side.
  2. To go back to normal view, click on Close Side by Side.
Compare Side by Side

New Formulas

Excel 2003 offers new formulas. Examples of new formulas are FORECAST (for forecasting a linear pattern), RAND (picks a random number between 0 and 1), and GROWTH (returns numbers in an exponential growth trend).

Change Color of Worksheet Tabs

To make Excel more visually friendly, Microsoft has introduced the ability to color the tabs. To color the tabs:

  1. Right-click on the tab you want to change the color of.
  2. Select Tab Color.
  3. Choose the color you want and then click OK.

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Access

Access 2003 is Interchangeable with Access 2000

A positive feature in Access 2003 is its ability to open and save Access 2000 database files without the risk of corrupting the database. Prior versions ran the risk of corrupting the database if the database was not opened in the version it was originally created in. Fortunately with Access 2003, a database can be used interchangeably between Access 2000 and Access 2003. Access 2003 saves all databases in Access 2000 format. THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO ACCESS 97.

Viewing Object Dependencies

There may be times in Access where you cannot tell what tables or queries are dependent on one another. For example you may want to delete a table, but do not know if other tables will be effected. Fortunately in Access 2003, there is a feature that will show you how tables and queries are dependent on one another. To see dependencies:

  1. Click on View to Task Pane to open the Task Pane window.
  2. Click on the black down arrow located at the top of the Task Pane. A dropdown list will appear.
  3. Choose Object Dependencies.

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