Almost ten years ago, Microsoft released Word 97. Since that time, Word has remained unchanged except for minor, and sometimes annoying, improvements. Word had become stagnant, so Microsoft redesigned it. MS Word 2007 is the first truly new version in a decade. Despite Word’s brand new look, all the good stuff is still there.
Yet, MS Word’s elegant new look is more than just another pretty (inter)face. It is intuitive. There is almost no learning curve here. Though the menu arrangement is radically different, it’s logical; finding and applying features is fast and simple. Previously, for example, one had to navigate through several nested menus to change line spacing in Word. Now, clicking an icon displayed on the home ribbon opens the relevant dialog. It used to take a bit of work to add or remove spacing before or after paragraphs; now those options are immediately available.
Document statistics, which used to be available through the Tools menu, are now accessible on the status bar. Even better, the status bar constantly updates word count. There’s no need to look any deeper. The addition of a zoom slider is another handy status bar feature.
Changing formatting and style is not merely simple; Word lets you preview those changes before applying them. Word also lets you choose between Chicago, APA, MLA and several other styles when adding citations. Too bad AP style is not among the options.
Graphics handling is vastly improved. Graphics are stickier and less likely to wriggle all over the page as they used to. Graphics are customizable using a number of effects including drop shadows, bevels, feathered or glowing edges and more. Sophisticated and well built, Word 2007 is worth the investment.