We’ve all been using Microsoft Word forever, right? We know how it works. But new features in Word 2010 can change what we think we all know so well. The class “Word 2010 New Features” from train.msu.edu/lynda/ can help you learn all about those new features. I’ll share a few with you today.

Office 2007 brought in the “ribbon.” Love it or hate it, we all had to learn to use it. With Word 2010, you can customize it to have all the features you use most, even adding your own tabs populated with your macros.  Also, Word Art was text added as a graphic, meaning you were stuck with the default styles and there was no spell check.  Now, text effects are still text, meaning they can be spell checked and saved as text, not a graphic (see screenshot).

There is a new name for the “File” tab in Word 2010, called Word Backstage View. In the past, you would go to “File” to save, open, print, etc. These options are still there, but you can also see information about your document, such as size, last saved, length, editing time, permissions and previous versions. One of the best features of Backstage is when you are creating a new document. Office.com Templates are displayed in Backstage without searching. Why start all over on a document when you can “step backstage” and use a template? The combination Print and Preview window reflects setting changes in real time.

Finally, the addition of the Navigation Pane allows you to rearrange your document with drag and drop. Improved built-in picture correction tools include recolor, crop, photo-editing options like background removal, and Artistic Effects like pencil sketch, without ever leaving the program.

Learn more at train.msu.edu/lynda/.

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