Jon Frank’s Weblog

I just came across a great tool for Office 2007. I’ve been getting a lot of comments, questions, cries for help and they’ve mostly been something like this:

“Jon I’ve upgraded to the new Office and can’t figure it out! I used to be able to do X but can’t find that command in the new version.”

Well Microsoft has the answer for you. In which ever application you are using, I’ll use Word for my example, hit Help. In the search box type:

“2003 commands”

The first entry should be:

“Interactive: Word 2003 to Word 2007 Command Reference Guide”

Clicking on this will take you to a section of help explaining Microsoft’s Flash tool that will help you find that tricky command in the 2007 version.

Warning: You need to have the Adobe Flash plug-in installed for your browser and this tool to work.

Hit the Start This Guide button and your browser will launch, taking you to the Microsoft website and this Flash based tool. You’ll see a Welcome screen with a start button. Click start and it’ll take you to the Word 2003 toolbars. Click on the command you’re looking for and it will pop up with the new Ribbon interface and walk you through where that command is in the 2007 version.

 I tested it in Excel & Word and was really impressed. I think it’ll save a lot of us some grief as we get used to the new version and the Ribbon.

Update: Well I’ve discovered that seaching for 2003 commands doesn’t always bring up the right entry in Help. So I’ve listed the direct link to the Microsoft website for each program below.

Word:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/asstvid.aspx?assetid=XT100766331033&vwidth=1044&vheight=788&type=flash&CTT=11&Origin=HA100744321033 
Excel:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/asstvid.aspx?assetid=XT101493291033&vwidth=1044&vheight=788&type=flash&CTT=11&Origin=HA101491511033 
Outlook:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/asstvid.aspx?assetid=XT102221751033&vwidth=1044&vheight=788&type=flash&CTT=11&Origin=HA102221621033 
PowerPoint:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/asstvid.aspx?assetid=XT101493271033&vwidth=1044&vheight=788&type=flash&CTT=11&Origin=HA101490761033 
Access:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/asstvid.aspx?assetid=XT102389151033&vwidth=1044&vheight=788&type=flash&CTT=11&Origin=HA102388991033