Word 2007
MS Word 2007 has many new features and changes.   The Menus of previous versions of MS Word such as File, Edit, View, Insert, etc. have been replaced by menu tabs.  Microsoft refers to the region above the document as “The Ribbon.”  (More on that later.) 
Buttons and Menus

Office Button Intro
When clicking on the “Office Button,” users are directed to document management functions such as saving, printing, emailing, opening other documents, or the generation of new documents.

Office Button Intro: Save As
Scrolling to the Save As option in the “Office Button” menu, offers users with multiple saving options.  Most importantly, is the Word 97 – 2003 option for the distribution of documents between locations that have not yet upgraded to Office 2007.  Whereas, previous versions of Word saved documents in a .doc format, Word 2007 documents now bear the file extension, .docx.

Office Button Intro: Print



Scrolling to the Print option in the “Office Button” menu allows users to Print Preview or to print documents.

Office Button Intro: Prepare

The Prepare option on the “Open Office” button allows users to set document security properties, including the “Run Compatibility Checker,” which allows users to check their document for compatibility with previous versions of MS Word.

Quick Access Toolbar

The Quick Access toolbar is found above the Tabbed menus, and next to the Office Button.  This feature is customizable by right-clicking on Tabbed menus line.  The Quick Access toolbar offers users the fastest access to Undo and Redo functions, as well as the Save button.

The Ribbon

The buttons and menus located above your document, are now called “The Ribbon.”
Home Tab

Pictured above is the Home tab that loads by default when Word starts.  The home tab allows users access to document formatting, such as fonts style and color, paragraph alignment, bullets, and the copy/paste functions.  The Home tab should be considered the replacement for Edit drop-down menu.
This tab is also the location of the Find and Replace functions.
Insert Tab

The Insert tab is the replacement for the Insert drop-down menu.  Users are able to insert page breaks, tables, pictures, headers and footers, and WordArt.

Page Layout Tab

The Page Layout tab is very similar to the old Format drop-down menu.  Using this tab, users are able to change margins, add watermarks, change paragraph spacing, and apply document themes and colors.

References Tab

The References Tab integrates source citation for research papers, and includes multiple styles.  This tab also provides easy access to the Table of Contents features that were once hidden in the Insert menu.
Mailings Tab

The Mailings tab provides users with easy access to envelopes and labels, and mail merge features.  The features are now more integrated with other programs such as Outlook, and the generation of merged documents.
Review Tab

The review tab is the new location of the Spelling and Grammar function, as well as the Thesaurus functions.  From here, users are also able to Protect documents so that multiple individuals can comment but not make edits.
View Tab

Add-Ins Tab

The Add-Ins tab will house additional features such as an Adobe Acrobat toolbar.
Picture Tools Tab

The Picture Tools tab appears above the other tabs, only when a picture is highlighted or clicked upon.  This toolbar provides access to picture editing features such as color, cropping, and shadows.
New to Word 2007
Changing Fonts
 When changing the font, highlight the section you wish to change.  Navigate to the Home Tab, and click on the drop-down font list.  As you slowly scroll through the list of fonts, hover over a font you are considering.  While hovering over a particular font, the text in your document will briefly change to this font as a preview.

Right-Clicking
The Right-clicking menu yields more features than in previous versions of Word.  However, using the Font drop-down on the right-click menu will not allow you to preview font selections, as mentioned in the above section.

New Font Colors and Document Themes
New font colors and document themes are available.  Fonts are available on the Home tab, and document themes are available on the Page Layout tab.
Tables
The table features can be found on the Insert tab.  It now features a graphical interface that allows users to choose the number of rows or columns.  However, the old Insert > Tables > Insert Table option is available below the graphical option.  The Insert > Tables > Insert Table function gives a pop-up window that is the same as in previous versions of Word.
The Insert >  Table > Excel Spreadsheet is much cleaner than in previous versions of Word, as it allows users to work directly in Excel, while any changes in the spreadsheet appear in the Word document.
Advanced Document Formatting
Word now offers many advanced document features for documents geared toward professional publications.  The Insert tab offers Cover Page options, formatted page numbers, Quick Parts (such as headers and footers), Drop Caps, and Symbols (such as mathematical or scientific).
Smart Art
The Smart Art feature found on the Insert Tab is the new name for Organizational and other types of diagrams.  The Chart feature refers to Excel-type spreadsheets.
View Side by Side
The View Side by Side feature found on the View tab, and it allows users to simply view documents side-by-side to make revisions or comparisons.  When using this feature, make sure you deselect Synchronous Scrolling, if you need to compare different pages.  Otherwise scrolling, will cause both documents to move at the same time.

Word 2007 How To’s
Minimize the Ribbon

1. Right-click on the Ribbon
2. Scroll to Minimize the Ribbon
3. Left-click on Minimize the Ribbon.
4. The Ribbon will now be minimized.
5. To see the Ribbon, you can either click on the menus, and the respective Ribbon will appear.  Or you can scroll to the menu bar, right-click, scroll to Minimize the Ribbon, and left-click.  The Ribbon will now appear full-size again.

Save As…Default Word 97 – 2003

1. Click on the Office Button
2. Scroll down to Word Options…
3. The Word Options window will appear.
4. Scroll down to Save.  (It is the 4th option down.)
5. The first option under Save is “Save files in this format:”
6. In the “Save files in this format:” drop-down, select: Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc)
7. Click on OK.
8. Your default Save As… and Save will now save documents as a .doc rather than a .docx.
9. This is especially important is your are sending files to individuals who are working with Word 2003 or earlier.

Save As and Adobe PDF

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button, point to the arrow next to Save As, and then click PDF or XPS.
2. In the File Name list, type or select a name for the document.
3. In the Save as type list, click PDF.
4. If you want to open the file immediately after saving it, select the Open file after publishing check box.  This check box is available only if you have a PDF reader installed on your computer.
5. Next to Optimize for, do one of the following, depending on whether file size or print quality is more important to you:
1. If the document requires high print quality, click Standard (publishing online and printing).
2. If the print quality is less important than file size, click Minimum size (publishing online).
6. Click Options to set the page range to be printed, to choose whether markup should be printed, and to select output options.  (Find links to more information on these options in the See Also section.)  Click OK.
7. Click Publish.

Note: The third-party products discussed in this article are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding performance or reliability of these products.
Customize the Quick Access Toolbar

1. Click on the Office button.
2. Scroll to Word Options.
3. In the Word Options window, scroll to Customize and click on it.
4. Choose a command from the left-hand list, and click “Add>>.”

5. You may add as many or as few commands to the Quick Access toolbar as you wish.
6. You may also move the Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon, by clicking in the checkbox below the list of commands.

The arrow is pointing to the Quick Access to the Quick Access toolbar, placed below the Ribbon.