A reference sheet for Microsoft Office programs: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Story

Microsoft Office is described as an office suite of various applications, services, and servers that was developed by Microsoft. The Office product was first announced in 1988 by none other than Bill Gates at the COMDEX (Computer Dealer Show) held in Las Vegas. The office suite was originally a marketing term for the bundled suite of applications. The original version of Microsoft Office included Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Over the years, the Microsoft Office application has gradually changed to better suit the needs of users. The changes include shared features such as OLE data integration, spell checker, and also Visual Basic (VB) for applications with the scripting language. Due to the popularity and effectiveness of the MS Office application, the number of users has steadily increased and Softpedia announced in July 2012 that there are now more than 1 billion users worldwide.

Microsoft Office versions

The desktop version of MS Office is available for all Windows-based platforms and also for MAC OS X. MS has also introduced an optimized touch version that is pre-installed on Windows RT tablets to allow mobile users to make use of the services of Microsoft through Office Mobile, which can be accessed for free on iOS, Android, and of course Windows Phone. Office Online is the web-based version and Microsoft has already declared its plans to create more versions for other popular platforms.

The MS Office application is quite easy to use and understand. However, beginners may find it difficult to maneuver through the app, so here are some tips on how to easily use the apps.

Microsoft Word

MS Word is basically a word processor and was initially considered as the main program of the Office application. Currently there are more than 10 versions of MS Word and more than half are considered obsolete or irrelevant. The most widely used versions of MS Word are Word 2003, Word 2007, Word 2010 and Word 2013. The following are helpful tips on how to easily navigate MS Word and its different versions.

Word 2003

This version of MS Word is a perfect tool for creating impressive looking documents; from formatting, page numbering, indexes and even more options to choose from. This version of MS Word has a few tricks up its sleeve that can help anyone master document creation. One of the best features of MS Word 2003 is that it will automatically save your work every few minutes. This means that you will still have your document even if you experience a computer shutdown. You can also automatically save your documents by following these steps:

Go to Tools, then Options and click the Save tab. Make sure the Save Automatic Recovery check box is checked, and then type your preferred backup interval into the Minutes box, and then click OK.

Word 2007

MS Word 2007 is basically the same as the other versions, but it has added some features that can help you create better documents with ease. Word 2007 offers editing and formatting keyboard shortcuts that are already well known to countless Windows users. It also features common and not-so-common keyboard commands, like pressing Ctrl + Shift + G to show the word count.

Word 2010

There are some new changes in Word 2010, but the basic keyboard shortcuts remain the same. The format and other shortcut keys are basically the same as in previous versions. One cheat sheet that we would like to share is aligning your texts with Word 2010 so that it is much easier when you use tabs instead of the space bar.

Word 2013

Word 2013 can have a complex ribbon that has tabs and other useful icons. However, the complexity is only temporary, as the keyboard shortcuts and basic commands are the same as in the other versions of MS Word. A good tip when using Word 2013 is to press Shift + Enter to embed a smooth return which can be very handy when you need to split a line of text such as in an address or in the title of a document.

Microsoft Excel

There are more than 10 versions of Microsoft Excel, but the most popular versions are Excel 2007, Excel 2010, and Excel 2013. Some of Excel’s functions apply to various subject areas, while most of the functions are actually general and can be they can use for all needs. Excel functions are basically the same regardless of versions like SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, INT, and ROUND, just to name a few. The order of operations when using Excel begins with parentheses, exponents, multiplication and division, and addition and subtraction.

Microsoft PowerPoint

MS PowerPoint is a slideshow program that was released in 1990. There are more than 10 versions of MS PowerPoint and the most widely used are the 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013 versions. The commands and functions of the different versions are actually the same as themselves. However, users must learn the basic formatting shortcuts to ensure their presentation is outstanding.