Microsoft Word is a popular word processing program that allows users to create formatted text documents. It provides tools for formatting text, adding images and other objects, checking spelling and grammar, and laying out pages. While Word can perform many tasks, other programs are better suited for things like complex calculations, extensive sorting of data, precise page layouts, and web page authoring. The Word interface includes menus, toolbars, views, and a task pane to help the user navigate and work with documents efficiently.

1. Introduction to MS Word Microsoft Word is the top-selling word processing application for c reating formatted text-based documents.

2. What Word Can do You can use Word to create any document that is composed primarily of text, such as letters, resumes, reports, articles, and books. More complex examples include outlines, newsletters, flyers, brochures, form letters, and mailing labels. Word documents can include cross-references, footnotes, endnotes, tables, captions, and bookmarks. They can even include hypertext links to other documents or to locations on the World Wide Web. Speaking of the Web, you can use Word to create Web pages, too. You can use Word's formatting tools to turn your document into a work of art. You can change the font, style, size, and color of text characters. You can add spacing between lines or paragraphs. You can indent text, align text, and put boxes around text. Just don't get carried away or your work of art might look like something that belongs in a trash heap instead of a gallery. Word's writing tools can help you be a better writer. Its spelling checker can help you avoid spelling mistakes and can suggest correct spellings for questionable words. Its AutoCorrect feature corrects common errors on the fly as you type, so you don't have to interrupt your train of thought by going back to correct them manually. Its thesaurus can help you find the perfect word to communicate exactly what you mean. And if you have to write a paper with a word limit, its word count feature can make the task much easier.

3. What Word Can’t Do There isn't much that Word can't do, but there are some things that it doesn't do very well. For example, if your document consists primarily of columns of numbers on which you need to perform mathematical calculations, you're better off with Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet application. Word can handle the columns of numbers and even perform some simple calculations, but Excel is designed for that type of work and does it much better. If your document consists of lists of information that you need to sort or search, you're better off with a database application. Word can handle simple databases that you can sort and search, but Microsoft Access or FileMaker Pro is made for that job and does it far better. If you want to create a document with precisely positioned graphics and text that wraps around them, you're better off with Adobe PageMaker or InDesign. Word can handle simple page layouts, but desktop publishing software is designed to meet all kinds of page layout needs so it's a better tool for the job. Finally, if you want to create Web pages, you'd be better off with a Web authoring tool such as Dreamweaver or Microsoft Front Page. Sure, you can create Web pages with Word, but its HTML support is limited. Web authoring tools are made to create Web pages and do that job much better.

4. Open a new Word Document Choose Start  Programs  Microsoft Office  Word 2003 double-click the Word program icon on your desktop. OR

5. The Word Window When you first start Word, your computer screen fills with menus, toolbars, and a document window. 1. Menu bar 2. Standard toolbar 3. Formatting toolbar 4. Document window 5. Title bar 6. Close button 7. Restore/Maximize button 8. Minimize button 9. Scroll bars 11. View buttons 12. Browse Object controls 13. Insertion point 14. End-of-document marker 15. I-beam pointer 16. Ruler 17. Status bar 18. Task Pane 1 2 3 4 6 5 7 9 8 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 9

6. Menus Like most programs, Word displays most of its commands on menus. You click the name of the menu to display it, then click the name of the command to choose it. Some of Word's menus include submenus that pop out when you click the submenu name. To choose a command on a submenu, you must first display the submenu.

7. Word includes the Personalized Menus feature. This feature displays the menu commands you use most often on a shorter menu. To display all commands on the menu, you can either double-click the menu name, click the arrows at the bottom of the menu, or wait a few seconds and it will open. Personalized menus display only the most often used menu commands. As you can see, commands that don't appear on the shorter menus have a slightly different shading in the side column than those that do. When you select a command from an expanded menu, the command is automatically added to the short version of the menu. The next time you display the short version of the menu, the command you selected will appear.

8. Word also supports shortcut or context menus that display commands that are specific to what you are working on. To display one of these menus, point to an item with which you want to work, for example, some selected text. Then press the right mouse button. The menu appears. Choose the command you want. A shortcut or context menu displays only the commands that can be used on an item. This menu shows commands that relate to text sections of your document. RIGHT CLICK !

9. Shortcut Keys Word also supports shortcut keys for accessing menu commands. To use a shortcut key, press the modifier key and the letter or number key for the shortcut. For example, the shortcut key for the Save command on the file menu is Control-S. You can learn a shortcut key for a command by consulting the menu on which the command appears. Many shortcut keys are displayed beside their corresponding menu commands.

10. Toolbars Word includes over a dozen toolbars for accessing commands. Two of them are displayed by default: Standard and Formatting. Standard toolbar Formatting toolbar To use a toolbar button, simply click it. Some buttons are really menus; click the button to display the menu, then click the command you want. You can show or hide a toolbar by choosing the name of the toolbar from the Toolbars submenu under the View menu.

11. To learn what a tool on a toolbar does, point to it. A yellow box called a ToolTip appears. The button's name is inside the box. When you first start Word, the most commonly used buttons appear on each toolbar. As you work with Word, the toolbars automatically change to remove buttons you rarely use and display the buttons you use most often. A toolbar may not be able to display all of its buttons. Click on the >> at the end of the toolbar to display all of its buttons.

12. Menus can be docked or floating. To float a docked toolbar, drag it away from its docked position. To dock a floating toolbar, double-click its title bar. A floating toolbar can be positioned anywhere on screen. Some toolbars and menus can be "torn off" and positioned as floating palettes. To do this, simply grab at the dotted bar and drag the menu away from the toolbar. Standard toolbar Formatting toolbar

13. Views Normal view shows the document as continuously scrolling text. It does not display margins, headers, footers or page numbers. It is usually used to quickly enter, edit and format text. Web Layout view displays the contents of the document as it would appear on the web. It is useful when you are using Word to create a web page. Word wrap depends on window width, just like many Web pages. This feature also makes it useful if you are working with multiple files open on your desktop and need to see the content without concern for the page formatting Print Layout displays the document as it will print on paper. This view displays margins, headers, footers and page numbers. Outline view helps you organize and work with the structure of your document. This view lets you collapse a document to see all the main headings and text. It is great when working on long documents. Reading View displays your document like pages in a book. The pages are designed to fit well on your screen — and text is automatically displayed using Microsoft ClearType technology, which makes the document more legible. Word offers you 5 ways to view your documents To switch from view to view, use commands under the View menu or click one of the View buttons at the bottom left-hand corner of the window.

14. Document Navigation Use scroll bars: Click the up or down scroll arrow to move through the document. Or drag the scroll box up or down. If you drag the scroll box, a yellow box with the page number and heading (if applicable) appears to indicate what part of the document you'll be in when you release the mouse button. Use the Document Map: Click the Document Map button in the Standard toolbar to display a list of headings in a windowpane to the left of the document window. Click the heading for the section you want to work with. You can navigate through a long document in a number of ways: Use the Go To command: Choosing Edit  Go To displays the Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. Use options in this dialog box to go to a specific place in the document.

15. The Task Pane The task pane is a multipurpose window pane that appears on the right side of the window of an Office application. Options are visible and keep you productive No more hunting through menus to find the options you need. They are at your fingertips. Microsoft Office Online is one mouse click away From most of the task panes, you can go to the Office Online Web site and browse for more clip art, templates, and help. The Getting Started task pane is displayed when an application is launched. It provides direct access to Help (via Search) and the most-recently used files corresponding to that application. There is also a link to the Open dialog box (via More) and the option to create a variety of new file types - documents, templates, email messages, text files, etc Getting Started Task Pane

16. Clicking on the arrow in the corner of the task pane displays a pull down menu of the other available task panes.

17. Help Task Pane The Office Help system is now seamlessly integrated with online Help from Microsoft, providing many more possible solutions to your problem. Type a phrase or question in the Search for box, and press Enter , or use one of the other quick links to the MS Office online help site. Helpful links will be displayed in the Search Results Pane. Search Results Pane

18. Clip Art Pane How you find and insert clip art in the Office applications has been made much easier by the introduction of the Clip Art task pane. This task pane enables you to quickly search for clip art using a keyword search. Clip art that matches your search parameters is then immediately shown in the Clip Art task pane as thumbnails.

19. Research Pane The newest Office task pane is the Research task pane. The Research task pane provides a tool that can be used to access all sorts of information related to a selection in a Word document, Excel worksheet, or PowerPoint Presentation. These tools can be standard tools such as the Thesaurus and can also consist of specialized data sources created to find specific kinds of information.

20. Office Clipboard Pane Enables you to view items that you copy and cut to the Office Clipboard. You can manage up to 24 items on the Clipboard and paste them within an application or between applications.

21. New Document Task Pane Enables you to start a new document. It also provides access to various document templates and the capability to open recently used templates.

22. The Office Assistant The Office Assistant is the character that looks like a paperclip with big eyes. If the Office Assistant does not appear on your screen, choose Help  Show the Office Assistant. In Office 2003, the little guy is really just there for sentimental reasons. In this release, his duties have been taken over by the new TASK PANE To get help from the Office Assistant, click it. A yellow cartoon balloon appears. Enter your question in the box and click the Search button. A search of the Microsoft Office website will display articles of interest in the research results task pane.