Synopses & Reviews
First, the promise: Because Microsoft Office 97 is an integrated suite of applications, your spreadsheet, word processor, database, presentation graphics program, and personal information manager not only share a common user interface, but allow you to share data among the programs seamlessly.Now the reality: Despite marked improvements from version to version, there is much in Office 97 that remains annoying. Maybe it's the fact that identical user interface options are implemented differently -- and sometimes are not implemented at all -- in individual Office applications. Or maybe it's that Office is too integrated; there are pan-Office "sticky" settings that, when set in one application, affect all other Office applications too.Office 97 Annoyances takes a look at these and other annoyances and shows how to get rid of them so that you can get your work done more easily and efficiently. For instance, the book shows you how to:
- Configure the Office Shortcut Bar to provide an effective tool for accessing your Office applications and documents
- Customize the toolbar of each Office application except Outlook so that it reflects the way that you work rather than the needs of Microsoft's marketing machine
- Use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) as a macro language to control the behavior of the individual Office components, in the process removing many of their annoyances
Sometimes, you can't do anything to improve Office's integration -- or lack of it. But you can reduce your annoyance level simply by knowing where Office's integration is most problematic.
Office 97 Annoyances also arms you with knowledge in the following areas:
- The pan-Office "sticky" settings
- Shortcomings in the Office Binder, an integration utility developed to address shortcomings in Office integration
Office 97 Annoyances is for the users who want to be as productive as possible when using Office 97. Learning which Office annoyances you can and can't eliminate will save you countless hours (and endless aggravation) when working with Microsoft Office 97.
Synopsis
"Office 97 Annoyances" illustrates step-by-step how to get control over the chaotic settings of Office 97. The Office user can save a great amount of time and frustration by simply reading and following the numerous tips and customizations that the authors have laid out in an orderly and humorous fashion.
Synopsis
Despite marked improvements from version to version, much in Office 97 remains annoying. Two dozen shortcuts are scattered on the Start menu in no apparent order; the Shortcut Bar is filled with an overwhelming number of applications; and many hidden gems are tucked away in various places on the Office 97 CD. "Office 97 Annoyances illustrates step-by-step how to get control over the chaotic settings of Office 97 and shows how to turn the vast array of applications into a simplified list of customized tools ready to execute task the task at hand. This book shows you how to: Configure the Office Shortcut Bar to provide an effective tool for accessing Office applications and documentsCustomize the toolbar of each Office application except OutlookUse Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) as a macro language to control the behavior of the individual Office componentsControl pan-Office "sticky" settingsManage shortcomings in the Office Binder, an integration utility developed to address shortcomings in Office integration
About the Author
Lee Hudspeth is a co-founder of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. (Hermosa Beach, CA), a Microsoft Solution Provider. His background is in operations research, financial analysis, and marketing analysis (formerly with Unocal Corp.). He has coauthored several books on Office, including The Underground Guide to Microsoft Office, OLE, and VBA and The Underground Guide to Excel 5.0 for Windows. He is co-editor-in-chief of the monthly newsletter Woody's Underground Office. He's a Microsoft MVP (Most Valued Professional), coauthor of the Microsoft course on application development using WordBasic, and a certified Microsoft trainer in Visual Basic and WordBasic. Along with other PRIME Consulting staff, Lee has developed innumerable lines of VB, VBA, and WordBasic code for the firm's numerous Office add-ins (PRIME for Excel and PRIME for Word), going way back to Word 2.0. Lee also writes and delivers Office usage and development custom courses to hordes of interested parties the world over.
T.J. Lee, a co-founder of PRIME Consulting Group, has a background as a certified public accountant and has done computer and management consulting for years. He has coauthored several books on Office, including The Underground Guide to Microsoft Excel 5 and The Underground Guide to Microsoft Office, OLE and VBA. T.J. is co-editor-in-chief of the monthly newsletter Woody's Underground Office and a certified Microsoft trainer. He has written countless courseware packages and manuals, coauthored the Microsoft Education Services course on Developing Applications in Word, and taught and lectured for thousands of developers and end users.
Woody Leonhard's books include Windows 3.1 Programming for Mere Mortals, The Underground Guide to Word for Windows, The Hacker's Guide to Word for Windows, The Mother of All PC Books, The Mother of All Windows 95 Books, and several others. He was series editor for Addison-Wesley's Underground Guides (11 books) and A-W's Hacker's Guides (4 books). Along with T.J. Lee and Lee Hudspeth he's editor-in-chief of PC Computing's Undocumented Office, a monthly hardcopy newsletter. He's a contributing editor at PC Computing (circulation 1,000,000+), and productivity editor for Office Computing (circulation 400,000), a new monthly magazine from the editors of PC Computing. He also publishes a free weekly electronic news bulletin on Microsoft Office called WOW (Woody's Office Watch), available by sending email to [email protected]. Woody's software company makes WOPR (Woody's Office POWER Pack), the number-one enhancement to Microsoft Office. A self-described "grizzled computer hack, frustrated novelist and Office victim," by day he's a Tibetan human rights activist and co-founder of the Tibetan Children's Fund. Woody lives on top of a mountain in Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado.