Chapter 2. A New Look

What you’ll find in this chapter:

• Learning the landscape: The new user interface

• The new File menu

• Using the Quick Access toolbar

• New view controls

• Keyboard support

The most talked-about change in the 2007 Microsoft^® Office system—the one the public was so excited to see for the first time—is the revolutionary change in the Microsoft Office system user interface. As you learned in Chapter 1, a great amount of research, testing, thought, and effort went into designing an end user experience that puts the needs of the information worker (or business owner or manager) at the center. In other words, the software is supposed to work the way you do. To accomplish that goal, the way the programs interact with you must be smooth and seamless. Commands need to be easy to find; the right tools must show up when you need them; and the work area must be open and uncluttered so you can focus on the most important task at hand—completing your project, not wrangling with multilevel menus and bottomless nests of dialog boxes.