The practice exercises in this book have been designed to lead you step by step through some of the tasks you are most likely to want to perform in the following programs, which are available in any edition of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac: Microsoft Word 2008 for Mac, Microsoft Excel 2008 for Mac, Microsoft PowerPoint 2008 for Mac, and Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac.
This book is divided into five parts, each covering a related set of tasks or features. This makes it easier to identify skills and methods you can use in more than one Office 2008 program.
If, after reading the book and completing the practice exercises in each chapter, you later need help remembering how to perform a procedure, the following features of this book will help you locate specific information:
Detailed table of contents. Scan this listing of the topics and sidebars within each chapter to quickly find the information you want.
Quick Reference. Find simple instructions for performing tasks and procedures covered in detail elsewhere in the book. In addition to the generic instructions, the Quick Reference includes tables of keyboard shortcuts that you can use to perform many common tasks.
Chapter thumb tabs. Easily locate the beginning of the chapter you want.
Topic-specific running heads. Within a chapter, quickly locate the topic you want by looking at the running heads of odd-numbered pages.
Glossary. Look up the meaning of a word or the definition of a concept.
Detailed index. Look up specific tasks and features, and general concepts, in the index, which has been carefully crafted with the reader in mind.
You can save time when reading this book and working through the practice exercises by understanding how special instructions, keys to press, buttons to click, and other conventions are indicated in this book.
Convention | Meaning |
|---|---|
This icon at the end of a chapter introduction indicates information about the practice files you will use when working through the exercises in the chapter. | |
SET UP | This paragraph preceding a step-by-step exercise indicates the practice files or programs that you will use when working through the exercise, and any requirements you should attend to before beginning the exercise. |
CLEAN UP | This paragraph following a step-by-step exercise indicates actions you should take to restore your system after completing the exercise, and provides instructions for closing open files or programs before moving on to another topic. |
1 2 | Blue numbered steps guide you through hands-on exercises in each topic. |
1 2 | Black numbered steps guide you through procedures in sidebars and in expository text. |
An arrow indicates a procedure that has only one step. Multiple arrows indicate multiple one-step options for achieving the desired results. | |
Practice Makes Perfect! | This paragraph at the beginning of each chapter indicates the location of the practice files that you will use in the chapter’s step-by-step exercises. |
Note | These paragraphs provide information pertinent to the preceding step or paragraph. |
Troubleshooting | These paragraphs warn you of potential missteps that might prevent you from continuing with the exercise. |
Tip | These paragraphs provide a helpful hint or shortcut that makes working through a task easier, or information about other available options. |
See Also | These paragraphs direct you to more information about a given topic elsewhere in this book. |
Resources | These paragraphs direct you to learning resources external to the book. |
Bonus Web Content | These paragraphs direct you to articles and exercises that are available from the book’s companion Web site, located at www.microsoft.com/mspress/companion/9780735626171. |
Interface elements | In steps, the names of keyboard keys and program elements, such as buttons, commands, and dialog boxes, are shown in black bold characters. |
The first time in an exercise that you are told to click a button, or when the insertion point changes to an alternative shape, a picture of the button or insertion point appears in the left margin. | |
Control+Tab | A plus sign (+) between two key names means that you must hold down the first key while you press the second key. For example, "Press Control+Tab" means "Hold down the Control key while you press the Tab key." |
User input | Text that you are supposed to type is shown in blue bold characters. |
Glossary terms | Terms explained in the glossary are shown in blue italic type. |
Item and screen element names | A variety of item and screen element names, such as file, folder and sheet tab names, placholder text, and emphasized words, are shown in italic characters. |
