This book is the perfect companion to the Word 2007, as neither will tell you want you want to know...And like Word 2007 itself is is very "user hostile" and near impossible to use..... Everytime time that I have tried to use it to look directions on a procedure , guess what, the subject wasn't there....I sent my copy back

I find this book a gem of information for the changes to Word 2007. The new program has so many things on the toolbar that I will never use, it is confusing and time consuming finding what I want. Plus the cluttered tool bar takes up my window space. This book has shown me shortcuts to get where I want to be and to unclutter some of the toolbar.

One reviewer has said you would think that Microsoft would spend more money and time on protecting is manual and this shows. I totally agree. If you want to learn how to use Microsoft word 2007 I would suggest you look for a different kind of manual.
This book depends entirely upon your using the so-called practice files on the CD. If these practice files don't show you what you need to know, you're out of luck. Let's take a look at some examples of how the book works:
The instructions for sending a fax are included in a text box about 3 x 5 inches and tell you virtually nothing about how to send a fax.
Instructions for adding bookmarks and cross-references occupied four pages of text and the only instruction really useful is found in a text box consisting of three sentences.
Instructions for creating and printing labels is covered in four pages of the text and refers you to the different elements of the practice files on the CD. Hopefully the files will show you everything you need to know because the text tells you nothing.
Chapter 6 "instructs" you on working with graphics symbols and equations. Of course it only tells you how to use the practice files.
This book takes up a lot of wasted space in your bookcase. In the interest in conserving both space and money you might want to consider purchasing a teaching disk. These are normally pretty useless things, but no more so than this Microsoft text. I give it one star because it does look impressive sitting on your shelf.

In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire Step-By-Step series covering MS Office. I strongly suggest any student, curious George or researcher to pick up a copy and read it. I recently purchased MS 2007 Access, Excel, Power Point and Word set in the Step-By-Step series. The authors are concise in their descriptions without being boring and the information is invaluable.

Another of the great Step by Step series which I felt quite excited about to find that the new features of this program were so clearly and methodically explained with excellent tutorials to make the learning experience easier. I can only encourage the authors of this series to keep up with the good work.

It's a pretty well laid out book, clear instructions. There are several different ways, different indexes and tables for the user to look up information (seem a bit redundant in my opinion). The pages are unusually thick, like construction paper, which seems a bit wasteful (extra padding?) But it is worth a look; comes with a CD with practice documents that are described in the book.

It's a very useful guide.

This book offers, like its title, step by step all the information to know the program and its application in the world of work.

I find the Step by Step series to be well done for those who have the discpline to self study. Very new users will be better served with the Plain and Simple Microsoft Office Word 2007 Plain & Simple series... (Plain & Simple Series)from Microsoft Press or the Easy series from Que.

Having recently written a training book, I appreciate the concise structure of these books.

I was attracted to this title because the I liked the concept of working through the examples in the book in tandem with the sample files on the accompanying CD.

This title is one of a series of "Step by Step" books published by Microsoft Press for the various 2007 Microsoft Office System applications
(I bought both this and the Excel book).

The books are good, but there are a surprising number of errors in the printed content. For example, on page 12 of the Word book, the table listing keyboard shortcuts for moving the insertion point indicates pressing Ctrl + End to move the insertion point to the beginning of the document (the Excel book has tons of errors).

Given who published these books, and the target audience, you'd think they would have been bullet-proofed.

As a Word user for a long time, the 2007 version looks much different. This book really helped me track the changes. I'm also helping some new users to Word and they thought it very easy to follow. They liked the CD with practice data for the work sessions. 'Microsoft Office Word 2007 Plain & Simple' is another book that is great for raw beginners, this would be a good follow-up. It's much more complete and goes into diagrams, charts, table of contents, index, mail merge, reviewing, email, and the Web. Will get to XML later. Well worth the $16.50!

Overall the book is well laid out and organized. It presents a series of 'lessons' that teach the basics of word processing - using the new format and capabilities of Word 2007. The very different layout of Word 2007 from its predecessors make this a welcome edition to someone seeking to learn the more advance features of Word 2007. It can be used by the beginner.

It, as most technical books do, assumes a level of knowledge and context that is not usually available to the new user. I noted a number of times when the text confused my wife, who is a relatively new Word user. She did, however, find the book very useful.

There is a problem with file 04 in Chapter 8 that prevents it from loading into Word. I was unable to find out where and if the correction was posted online. A call to Microsoft was absolutely no help. I am used to having access to corrections online, so was surprised at the inability to find the corrections for this book. The lack of help at Microsoft is more a condemnation of MS than the book, but no help after multiple calls was indeed frustrating.

Russ

I don't agree with the previous reviewer at all! I found this book to be a very good way to learn how to use the new version of Word, which is so different from the old version. The book teaches some cool projects that use features I didn't know about, and it's also really helpful to keep at my desk as a reference.

I bought this after having really good results with have two other books in the series (Outlook Step by Step and Windows Vista Step by Step). I'd definitely recommend the series.

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft))
Microsoft Windows Vista Step by Step

Contains little information that is not covered by the help files. Don't bother with this manual or series.