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IT Hints and Tips

These hints and tips may entice you to step up to Word 2010 and will certainly benefit iPhone users.

This article is all about giving you a helping hand to gain the most from your technology.

Learn about:

  • The top 10 benefits of the soon-to-be released 2010 version of Word
  • Tips for the estimated one million-plus Australian iPhone users

Microsoft Office 2010 will be released in just a matter of weeks. The product suite includes Word, Access, PowerPoint, Publisher, Outlook, InfoPath, Excel, SharePoint Workspace, OneNote, Communicator, Visio and Project.

The top 10 benefits of the new version of Word are:

1. Improved search and navigation experience.
Locating the information you need is faster and easier in Word 2010. With the new and improved Find experience, you can view a summary of search results in a single pane, and click to access any individual result. The improved Navigation Pane provides a visual outline of your document so you can browse, sort, and find what you need quickly.

2. Work with others without having to wait your turn.
Word 2010 redefines the way people can work together on a document. With co-authoring, you can edit papers and share ideas with others at the same time (requires either SharePoint Foundation Services or a Windows Live account). And if you are using  Communicator, you can also view the availability of others who are authoring a document with you and easily initiate a conversation without leaving Word.

3. Access and share your documents from virutally anywhere.
Post your documents online and then access, view and edit them from almost any computer using Microsoft Word Web App, or your Windows phone using Microsoft Word Mobile 2010.

4. Add visual effects to your text.
With Word 2010, you can apply formatting effects such as shadow, bevel, glow and reflection as easily as applying bold or underline. You can also spell check text that uses visual effects, and add text effects to paragraph styles.

5. Turn your text into compelling diagrams.
Word 2010 offers more options to add visual impact to your documents. Choose from dozens of additional SmartArt Graphics to build impressive diagrams just by typing a bulleted list. Use SmartArt to transform basic, bullet point text into compelling visuals that better illustrate your idea.

6. Add visual impact to your document.
New picture-editing tools in word 2010 enable you to add special picture effects without additional photo-editing software. You can easily adjust pictures with color saturation and temperature controls. Word 2010 also includes improved tools for easier and more precise cropping and image correction.

7. Recover work you thought was lost.
If you have ever accidentally closed a document without saving it you will appreciate Word 2010's improvements in this area! The program now lets you recover draft versions of recently edited files as easily as opening a file, even if you never saved the document.

8. Transcend communication barriers.
Word 2010 helps you to work and communicate effectively across different languages with the inbuilt translation features. Set separate language settings for ScreenTips, Help content and displays. And get additional assistance for English as a second language with English text-to-speech playback.

9. Insert screenshots and handwriting into your documents.
Capture and insert screenshots directly from word 2010 to quickly and easily incorporate visual illustrations into your work. When using a tablet-enabled device such a s a Tablet PC or Wacom tablet, you get improved tools for formatting ink as easily as formatting shapes.

10. Accomplish more with an enhanced user experience.
Word 2010 simplifies how you access features. The new Microsoft Office Backstage view replaces the traditional File menu to let you save, share, print and publish your documetns with just a few clicks. The improved Ribbon allows you to access your favorite commands more quickly by customising tabs or creating your own to personalise the experience to your work style.

If you are one of the more than one million iPhone users in Australia, then you might appreciate one of these tips:

  • Divert incoming calls to voicemail by double tapping the Sleep/Wake button on the top of your phone
  • Typing an email address? Press and hold the full stop key and a selection of endings such as .com, .net, .edu with appear. Unfortunately you will still need to type the .au for Australian addresses
  • Speed up typing with this neat trick! When you need to type a capital letter, place your finger on the shift key and drag it to the letter that you want as a capital. The keyboard will automatically return to lower case so that you can continue typing immediately. This tip also works for the numbers and symbols key so you can quickly punctuate your messages.
  • Want your camera, phone favorites or music to open automatically when you double click the home button? Go to Settings-General-Home (you may need to scroll down) and then select how you want the key to behave.
  • Need to take a snapshot of your iPhone screen? Press the power and home buttons simultaneously and you will have a screenshot which is saved to your camera roll. Now you can always boast about that game high score!

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