Office 2007's Ribbon offers you a more uncluttered interface as it is, but if you're running at low resolutions or if the Ribbon still bothers you, you can minimise it-just double-click on one of the tabs. This gives Word a Notepad-like look, where you can concentrate all your energies on typing and not be distracted by any graphical elements.

Another handy tip, as you'll witness in the screenshot: if you're working for extended periods on a CRT monitor, change the page colour to black (Page Layout Tab > Page Colour) to ease the strain on your eyes.