The first new part of Office is the Office button: the large round yellow button in the top left of the screen (we are using Word as an example in this feature, but the new Ribbon appears in all Office 2007 programs). This is like a Start button for Office programs and can be used to access functions that used to be in the File menu, such as creating, opening and saving files. The Program Options window can also be fowld here.

To the right of the Office button is the Quick Access bar, with a small selection of frequently used icons including Save - this is one area of the Ribbon that can be customised, as we'll explain shortly.

The Ribbon itself is made up of seven tabs that are always available, although the visible tab will change depending on certain tasks in the main part of the docwnent. For example, mo.ve the cursor into a table and a tab with all the editing and fonilatting icons relating to tables will appear automatically. Move the cursor back into ordinary text and the Ribbon will return to the previous tab.

The Home tab has icons for some common tasks; there are options for editing the font and paragraph as well as Styles. Office 2007 gives a preview of how a style would affect your document as you move the cursor over the different options.
At the bottom of each group is the title and, to the right, a small icon that looks like an arrow pointing out of a box. Left-click on this to open the full options for that group. These windows are little changed from previous versions of Office.

The Insert tab is used for inserting anything not found on the keyboard into a document, whether it is a letter with an accent, a picture or some clipart. Headers and Footers can also be accessed from this tab. The Page Layout tab is used to set the margins and backgroWlds for documents, while References has tools for creating an index and table of contents, both of which are really handy for presentations or academic work.

The Mailing tab brings together the tools for creating mail merges, when several documents are created from a template changing details, such as name and address. Word processors provide some handy tools to make sure your document contains no errors and you'll find these Wlderthe Review tab. Finally, View can be used to change the way the document is displayed.