Microsoft KB Archive/157478

= WD97: What's New in Word 97 =

Article ID: 157478

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q157478



SUMMARY
The following information was taken from Word 97 online Help.



MORE INFORMATION
For your convenience, we've assembled this list of key features in Word 97, along with ideas about how you might apply them to your work. (Most of the features listed are new in Word 97, but a few were introduced in Word 95.)

What's new with automating your tasks and getting assistance?

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Word 97 provides an extensive set of automatic features that make everyday tasks easier.

AutoCorrect ---

Word can correct the following errors automatically while you type:

- Accidental usage of the CAPS LOCK key; new in Word 95. For example, Word replaces tHESE with These at the beginning of a sentence and then turns off CAPS LOCK.

- Plural and possessive forms of a word; new in Word 95. For example, if  you have an AutoCorrect entry that inserts Sweet Lil whenever you type SL, Word also automatically changes SL's to Sweet Lil's.

- Common multiple word spelling errors. For example, Word replaces "int  he" with "in the".

- Common word pairs that are spelled correctly but are grammatically incorrect when used together. For example, Word replaces "your a" with "you're a".

AutoFormat As You Type --

Word can format text automatically as you type:

- Word creates numbered and bulleted lists when you start a list with a  number or an asterisk; new in Word 95.

- Word creates a single or double border for you when you type three or  more consecutive hyphens (-) or equal signs (=) in a row and then press ENTER; new in Word 95.

- Word applies built-in heading styles to text, such as Heading 1, when you type a line of text with no ending punctuation and then press ENTER twice; new in Word 95.

- Word formats ordinal numbers and fractions, such as changing 1st to 1st with the "st" superscripted or 1/4 to 1/4 ; new in Word 95.

- Word formats network and Internet paths--such as \\Reports\May\Week1.doc and http://www.microsoft.com/ - as hyperlinks. When you click an  Internet hyperlink, Word starts your Web browser and takes you to the specified Web page. When you click a network hyperlink, Word starts the program necessary to open the destination and opens the file specified.

- Word automates the lead-in emphasis; that is, detects the formatting applied in the first list item and applies it to the next item. For example:

1. Word 97 is smart! It does the work for you. 2. Word 97 is cool! It makes your document look amazing.

- When you type +++, Word creates a table with a column for each pair of + signs.

- Word detects leading spaces that correspond to the left margin of the bulleted or numbered paragraph above and changes your left indentation for you.

- Word formats your text as bold if you enclose the text with an asterisk (for example, *test* will bold the word test). Word will format your text with italics if you enclose the text with an underscore (for  example, _test_ will italizice the word test).

AutoComplete

Word can automatically offer suggestions for the rest of the word or phrase you are typing. To accept the suggestion, you press ENTER and Word automatically replaces your partially typed word with the completed word. Word 97 will automatically complete:

- The current date - A day of the week - A month other than the current one - Your name and company name - AutoText entries

AutoSummarize -

You can use the Word AutoSummarize feature to automatically summarize the key points in a document. Word analyzes your document statistically and linguistically to determine the most important sentences and gives you a custom summary based on this analysis. With AutoSummarize, you can highlight the key points in an online document and view it at different levels of detail. Or you can automatically create a separate summary or abstract. You have total control of the length of the summary.

It's important that you comply with all applicable copyright laws when using this feature. You should review the accuracy of any summary because it is, by its nature, not the entirety of the work

Automatic style creation and style preview --

Words 97 includes the following style improvements:

- It automatically creates a style for you when you apply new formatting to your text.

- It can automatically redefine styles to reflect your recently applied changes.

- It gives you an instant preview of each style from the Style list on the Formatting toolbar.

Letter Wizard -

The Letter Wizard in Word 97 can help you write a new letter quickly and easily, or it can help you change and add to elements in your existing letter. It includes:

- Letter Wizard dialog box. Accessible from the Tools menu, this dialog box provides letter element choices you can make to easily build your letter. If you've already started a letter, this dialog box displays the appropriate information from your letter, so you can get an instant snapshot of what you have and what you need. In addition, Word remembers whom you've sent letters to and stores all related information, such as  contact names, addresses, and titles, in a list. When you send a letter to a previous recipient, all you have to do is select that person's name from a list, and Word automatically fills in the rest of the information for you.

- Step-by-step help through the Office Assistant. When you type in a  common letter opening, such as "Dear Joe," Word recognizes it as a   letter opening and immediately offers to step you through the letter creation process using the Office Assistant. The Office Assistant is  fully integrated with the Letter Wizard dialog box and provides hints and details on all the letter elements.

- Easy text reuse. Once you use the Letter Wizard, Word automatically adds structure and styles to your letter by converting letter elements into AutoText List fields. For example, the closing text "Sincerely" is  converted to a Closing field. When you right-click the word "Sincerely," a menu appears that offers alternative closings, such as "Best regards" and "Cordially." You can easily replace "Sincerely" with any of these closings just by clicking it.

Office Assistant

The Office Assistant, which replaces the Word 95 Answer Wizard, uses IntelliSense natural-language technology. The Assistant anticipates the kind of help you need and suggests Help topics based on the work you're doing. You can also type a Help request in your own words and get the answer you need. You can have the Assistant offer to start a wizard when you begin certain tasks, such as creating a letter. The new Office Assistant character in Word 97 is a central place for you to get tips on how to use Word features more efficiently and find visual examples and step-by-step instructions for specific tasks.

What's new with editing and proofing tools?

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Word 97 provides the following key features that make it faster and easier to proofread and edit documents.

Check spelling as you type

Checks for spelling errors as you type, and marks possible errors directly in your document; new in Word 95.

Check grammar as you type

Checks for grammar errors as you type, and marks possible errors directly in your document. Like the automatic spelling checker, the automatic grammar checker offers suggestions for corrections in-place when you right-click the marked text.

Smart spelling

- Recognizes your name, your organization's name, personal names of     varying ethnicity, commonly used company names from the Fortune 1000 list, all country names, names of U.S. cities with a population of     30,000 or more, and current terminology.

- Recognizes your typing patterns and does not mark certain patterns as     errors in your document; for example, words in uppercase letters and words containing numbers are no longer marked as misspellings.

- Ignores Internet and file addresses.

Natural-language grammar checker

Flags mistakes accurately, gives you in-place, effective suggestions, and reduces your proofing time. It offers improved syntactic analysis, better rewrite suggestions, and more user friendly grammar styles.

Spelling/grammar checking combination

Eliminates separate dialog boxes and provides an interface that lets you proofread online exactly as you do on paper. You can now check your spelling and grammar mistakes in one pass, in one place.

Find (and replace) all word forms

Finds and replaces all grammatically inflected forms of a word; new in  Word 95. For example, if you want to replace the word "saw" with the word "hammer" throughout a document, Word intelligently changes not only "saw" to "hammer," but also "sawing" to "hammering" and "sawed" to  "hammered.". Word can also intelligently replace the right word forms; in this example, Word would not replace the verb "seen" with "hammer" although it is a word form of "saw" because "seen" is unrelated to  "hammer." In addition, Word 97 provides alternative word forms, giving you choices for possible replacements in case the default choice is not ideal. You can select the replacement from a list rather than having to  type it.

What's new with tables, borders, and shading tools?

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Word 97 provides the following new features to make it faster and easier to work with tables, borders, and shading.

Table tools ---

Draw Table tool

Lets you create and customize tables. You use this intuitive drawing tool much the same way you use a pen to draw a table; just click and drag to draw the table boundaries and cell partitions. You can now make individual cells any height and width you want.

Eraser tool

Lets you easily remove any cell, row, or column partition to        achieve the same effect as merging two cells. In earlier versions of Word, you could only merge cells if they were in the same row. In Word 97, you can merge any adjacent cells; vertically or        horizontally.

Vertical alignment

Lets you align cell contents at the top, center, or bottom of the cell, using the convenient alignment toolbar buttons. If your text is oriented vertically, the buttons automatically adjust to give you left, center, and right alignment. Vertical text direction

Makes your text flow vertically (rotated 90 degrees) in table cells, text boxes, and frames. This is a useful feature for creating labels and also for publishing oriented documents where credits or copyrights are printed sideways.

In-table row resizer

Lets you adjust any row's height directly in your table by         dragging the row border up or down, just as you adjust column widths. If you hold down ALT while you drag, the new vertical ruler shows you the exact row height.

Border and shading tools

New border styles

Gives you more than 150 border styles to customize the look of           your documents. This includes 3-D styles and several publishing oriented styles that allow multiple line borders, which are especially popular in professional documents.

Page borders

Lets you put a border around each page. In addition to the 150 new border line styles, Word provides Publisher's fun Border Art for page borders, which includes more than 160 art styles. Page borders are also highly customizable. For example, you can have:

- Unique border style for each page edge.

- Headers and footers in the border area.

- A different first page.

Text borders

Lets you apply borders to words or characters within a paragraph. You can literally "block out" pieces of text by applying any of        the available border styles. Text borders also make it easier to        put borders around headings.

Text shading

Lets you call out parts of your document for other users. Just as        you apply shading to paragraphs, now you can apply it to selected words or characters within a paragraph. Choose any shading color or gradation.

What's New with Drawing Tools?

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Word 97 provides a new set of drawing and graphics capabilities that you can use to easily embellish your text and graphics with 3-D effects, shadow effects, textured and transparent fills, and AutoShapes.

Office Art

Gives you many new drawing tools and capabilities that can be easily accessed through the new Drawing toolbar. You can easily embellish your text and graphics using the 100 adjustable AutoShapes, 4 types of fill effects (multicolored gradient, textured, transparent, and picture), right-shadow effects, and 3-D effects. Office Art is a rich and sophisticated drawing layer that replaces the Word drawing layer and is  shared by all Microsoft Office applications.

Office Art picture objects

Gives you all the flexibility required for picture manipulation. For example:

- You can easily place pictures anywhere in your document, including inline with text, simply by dragging them.

- You can modify the Z order and use Send Behind Text to create a     background graphic or watermark effect.

Text boxes

Replaces frames and offers the full set of Office Art capabilities, such as 3-D effects, fills, backgrounds, rotation, sizing, and cropping.

Linked text boxes

Gives you the ability to link text boxes for desktop publishing use; for example, you can flow an article from page 1 to page 4 in a newsletter. Once two text boxes are linked, text that overflows from the first text box appears at the top of the second one. Any number of text boxes can be linked in any direction.

Wrapping around irregular objects

Lets you wrap text around objects of any shape and size. You can wrap text straight to the edge of an irregular object.

What's new with Web tools?

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Word 97 provides an extensive set of features that you can use to take advantage of the World Wide Web and the Internet.

Active Web --

You can use the Active Web, which is shared by all Microsoft Office programs, to author and browse through rich webs of documents on an intranet or on the Web.

Hyperlinks

Link to any Microsoft Office, HTML, or other file on any internal or external Web site or any file server. To jump to the new destinations, you simply click the hyperlinks. Word can automatically recognize and format e-mail addresses, URLs, and UNC path names as hyperlinks.

The Web toolbar

Quickly open, search, and browse through any document, including Web documents or pages. You can jump from one document or site to        another, jump forward or backward among the documents you've         opened, and add interesting documents you find on the Web to the Favorites folder to quickly return to them later.

Compressed graphics

Compress pictures or graphics inserted in documents automatically. Word natively stores JPEG images and converts all raster formats to PNG, a new compressed format.

Web page authoring --

Web Page Wizard

Start creating a Web page for you. The wizard provides customized Web templates that you can easily modify to meet your needs. You can choose from a variety of content templates that address the common types of Web pages, such as a sample personal home page. You can also choose predefined visual themes for these pages; each theme contains fitting background colors, bullets, horizontal lines, and other elements.

Sound

Incorporate background sound seamlessly on Web pages if your Web browser supports it. You can specify the location of the sound file to be played and the number of times to play it.

Video

Choose a video clip to play, specify playback options (such as "on        open" or "on mouse-over" or both) and, as in the case of sound, specify how often to play the clip. You can specify alternative images and text for browsers that don't support video.

Picture

Add a picture to a Web page, just as you do with a Word document.

Scrolling text

Add scrolling text to your Web pages. Type in the text you want in        this style, and you have full control over the animation type, direction, speed, background color, and size.

Bullets

Make your online Web pages graphically rich. Word provides a         collection of colorful, graphical images that can be used as          bullets on your Web pages.

Horizontal lines

Add HTML-specific horizontal lines that can be colorful and graphical additions to your Web pages. These lines are an         extension of the built in borders and shading functionality in          Word.

HTML forms

Produce consistent results with both HTML and non-HTML forms. All interface elements are similar, except where they are extended for HTML-tag-specific controls.

HTML tags

Simplify authoring your Web pages. Word provides WYSIWYG ("what         you see is what you get") support for authoring Web pages with commonly used tags, such as tables, fonts, and background sound. There are more than 80 HTML tags supported in Word.

Online contents ---

Word 97 provides a large collection of Web authoring items on the Word Web site, which will be updated regularly to reflect the latest technology and stylistic trends.

ClipArt Collection Online

Obtain the latest, coolest graphical elements for your Web pages. Design Gallery Live, the online clip art collection in Word, will include a sampling of the following page elements that can be        easily downloaded: backgrounds, bullets, buttons, icons, horizontal lines, video files, and sounds.

Templates Online

Obtain new templates for creating Web pages with common Web page themes.

AutoUpdate Web Tools

Manually or automatically update your system to include the latest Word Web authoring tools from the Word Web site.

What's new with reading online documents?

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Word 97 provides a rich set of new tools to enhance the way you read and move through online documents.

Online layout view

Achieve the best screen appearance for your online documents. Text appears larger and wraps to fit the window.

Document Map

Gain instant access to any part of your document. Word splits the window into two panes (a Document Map in the left pane and the        document content in the right pane). The heading-based outline of        the document in the Document Map lets you quickly scan the document structure, gives you one click access to the point of        interest, and serves as a "You are here" road map by highlighting your current location in the document.

Hyperlinks

Link to any Microsoft Office, HTML, or other file on any internal or external Web site or any file server. To jump to the new destinations, you simply click the hyperlinks. Word can automatically recognize and format e-mail addresses, URLs, and UNC path names as hyperlinks.

Hyperlinked cross-references

Create "live" cross-references in documents that others will read online by inserting the cross-references as hyperlinks. Instead of        scrolling through the document to find the referenced text, now you can just click the cross-reference and use the Web navigational toolbar to jump back and forth between related paragraphs.

Document background

Make your document more visually appealing to read online by        adding background colors and textures. You can see these backgrounds only in online layout view, and you can't print them.

Animated text

Add animated effects that make the text appear to move or flash.

Navigation tools

Browse through a document directly from the scroll bar. The browser lets you choose an element to browse by; for example, to        review all the tables or pictures in a document, you click Browse by Table in the browser. You can use the browser to browse through a document by page, section, comment, footnote, endnote, field, table, graphic, heading, or editing change.

Microsoft IntelliMouse pointing device

Directly control scrolling, panning, and zooming. You can also use this mouse to control the amount of detail displayed on your screen in outline or AutoSummarize view.

What's new with WordMail?

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Word97 integrates seamlessly with Exchange and Outlook to become your standard e-mail editor.

Automatic creation of hyperlinks

Format network addresses, e-mail addresses, and Internet addresses; for example, http://www.microsoft.com/ automatically as        hyperlinks as you type them. By clicking a hyperlink, you jump to        that location; in this example, to the Microsoft home page on the World Wide Web.

Message Authors in Document Map

Detect automatically whether an incoming message contains a long conversation and list the author of each part of the conversation in the Document Map. By clicking an author's name, you can instantly jump to that part of the message.

Address book information access for names in messages

Find address book information on any sender or recipient while you read or write a message. Just right-click the name, and then click Who Is on the shortcut menu.

Automatic formatting of plain text WordMail messages

Format your incoming plain text e-mail messages automatically the first time you open them. It makes following message conversations easier by stylizing headers, indenting conversations, and adding colors so you can differentiate message flow easily.

WordMail templates

Compose e-mail quickly. Use any of the ten e-mail templates that represent various themes. For example, you can use the urgent-theme template to compose an urgent e-mail message.

What's new with collaboration with others? --

Word 97 offers new features that reflect the work style of teams and gives you tools that increase efficiency and productivity.

Versioning

Maintain a working history of a document. With this feature you can see exactly who did what on a document and when. You can also enter descriptive text about the changes made in each version. All the versioning information is stored within the document, so you don't     need to maintain and track multiple copies of the document. In     addition, you can have Word automatically save a version at the end of every session, so you can see who changed what in each version.

Merging documents

Consolidate all changes and comments from different reviewers in one easy step. Multiple reviewers can modify separate copies of the same document, and then you can merge all their changes into the original. Or, for example, you can take a document away overnight and automatically merge your changes back into the original document when you return.

Comments and ScreenTips

Easily review someone else's comments online without opening a     separate pane. You can see at a glance where comments were inserted; the affected text appears to be shaded with light yellow. When you rest the pointer over this text, a ScreenTip that includes the comment and the name of the reviewer appears above the text. You can now read each comment in context.

Reviewing toolbar

Quickly gain access to all the common reviewing tools you need on one toolbar; track and review changes, insert and review comments, highlight text, save versions, and send the document in an e-mail message.

What's new with multilingual support?

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Word 95 introduced a feature that implemented automatic font and language switching when the keyboard changed, allowing multilingual text in your document and in several dialog boxes. Word 97 makes it even easier to create and display documents that contain text in a variety of Pan European languages. You can also view documents in U.S. Word that were created in Far Eastern versions of Word.

Keyboard switching

Automatically switch the fonts in your document to appropriate fonts based on the language you are using when you switch your keyboard. Keyboard switching also triggers language property switching in Word and, therefore, ensures that a certain language text, such as Greek, is proofed by the proofing tools of that language only.

Multilingual text support in dialog boxes

Enable Word to edit and display multilingual text across localized versions of Word. For example, you can search by a Greek author's     name in the Find File dialog box in Word.

Open multilingual documents in localized Word

Correctly display text created in localized versions of Word if you have the appropriate fonts on your system. For example, you can open and view a Japanese Word document in U.S. Word. Note that this applies to all localized versions except bi- directional versions, such as Hebrew and Arabic.

Copying and pasting Unicode text

Copy Greek, Cyrillic, or any Pan European text from U.S. Word and paste it onto a Microsoft Excel worksheet. Also, you can use the feature to copy and paste Unicode text into edit controls in dialog boxes such as Find and Replace.

Sorting

Specify a language on which to base the sorting order of text in your document. For example, a Hungarian double letter such as "cz" sorts correctly in U.S. Word when you set the sorting language to     Hungarian.

Insert symbols

Gain access to language-specific symbols and letters easily by     changing the font subset in the Symbol dialog box (Insert menu). For example, switching the subset to Cyrillic gives you all the Russian characters available.

Keywords: kbfaq KB157478

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