Hands on with Office 2010: Word

Next month Microsoft is scheduled to release Office 2010. We decided to check out the trial versions available, and try it out ourselves. Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting some of the new features available in the Office suite. Today we will be taking a look at what’s new in Word 2010.

Here are my Top 5 favorite new features in Word 2010:

1. Backstage

At first glance the most noticeable change is the return of the File tab which was replaced by the Office button in 2007. Clicking the File tab brings you to the new Microsoft Office Backstage feature. Backstage gives you multiple options for publishing your document, saving on your hard drive, emailing to a colleague, posting to the internet, and more.  Backstage makes it easier than ever before to share your documents, in a variety of formats.

Microsoft Office Backstage

2. Remove Background Tool

Office 2010 offers a lot of new tools that make creating documents a lot easier. In Word new photo editing features are introduced. The coolest new feature is the remove background feature that automatically removes the background of an image when you select the general area of you want without a background. In the example below I was able to isolate the Real Salt Lake logo from its background and get a new version of the logo with just a few clicks. This saves tons of time, and eliminates the need for using additional programs to get the image you need.

Image before Background Removal

Select the general area of the image you'd like without a background.

Voila! No Background

3. Image Editing Tools

In addition to the Remove Background feature, new Image Editing tools have been added to Word as well. An Artistic Effects option gives you the ability to edit your image with many of the same filters that you would find in a program like Photoshop. A Color option allows you to correct any color problems within your document quickly and effectively. The corrections tab gives you access to brightness and contrast settings, as well as saturation options. The new editing tools are a huge improvement to previous tools available in Word.

4. Screenshots

New in Word 2010 is the ability to grab Screenshots while you are creating a document. A new Screenshot menu shows you all the current windows you have open as well as an option to choose only part of your screen. This eliminated the need to use outside programs when using Screenshots in Office.

5. Protected Mode

Protected Mode is a great new feature that will not allow you to edit documents downloaded from the internet without you enabling editing. This ensures you don’t make changes to files you may receive from other people such as Invoices, Contracts, etc.

There are even more new features in Word 2010 that make it an awesome upgrade from 2007. Stay tuned to SoftwareNewsDaily.com for more information on the new features in Office 2010. Need to buy a copy of Office today? Don’t worry if you purchase Office 2007 today you will be eligible for a free upgrade to 2010 when it’s released next month.

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