Get to Know Your Ribbon

The most notable new feature of Microsoft Office 2007 is the Ribbon. The Office menu system and toolbars have been completely redesigned and integrated into a horizontal strip at the top of all Office applications to make it easier to access frequently used options. The standard File | Edit |View toolbar has been replaced with contextual menus displaying different options depending on what is being done with the document.

Each Office 2007 application features a different set of tabs available on the Ribbon that group together related tasks. For example, the Ribbon in Excel 2007 has a Formulas tab where all formula-related options can be found.

The Ribbon in Word 2007 has a Mailings tab providing options for creating envelopes and mailing labels, as well as mail merge functions.

Keyboard shortcuts you may have used to in previous incarnations of Office are still available in Office 2007. For example, pressing Ctrl + B bolds text, Ctrl + C copies, and Ctrl + V pastes.

The Ribbon can be hidden by double-clicking on any tab, or by pressing Ctrl + F1.