At first glance, Microsoft s Word XP looks similar to previous versions of Word, with familiar menus and toolbars. But closer investigation reveals that many features have been made easier to use, and several exciting new elements have been added.
Word has always been a program that has included substantial functionality, but many features went unused because no one knew they existed. In this version, Microsoft has tried to make many of the hard-to-find features more obvious. A new Task Pane has been added which pops up automatically along the right side of the screen, giving more information about the task that is underway. The Task Pane helps the Word user when recovering documents, applying styles and formatting, copying and pasting, and using a variety of other functions. Although, it takes up precious screen space, I found it useful and, for the most part, non intrusive.
Functionality has also been improved in several additional areas. The first is in the document review process, where major improvements have made it easier to share and review documents between several users. This new version will prove to be very beneficial to groups who work on collaborative documents. Document data recovery has also been improved. If the program crashes, recovered documents are readily available when it is reopened. This feature is useful, since in my personal experience, Word XP when run on Windows 98 and Windows Me computers crashed just as often as previous versions. (Perhaps it will be more stable when run under Windows XP.)
Many smaller but equally helpful changes have also been incorporated. For instance, working with hot links is easier. Formatting, in general, is both quicker and easier. For instance, when you copy something to a document, you are given the choice of formatting like the source document, matching the current document formatting, or applying new formatting. It is also much easier to turn off the aggravating auto-correct feature and to control bulleted and numbered lists. This is done with the help of Smart Tags, tiny icons that appear on the screen when appropriate. These tags can be clicked for further options, like turning off the auto-correct that Word has just applied, or they can easily be ignored. These and other changes make working in Word more pleasurable. If you use Word everyday, they may offer a reason to upgrade.
Occasional Word users may find the new speech recognition feature that is built into Word XP to be the most compelling reason to upgrade. I was amazed to find this feature accurate enough to be truly useful. With this program, speech recognition can be a viable tool for those who don t know how to, don t like to, or have physical limitations using a keyboard. In fact, I m dictating this entire review into Word XP.
This feature can also be used to give voice-activated commands to the computer. For instance, click the microphone on, say Voice Command, and then instead of clicking on menu choices, you can verbally give the computer menu instructions.
There are a few must dos when using Word s voice recognition feature. First, you must take the time to get the computer used to your voice. Follow the simple training instructions and expect to spend fifteen to thirty minutes reading to the computer so it can accurately recognize your voice. Next, be sure to use a good microphone. My testing with very cheap microphones gave inaccurate results; however, a good microphone produced excellent results. Remember, that speech recognition of this type is not yet designed for a completely hands-free operation. My results were excellent when using a combination of my voice, the mouse, and the keyboard.
If you are going to use the speech recognition feature, be sure that your computer is a 400 MHz or faster and has 128 MB or more of memory. My main complaint about the voice recognition in Word is the lack of documentation. The program can actually do much more than shown in the included instructions and examples.
A few drawbacks... Word XP won t run on Windows 95 computers. Word XP needs to be activated for continued use. You can activate by calling Microsoft, either online or by telephone. The activation process ties the software to the hardware that it is installed on. Microsoft hopes that this will eliminate the casual copying of their products that is rampant today. While activation is easy and no personal information is needed, in some cases, it is still a pain. For instance, I have this copy of Word XP activated for my desktop computer. I also installed it on my laptop, which is perfectly OK with Microsoft. However, recently I decided that my copy of Word XP would be more useful to me on my smaller laptop. Since the program has already been activated for one desktop and one laptop, I cannot simply remove the program from one portable and put it on the other. I must call Microsoft and explain the situation to gain the code needed for reactivation. Microsoft promises that the activation system will work seamlessly, and even reactivation will be easy.
If your new computer comes with Word XP, rejoice because you are sure to like the changes and additions. If you are thinking of upgrading, it may or may not be worthwhile depending on how much you use Word and whether you plan to take advantage of the improved features and/or the new voice recognition.
