Microsoft Word

Even though I have been using Microsoft Word for years, I knew it had a lot of hidden features that I had yet to discover. I think part of it is that I never sat down and played with it. I just used it to type documents, flyers, brochures, posters, and papers I needed for school so I feel like I use it for everything. After looking at the new features and playing with it, most of them are very easy to learn. It is just about knowing where in Word they are and knowing that they are available to use. They really are very user friendly.

I was familiar with inserting links and making columns since I have used these features before. I have also used text boxes many, many times. Past professors have used the comments feature on my papers before, but I have never inserted comments in my own papers.

One of my favorite features that I have used is the citations feature. It really does help keep my works cited pages organized and presentable. Works cited pages are hard for many people. This really is an easy way to create a works cited or a resources page.

There are a lot of features that I can see writers, authors and publishers using. I also might be using some of these features later on when I write my thesis. I haven't used end-notes, footnotes, captions, cross references, or indexes in any of my writing yet. I might need to use these features in the future so I am glad I know how to do it. I also think the watermark feature is very cool. I have always liked this feature so that people cannot steal your ideas.

I did find the mail merge the most difficult to learn. It just seems like a lot of steps. I had to use "Preview Results" a lot so I knew what the actual letter looked like. If I was writing one letter, I think I could do it better without this feature. Yet if I am sending a massive amount of letters out, I would find this feature useful. But for now I do not think I will be using this feature.