A reflection on the use of Microsoft Word

We were asked today to write about our experiences with Microsoft Office. Where do I start? Office is probably the most recognised piece of PC software on the planet and one I was introduced to back in 1995. Coming from a background of using a Unix based system and using word processing programs such as ‘emacs’ and other linux based programs, to which I had become quite adept at using, I did find the transition to Office quite smooth. The following are some of my views on Microsoft's Office. 

Probably, the most recognised application within the Office package. This versatile and what I consider to be, very easy to use word processing tool has been my primary application for almost everything I write on the computer. We have become very close friends over the years and as such, had some good and bad times together. Yes there have been times when I have ranted and raved at it sitting there staring at a blank sheet on the screen wondering where the last 5 hours of work has disappeared to. Similarly I have hugged the screen when worked I had thought lost into the ethereal abyss of nothingness, has been miraculously been saved as if by magic and handed back to me on a silver platter. 

Anyone who uses spreadsheets will probably agree that Excel is the most user friendly application for entering, storing, sorting, calculating and doing a multitude of other tasks with all types of information. Over the years I have used Excel to great effectiveness, from simple budgeting to simple database storage of information, transferring raw data into readable graphical formats, for use in hard copy reports and digital presentations. I personally like Excel a lot, its ease of use makes it the 2^nd most popular tool that I have within the Office package. I especially like its ability to search and filter through vast amounts of date, sifting out what is relevant for your specific purposes. I make no apologies for my fondness of Excel,  a staunch powerhouse of an application who does exactly what it says on the tin.

For anyone who has been involved with sales, marketing, education or pretty much any type of administrative role, Powerpoint will be a familiar feature within your lives. I can remember the days of having to produced slides from 35mm film for presentations, spending hours editing and updating. Then came Powerpoint, easy to use, fancy transistions, easily updateable and full of graphical enhancements to make your presentations fun and exciting. I can recall being wowed by the display of moving graphics and slides which for many of us today find tedious and painstakingly boring to get through. I an excellent tool within the Office package, but can be overused to the extent you begin to hate it.

Access is Office’s application primarily used to create desktop databases. It is an effective tool for quickly creating browser-based database applications, which can be tailored for personal, business and educational use, storing any data in in a secure SQL database.

I have used Access to create simple databases, for tracking customer usage of products, mailing lists even to monitor complaints. However it is not one of the easiest of tools to use, yet if being honest I haven’t had reason to for many years and so things may have changed since I used it last. It’s not something that I envisage using much as I feel that I can achieve most of what I need within Excel using spreadsheets, but I can see its advantage for other purposes.

Finally, the last I am going to discuss, Outlook. Where do I start? I can honestly say this is the one tool that I have never got on with, in fact I will even go so far to say that I actually loathe it. Despite its many updates in functionality and format, I can not get on with it. I really dislike the way it displays messages, folders and even the navigation within it frustrates me. Personally I think Outlook is very user unfriendly and whenever I can, I avoid having anything to do with Outlook unless absolutely necessary.