Microsoft Word 2003 New Features

New Views | Creating PDF's | E-mailing from Word | XML document support | Research Pane

Improved readability

Word 2003 makes it easier than ever to read documents on your computer. Word now optimizes its display for your screen size and resolution. They have also added a new reading layout view to improve the reading experience.

The Reading layout view:

Hides unnecessary toolbars.
Displays the Document Map or the new thumbnail pane, so you can quickly jump to sections of the document.
Automatically scales the contents of a document to pages that fit comfortably on your screen and that are easy to browse.
Allows you to highlight portions of the document and add comments or make changes.

Compare documents side by side

Sometimes viewing multiple users’ changes in one document can be overwhelming, but now you can use a new approach to compare documents— comparing documents side by side. Comparing documents side by side using 'Compare Side by Side with' (Window-Compare Side by Side with) allows you to simply determine the differences between two documents without having to merge multiple users’ changes into one document. You can scroll through both documents at the same time to identify differences between the two documents.

Creating PDF's in Word

To save a word document as a PDF:

Method 1

Choose Adobe PDF-Convert to Adobe PDF.
Word will ask you where to save the file. Choose a location and click OK.
The conversion process will begin, when it is complete, the new file will be opened in Acrobat Reader for review.

Method 2

Choose File-Print.
From the printer list select Adobe PDF.
Click OK.
Choose a location in which to save the file and click OK.
The document will convert and display for preview in Acrobat Reader.

E-mailing from Word

E-mail client must be running
Go to File-Send To-Mail Recipient (as Attachment). A new message window from the e-mail client will appear.
Enter the recipient’s e-mail address(s) and click Send.

Support for XML documents

Word allows you to save documents in XML format so that you can separate the content of a document from the confines of its .doc format. The content becomes available for automated data-mining and repurposing processes. The content can easily be searched and even modified by processes other than Word, such as server-based data processing.

Research Pane

The new Research task pane offers a wide variety of reference information and expanded resources if you have an Internet connection. You can conduct research on topics using an encyclopedia, Web search, or by accessing third-party content.

Choose Tools- Research.
Enter topics to search for.
Click the green arrow on the right side of the pane to start the search.