Microsoft Office 2010 screenshots

There were many good reasons why Microsoft Office 2007 earned a place on the PC Pro A List, but if we were to boil it down to one then it would be the Ribbon. While not everyone welcomed the new interface, it made it much easier for the vast majority of users to create professional-looking documents. And quickly. Microsoft Office 2010 would always struggle to have the same impact, but there are a number of nice new features that make this the best version of Office 2010 yet.

In this set of blogs, comprising a number of different articles, we’ve selected our highlights. We’ve only been using the beta for a few days, so no doubt there will be some key aspect that we’ve missed: feel free to let us know if you’d like extra information via the comments below. And if you’d like to try it yourself, note that the became available for download today.

Highlight #1: Backstage view

This is one of those clever tricks, where Microsoft has solved a problem that most of us didn’t even realise existed. Essentially, if you want to make any changes to a file – as opposed to the contents of the file – then Backstage view conveniently bundles them together. That includes printing, changing permissions, emailing, and even altering metadata.

Highlight #2: Recover unsaved items

We’ve all done it: worked on a file for 45 minutes but forgotten to keep on saving along the way, trusting in Autosave instead. And then when we came to close the document, instead of press Yes to save all the changes, we accidentally click no – and lose them all. Fortunately you can now rescue those autosaved versions of files, which Office 2010 keeps as drafts.

Highlight #3: Text effects in Word

Microsoft Word is no stranger to adding exotic effects to words; we’ve all suffered curved text with bevelled edges and drop shadow used in a way that drop shadow simply shouldn’t be used. While the all-new Text effects may well be abused in a similar manner in the future, we’d like to believe that the effects on offer are less open to abuse – and far easier to use.

Highlight #4: Outlook joining the fold

While most people loaded words of praise on Office 2007’s Ribbon interface, it was disappointing that Outlook 2007 was left behind. Now, like the poor relative being welcomed at last into the bosom of its rich extended family (as such), Outlook 2010 rejoins the fold with a Ribbon interface all of its own. It’s much easier to change settings now, for instance, and that comes courtesy once again of the Backstage view.

Highlight #5: Accessibility Checker

If you ever need to produce rich documents filled with pictures, web links and any sort of structure, it makes an awful lot of sense to use this unheralded tool: the Accessibility Checker. Available via the already much-praised Backstage view, this will highlight everything from missing Alt text on pictures to headers that are too long and rambling.