Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Office 2003 covers Office 2003 for new users. The topics are organized in sections by application and cover the common Office tasks that the majority of readers want to accomplish. By focusing on key tasks in a concise way, the book packs enough information to bring readers up to speed quickly with all applications in the Office suite. This book starts with an introduction of what's new in this version of Office and what the major changes and advantages are when upgrading from older versions.

I began using Microsoft Word with version 1.0, when it ran only on DOS—before Windows even existed! In the many years since, Microsoft Office has become the most popular productivity suite.

You've probably turned to this book because you need to get up to speed with some or all of the programs in the Office suite. Each of these programs offers lots of features, but you'll find that most people—even computer professionals like me—often use only a fraction of each program's capabilities. That's all most people need.

This book focuses on the core features in each of these Office applications: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access. Rather than inundate you with lots of facts about features you'll never use, I've focused on the features you will use most often with each one. With this book in hand, you should have no trouble quickly becoming proficient with each one.