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A

Application window:

A window that holds the current document and default toolbars.

ASCII text (plain text):

A text style that can be created in applications like Notepad or WordPad; unlike Word documents, ASCII text cannot be formatted.

AutoFit:

A command used to format a column to the width of the widest entry in the column.

B

Bar chart:

A chart style used for comparing two or more values; it has horizontal or vertical rectangular bars proportional to the values they represent.

Blog:

A journal-style web site; Word 2007 supports publishing to a blog hosted by several service providers including Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint Services, WordPress, Blogger, and Typepad.

Building blocks:

Reusable bits of text, graphics, or other components of documents (e.g., headers/footers or tables) that are stored in galleries for use with any document or template.

Bullets:

Dots, arrows, or other symbols used to identify items in a list.

C

Case:

A means of determines whether letters are capital (uppercase), non-capital (lowercase), or first letter of each word capitalized (title case).

Chart:

A graphic representation of data.

Chart text box:

An area that provides information about a chart. A chart title identifies the purpose of the chart; a legend identifies the data series or categories, and data labels identify specific point or series.

Clip art:

A collection of professionally designed images that can be inserted into a document.

Columns:

The vertical divisions of a table. Fields are represented in tables as columns; each column in the table represents one field.

Compatibility Checker:

A new feature that lists elements in a document that are not supported or may not behave the same way when saved in previous versions of Office.

Compatibility Mode:

A new feature that allows you to create documents in Office 2007 that do not contain new or enhanced features; it allows others using previous versions of Office to have full editing capabilities.

Content controls:

Individual controls that can be added or customized for use in templates, form, and documents.

Context-sensitive:

Refers to information or menus that are specific to the selected object.

Contextual spelling:

An option in the spell checker that detects and corrects errors that previously were not flagged because the word was spelled correctly but was incorrect for the context.

Contextual tabs:

Tabs that appear on the Ribbon according to the type of object you have entered or selected in a document.

Copy:

The act of copying an object within a document.

Crop:

The process of altering an object by hiding or cutting portions of it.

Cursor:

Normally a solid rectangle or a blinking underline character that signifies where the next character will be inserted. Moving the cursor allows you to type in different areas of a screen.

Cut:

The act of removing an object from a document.

D

Database:

A collection of information that you can manage and analyze.

Dialog box:

A window displayed by a program or process to prompt a user to enter additional information or provide a response.

Dialog box launchers:

Small icons that appear in some groups on the Ribbon; they can be clicked to open a dialog box or task pane.

Document Information panel:

A new feature that appears at the top of the document and allows you to easily view and edit document properties.

Document Inspector:

A new feature that helps you locate and delete hidden data and personal information in Office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

E

Editing restrictions:

A feature that allows you to control what types of editing others can perform on a document (i.e., you might choose to allow only comments).

Enhanced ScreenTips:

A kind of help that appears when you hover over an element of the Ribbon including name, description, details about usage, and links to related articles are included.

F

Field:

A cell that contains information in a database.

File type:

The format a file was saved in; often refers to the application that created the file.

Fluent user interface:

The overall Office 2007 interface that includes the Ribbon, formatting galleries, pop-up formatting menus, and contextual tools that appear as needed.

Font:

A style and size of type; a font set is all the characters available in one typeface and size including upper- and lowercase letters, punctuation, and numerals.

Font size:

The size of a font measured in points; the more points, the larger the font appears.

Font style:

A way of differentiating the way a font appears by making it bold, italic, or underlined.

Footer:

Any information located at the bottom of a document, presentation, etc. and repeated throughout.

Formatting galleries:

Collections of pre-formatted content associated with a particular template.

Formatting restrictions:

A new feature that allows you to restrict other users from changing the formatting or styles for part or all of a document while allowing changes to content.

Full screen reading view:

The new name for Reading Layout mode.

G

Graphics (pictures):

Images consisting of clip art, word art, photographs, graphs, charts, etc. Gridlines: A type of line in certain charts that makes data comparisons simpler.

H

Highlight:

The act of selecting an object or text.

I

Information Rights Management:

A document protection technology in Office 2007 that works with Microsoft’s Windows Rights Management services (RMS). It allows you control what recipients of documents, workbooks, presentations, and e-mail messages can do with the files.

Insert key:

A means of toggling overtype on or off; when on, text to the right of the insertion point will be replaced by whatever you type.

J

K

KeyTips:

A new feature that allows you to press ALT to display information on the Ribbon indicating which key to press to access a particular feature.

L

Layout:

Refers to the way data is placed on a page, including how it is aligned and whether it is in a single column or multiple columns.

Legend:

A key to data illustrated in a chart. Line chart: A chart style created by connecting a series of data points together with a line.

Live Preview:

A view that provides a sneak peek at how a Gallery selection will affect your document before committing to an option.

M

Mark As Final:

A new option that allows you to mark a document final make it read-only and prevent anyone else from changing it.

Merge cells:

A command that combines selected cells into a single cell.

Metadata:

Data that describes other data; the properties of an Office document including word count, author, subject, date of creation, etc. Some metadata is automatically maintained and some you can input yourself.

Microsoft Office 2007 Compatibility Pack:

A downloadable program used to view and edit Office 2007 files in previous versions of Office.

Microsoft Office button:

An MS logo button located in the upper-left corner of Office 2007 programs; it gives you access to the main menus for the program and a list of recent documents.

Microsoft Office Diagnostics:

A new series of diagnostic tests for identifying problems causing crashes; replaces the Detect and Repair and Office Application Recovery features from Office 2003.

Mini Toolbar:

A ghost image of tools that appears when you select text in an Office 2007 document; if you move your mouse over the ghost toolbar, it turns into a functioning toolbar with text formatting options.

Monospaced fonts:

A font style that consists of characters of equal width; e.g., Courier New.

N

O

P

Paste:

The act of inserting a section of text from the clipboard. To move a section of text or graphic from one place in a document to another, you must first cut it or copy it and then paste it in the new location.

Pie chart:

A simple chart style useful for illustrating the parts of a whole.

Printer font:

Fonts that typically come with your printer; they cannot be scaled and they may not appear onscreen as they will in the printed document.

Proportionally spaced font:

A font style that contains characters of differing widths; usually the widest character is the capital M and the narrowest is the lowercase l (L).

Q

Quick Access toolbar:

A customizable toolbar located at the top of the office window to the right of the Microsoft Office button; it provides quick access to tools you frequently use (e.g., Save, Undo, Repeat Typing, etc.).

Quick Style Sets:

A feature that allows you to select from a gallery of styles you can preview and apply to a document.

R

Ribbon:

The new tabbed interface in Office 2007 that groups tools by task so the ones uses most frequently are simple to find; this interface replaces the traditional menus and toolbars.

Rows:

Horizontal divisions of a table; each row contains a separate record.

S

Select:

An action taken before you can work with an object; a way to do this is by clicking the object once.

Selection box:

A box that appears around a text box when it is selected or around items as you click and drag.

Signature line:

An element that can be inserted into an Office document; you can click it to add a virtual representation of your signature (typed, handwritten via the link feature on a tablet PC, or as a graphic representation).

Sizing handles (selection handles):

Small, solid boxes that appear on the border of selected objects that are used to change the size of the selected object. You can drag a corner handle while resizing to maintain the proportions of an object.

Sort:

The act of rearranging data in order alphabetically, numerically, or chronologically either in ascending or descending order.

Style:

The appearance of a document.

T

Table:

A feature comprised of parallel columns and rows that is used to store, organize, and view data on a particular topic.

Template:

A preformatted document that standardizes and constrains the common elements of a page. It serves as the starting point for a new document.

Text format (type style):

The actual physical appearance of text including whatever fonts and styles have been applied.

.thmx:

A new XML-based file format used for Office 2007 themes.

Title case:

A style that features capitalization of the first letter of each major word.

Tool:

A shortcut button, usually shown on a bar near the top of a window, that provides quick access to a commonly used command.

Truncated:

Text that is shortened or abbreviated due to limited display space.

Trust Center:

A centralized location for security and privacy settings in Office 2007 programs.

U

Ungroup objects:

A command for separating a group of objects so you can work with each part individually.

V

Version Extraction Tool:

A tool in the Office Migration Planning Manager that allows you to save versions of documents created in previous versions of Office as multiple files (Office 2007 no longer supports versioning).

W

Wizards:

Applets that guide you through difficult tasks using step-by-step dialog boxes.

Wrapped:

Text that automatically flows to the next line.

X

XML formats:

New default files formats for Office 2007 programs based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML); identifiable by the “x” appended to the end of the file extension (e.g., docx, .xlsx, .pptx).

Y

Z