BKWD97AN.RVW   980228

"Word 97 Annoyances", Woody Leonhard/Lee Hudspeth/T. J. Lee, 1997,
1-56592-308-1, U$21.95/C$31.95
%A   Woody Leonhard woody@wopr.com
%A   Lee Hudspeth
%A   T. J. Lee
%C   103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA   95472
%D   1997
%G   1-56592-308-1
%I   O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
%O   U$21.95/C$31.95 800-998-9938 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com
%P   356 p.
%T   "Word 97 Annoyances"

This book is not an introduction to Word, and it probably isn't
suitable for the complete novice.  However, users who have had some
time to get used to using Word will find a wealth of advice for the
irritations they encounter on a daily basis.

Chapter one attempts to classify some of the concerns with regard to
MS Word, and also tries to convince you that "bloat" isn't.  Not all
of chapter two is about Word as such, As well as program settings it
suggests a number of configuration changes in Windows 95 that can make
life easier all round, including in applications.  Leonhard has always
insisted that the Word toolbar is not designed with real people in
mind, so chapter three tells you how to change it.  (If you slavishly
follow the suggestions in the book as to what belongs in the toolbar,
you deserve what you get.)  Chapter four is, of course, an
introduction to macro programming, and it gets even novices into the
swing of things very nicely indeed.  This background is then used in
chapter five to correct some annoyances by creating macros to deal
with them.

Myself, I would have put chapter six earlier in the book.  It explains
some of the *real* annoyances in Word: the oddities that have been
part of the program from the beginning, like the fact that paragraph
formatting is "contained" in the paragraph mark.  The explanation of
these internals goes a long way to explaining some of the counter-
intuitive ways that Word behaves.  Chapter seven deals with advanced
level problems with advanced solutions.  While the material definitely
belongs in the book novices may want to be wary of it, since some tips
use solutions that involve changing the registry, and other pretty
dangerous activities.

Chapter eight is simply excellent.  It is a complete and reliable
overview of the MS Word macro virus situation.  Were I writing the
chapter myself, I would not have recommended McAfee and
Symantec/Norton, but otherwise I find no fault with it.  Originally I
was going to say that it is a great chapter given that it was written
by a non-specialist, but that would be false.  This is, for the
average computer user, the best single coverage of the topic I have
ever read.

Chapter nine provides a number of references and resources for further
information.

There is a lot of ground that the book does not cover.  Pure bugs are
not given a lot of space, but their inclusion would likely balloon the
work to encyclopedic size.  This volume does, though, dispense useful
and valuable advice on how to make Word more productive and less
vexing.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1998   BKWD97AN.RVW   980228