Audio Feedback
To hear a sound as feedback when an event has taken place, choose Tools, Options. Click the General tab and select the Provide Feedback With Sound check box. If you don't have MS Office Sounds on your computer, a dialog box appears with installation information. Click OK.

AutoSummarize
If you need to present “key points” information in a meeting from a lengthy document of several pages, save yourself a lot of time and effort by using Word 2000’s AutoSummarize feature. Choose Tools, AutoSummarize, select the desired type of summary, and click OK. Depending on your selection(s), key points are highlighted for your immediate use during the course of this meeting.

Booklets
You can create a folding booklet in Word 2000 by simply changing the size of a document’s pages. To make a single 8.5”x11” piece of paper, hold two pages facing each other and choose File, Page Setup. On the Paper Size tab, change the paper size to Half Letter 5.5”x8.5”. You may also want to reduce the size of the margins to 0.7”. When you print the document, open the Print dialog, choose 2 pages from the Pages per sheet drop-down list, and click OK. If there are more than two pages, you might need to experiment to get them in the correct order.

Borders
To add a decorative border to your invitation page, choose Format, Borders And Shading. When the Borders And Shading dialog box opens, click the Page Border tab. Now click the arrow at the right side of the Art list box at the bottom of the dialog box. Select a border from the list, then click OK to apply your selection and close the dialog box.

Browsing
You can quickly browse long Word documents by clicking the little Button between the two double arrows at the bottom of the vertical scroll bar. A selection palette will pop up letting you choose the object to use in browsing the document. To display a description of an object, simply move the pointer over it. Now click the desired browse object to select it and close the palette. Next click one of the two double arrows located on the scroll bar to jump forward or backward in the document to the next occurrence of the object.

Bullets
Word 2000 has many different bullet shapes you can use in the bullet lists. You can change the size and shapes of bullets by selecting the list and choosing Format, Bullet and Numbering. Besides the basic bullet shapes, you can also use colorful pictures as bullets. On the Bulleted tab of the Bullets and Numbering dialog box, click the Picture button and browse through Word’s clipart collection for a picture bullet.

Close multiple Office documents
You may frequently conclude your word processing work with numerous open documents. To close them, hold down Shift and choose File, Close All. The Close All command only appears when you hold down the Shift key.

Compatible documents
If you are creating a document in Word that you want to share with users of another word processing program, you can save that document in the other program’s file format. To set up a document for another word processor, select Tools, Options, and click the Compatibility tab in the Options dialog box. Drop down the Recommended options for a list and select the word processing program used by the recipient. You will see specific features of that program checked in the Options list. If the exact version of the recipient’s word processor is not on the list, choose the closest version. On the other hand, if you encounter problems with other users’ word processing programs where their documents do not make the transition to Word, again follow the aforementioned steps to select which program you want to control, and then use the check boxes to select the desired functions and finish by clicking OK.

Cursor
By default, Word 2000 aligns the cursor along the left margin of your document. In Print Layout or Web Layout view, double-click any blank space on a page. Word then places the cursor wherever you double-click and you can type text normally in that location.

Cut and paste
There are four “copy and paste” or “cut and paste” techniques. There is the Keyboard method where you highlight the beginning of the text with your cursor and then hold down the Shift key while using the right arrow key. To Copy, hold down Ctrl+C; to Cut, use Ctrl+X; and, to Paste, press Ctrl+V. The Mouse method is much the same in that you place the cursor at the beginning of the text and then click and drag the mouse to highlight it. To Copy or Cut, right-click to see a drop down menu and then left-click Copy or Cut. To Paste, again, place the cursor where you want the text and right-click for a menu and left-click Paste. With the Menu bar method, you use one of the foregoing techniques to highlight the text/document and click Edit and Select All. To Copy or Cut, select one of them from the Edit menu, put the cursor where you want the text, and select Paste from the menu. Lastly, there’s the Icon method. To highlight text, you drag the mouse or use Shift+arrows. To Copy, click the Copy icon in your toolbar. To Cut, click the Cut icon and to Paste, put your cursor where you want the text and click the Paste icon. Now, to move an entire item such as a folder, file, shortcut, etc., you need only drag and drop them with your mouse.

Dictionary
If you want to add your industry jargon to Word's built-in spell checker, create a custom dictionary by going to C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Proof and opening the Custom.dic file. Now add the words you'd like the file to contain and save it. The next time you start Word your terminology won’t be highlighted as a spelling error.

Documents to Favorites menu
Windows 98 includes an integrated Favorites menu that stores your favorite Web pages. You can also use this feature to keep your Word documents. To use it, display the Web toolbar in Word by choosing View, Toolbars, Web. On the Web toolbar, click Favorites, choose a location to save the Favorite link, and then click Add.

Document history
Word 2000’s File menu maintains a list of the documents drafted by you. With this feature it is easy for you to reopen documents without having to dig through a bunch of folders in the Open dialog box. If there was a document not recently edited by you, choose File, Open, and then click the History icon in the Open dialog box. Up pops a history list similar to those used by Web browsers showing a list of documents edited in Word.

Document map
You may find it tedious to use the scrollbars to position your cursor when working in a large document. With Word 2000’s Document Map, there’s a feature to solve this problem. Choose View, Document Map and a new pane appears on the left-hand side of your screen that lists the major headings in your document. Now click one of those headings to jump to a desired spot in your document.

Document versions
Word 2000 saves a different version of each of the same basic document as long as you take a few precautions. In your working document, choose File, Versions. In the Versions dialog box, place a checkmark next to the Automatically save a version on close option. Now a different version will be saved every time you close the document. If you ever want to go back to a previously saved version, just open the Versions dialog box again and choose the version you want from the list and click Open.

First page Header/Footer
With Word 2000 you can create a separate header or footer for the first page. To activate this feature choose File, Page Setup, and click the Layout tab. Continue by selecting the Different First Page and placing a check in the box for Headers and Footers. Next click OK to close the Page Setup box. Conclude by going to your document’s Cover Page and choosing View, Header and Footer, to ensure they are blank, and then clicking Close .

Format Painter
The fastest way to format a Word 2000 document is with the Format Painter tool. You can use this tool to make sure that the headings, lists, text paragraphs, etc., in your document are consistent with one another by clicking the text whose formatting you want to apply throughout the document. For example, if your document is a report with first-, second-, and third-level heads, format a first level head so that it looks just right and click it. Next double-click the Format Painter button. The mouse pointer changes into a paint roller icon. At this point find the text to which you want to copy the format, click the mouse button, and roll the mouse pointer over it as though you were selecting this piece. When you're done, the text takes on the new format. Keep going and find every place in your document that you can copy this format to and baste it with the Format Painter. You can click the scroll bar and use keyboard commands to move through your document. Do the same procedure for all the other formats you need to copy in the document. Finally, click the Format Painter button when you're finished.

Fully justified text in Word
If you need to fully justify your text in a newsletter, use a single, wide column rather than a narrow one by choosing Tools, Language, Hyphenation. When the Hyphenation dialog box opens, select the Automatically Hyphenate Document check box and then deselect the check box labeled Hyphenate Words In CAPS. Click OK to close the dialog box and continue. Go ahead with your text entry and see how it looks. You should expect some problems with this hyphenation tip that may require manual adjustment of the hyphenation.

Summary
Word 2000 is far more stable and reliable than its predecessor. However, problems can occur on your computer that affect some of Word’s program files. If you experience any crashes or puzzling problems with Word 2000, choose Help, Detect and Repair. Word automatically checks critical program files and fixes those problems. Of note, last spring, Microsoft added the Registration Wizard to copies of Office 2000 sold in the United States and Canada. If you do not register this software, it will quit working after the 50th use.