| Migrating to Microsoft 2000 tools Download a printable version of the Microsoft
2000 Migration Tip Sheet. 
Windows 2000 Operating System Changes/Differences
- My Computer and Windows Explorer have merged into the same thing.
The folders list, previously associated with Windows Explorer, may be
turned off and on by a button on the toolbar when the window is opened
with either My Computer or Windows Explorer.
- The My Computer/Windows Explorer window also now has a preview area
for selected files. Graphics stored in the My Pictures folder are automatically
previewed in a window of their own.
- Mapping network drives is easier due to the ability to browse to the
folder being mapped.
- Multiple toolbars are now associated with the Taskbar. The Quick Launch
Bar holds icons of frequently used applications that may be started
with a single click. The Links Bar holds bookmarks to favorite web sites
that, when clicked, will start the default browser and open the page.
The Address Bar is available for you to type in a URL, click Go (or
press Enter) and the default browser will open (if it's not already
open) and the page will appear.
- The Start menu off of the Taskbar offers Personalized Menus by default,
which show the most common or recent commands and adapt to your usage.
- If you prefer to see all Start menu options,
- Right click on the taskbar
- Choose Properties
-
Office 2000 Changes/Differences
- Menus in Office 2000 tools default to show the most common or recent
commands and adapt to your usage.
- If you prefer to see all menu options,
- Right click in a gray area to the right of the toolbars
- Choose Customize
- From the Options tab, deselect "Menus show recently used commands
first"
- The Standard and Formatting Toolbars in Office 2000 tools default
to a single row with an arrow indicating "more buttons" available.
- These toolbars may be moved to separate rows by grabbing the light
gray bar on the left side of the toolbar and dragging to another location
or by changing the default in the toolbar "Customize" window.
- If you prefer to have your Standard and Formatting toolbars on different
rows,
- Right click in a gray area to the right of the toolbars
- Choose Customize
- From the Options tab, deselect "Standard and Formatting toolbars
share one row"
- The ability to add and remove buttons from all toolbars is simplified
by the addition of an "Add/Remove Buttons" arrow at the end of the selected
toolbar. A list of available buttons for that toolbar are displayed
and may be selected.
- Finding specific files using the Open Dialog Box is more powerful
that in past versions. The Tools menu is new and also provides more
options.
- Open files within Office 2000 tools appear in the taskbar separately,
as well as in the Window menu.
- A new Clipboard toolbar allows multiple items to be cut and copied
and collected, and then each can be pasted separately into one or more
different documents or they can be pasted all at once.
- When multiple files are open, there is only one close file button
in the upper right hand corner of the tool window. This button will
close the active file until only one file remains and then the second
"close file" button will appear to close the file instead of closing
the tool.
- Current files may be sent to an e-mail recipient at the click of a
button.
ONLINE HELP
- The on-line Help features now contain two panes: on the left are tabs
for the 3 help components (Contents, Answer Wizard, and Index) and on
the right is the help information on the selected topic. This allows
you to view help information from one topic to another without opening
and closing windows. There are show/hide buttons if you only wish to
view one pane, as well as the means to either hide or unhide the search
criteria from the tip results. The Answer Wizard replaces the Find feature
in Help.
- The Office Assistant has also been improved. It has a different look,
more assistants are available, and may be turned off instead of just
being hidden.
- If you prefer to turn off the Office Assistant,
- Hide the Office Assistant a few times.
- Choose "Yes, turn me off" from the question bubble.
Word 2000 Changes/Differences
- The views in Word 2000 are similar to those in '97, but with different
names.
- Web layout view is similar to online view in '97.
- Print layout view is similar to page layout view in '97.
- Click and Type is a new feature that allows you to type anywhere in
the page. The insertion point will appear anywhere in the page simply
by double clicking.
- You can now use the Shortcut Menu to find synonyms. Word 2000 brings
up a "synonyms" item on the shortcut menu when you right click a word.
This allows you to easily select an alternate word/synonym for the selected
word.
- When formatting pictures, an Advanced Layout option is now available
to more precisely define the picture's position and how the text wraps
around the picture.
WORD TABLES
- Word 2000 has a new button on the Tables & Borders toolbar that combines
the three separate Text Alignment options.
- Diagonal table borders can be added to tables to divide cells in half,
diagonally. This feature is available when manually drawing cell borders
in a table.
- Selecting an entire table is easier in Word 2000. When the mouse is
positioned inside the table a four-headed arrow inside a box appears
in the upper left corner of the table. Clicking that arrow will select
the entire table.
- Table, Row, Column, and Cell Properties are now available to set preferences
in one dialog box.
WORD AND THE WEB
- Word 2000 offers more web-enabled features than in prior versions.
Word documents can still be saved for viewing on the web using the "Save
as Web Page" command off of the File menu. (This was "Save as HTML"
in Word '97). The Save as Web Page dialog box allows you to easily create
a Title for your web page when you save.
- Word will also act as a Browser so that documents may be previewed
in a browser (File, Web Page Preview) or to follow links that appear
in documents that are being viewed.
Excel 2000 Changes/Differences
- Using specific formats, or autoformats, while creating your spreadsheet
is easier in Excel 2000. When the previous 3 to 5 rows show a specific
format, Excel will automatically duplicate the formats and formulas
into any new rows of information added.
- Excel 2000 provides a structured way to import data from other files,
and the ability to import tables from the web.
- Pivot reports have been enhanced to include PivotChart Reports.
EXCEL AND THE WEB
- Excel 2000 now has a command to preview a spreadsheet as a web page
in the default browser.
- Saving spreadsheets as Web Pages is much easier in Excel 2000. A Save
As dialog box opens that allows for the web page title to be changed
with a change button, and the spreadsheet is converted.
- Excel 2000 allows Pivot tables to be saved as Web Pages.
PowerPoint 2000 Changes/Differences
- PowerPoint 2000 has new design templates and new content templates.
- Normal View in PowerPoint has changed. Instead of one single window
pane, there are three panes to the window. The slide is on the right,
an outline of the presentation is on the left, and a notes section is
at the bottom of the page.
- The Outline pane is visible to help you maintain continuity within
the slide view. As you are viewing each slide in the right pane, the
outline view in the left pane will gray the small slide icon next
to the number indicating this is the slide being viewed in the slide
pane.
- Animated GIFs may be added to your presentation.
- Slide shows now end with a black screen automatically.
- You can send a single slide or an entire presentation as an e-mail
attachment using the e-mail icon which is located on the standard toolbar.
- You can create a hyperlinked table of contents by creating links from
each slide title on the summary slide to its corresponding slide number.
POWERPOINT AND THE WEB
- PowerPoint 2000 presentations can be saved for viewing on the web
using the "Save as Web Page" command from the File menu. (This was "Save
as HTML" in PowerPoint '97). The Save as Web Page dialog box allows
you to easily create a Title for your web page when you save.
Access 2000 Changes/Differences
- Rather than tabs across the window, the Database window now has a
Database window toolbar across the top, an Objects and Groups bar down
the left side of the window, and a list area on the right side of the
window.
- The Objects bar contains the various object types: Tables, Queries,
Forms, Reports, Macros & Modules.
- The Groups bar contains a Favorites group folder, and users can
create/delete other groups. Shortcuts to database objects can also
be contained in a group.
- The database relationship window can now be printed, allowing the
user better understanding of how the data flows and allowing users to
create documentation of the database.
- The Visual Basic Editor is accessible from the Database Explorer Window.
Previously it could only located by viewing Events in Forms or Reports.
Visual Basic is NOT Access Visual Basic as in the past, but is the actual
Visual Basic tool.
ACCESS, DATA ACCESS PAGES, AND THE WEB
- The new object, Pages, is listed in the Objects bar in the Database
window. These "Pages" are referred to as Data Access Pages.
- Data Access Pages are a cross between Access forms and HTML. They
employ dynamic HTML data binding and XML to create data bound Web pages.
- Data access pages are virtually interactive forms linked to your database
for use on the web. Since they require Internet Explorer (IE) 5.0 or
later to use, they should only be used in an intranet environment.
- When Access displays a data access page in Page View, it runs IE from
within Access. Access 2000 supports the publishing of database objects
as HTML and Active Server Pages. Data access pages are stored outside
the database, and are saved as HTML files.
- Access includes the ability to apply themes and backgrounds to your
data access pages, similar to the themes used in FrontPage. After the
Data Access Page is created using the wizard, a dialog window will open
allowing a choice of web themes.
- If you choose to change an existing theme of a Data Access Page,
- With the Page in Design view, select Format from the menu bar
- Select Theme from the drop down menu
- Choose the theme from the list in the Theme dialog box.
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