What are word processors? How does Microsoft Word help?

Most of us beginners start using the computer for simple typing – and that is how we also learn rudimentary two finger typing. This typing can be towards a letter, small notings by way of reminders, a small poem or story, a research thesis or even a whole book. The work being done is known as a document. Now to help us in this work, there are several software programs available known as word processors.  While the start of this was the electric typewriter, WordStar, Word Perfect, Microsoft Word are some of the popular softwares developed that help us when we are working in basic text.

Microsoft Word, MS Word, or simply Word (as also all other word processors) have several basic functions. When you open it, it starts you of with a blank page on which you can type. Every time you type something you can retain (or save it) by giving it a file name and going back to it again after any length of time. This a softcopy and that which has been typed can be retrieved and edited or changed without having to retype it from the beginning, text can be added to it, bits can be deleted or inserted, parts or the whole can be copied and pasted in the same file/ document or used in another. Paragraphs or sentences or phrases can be moved, spellings and grammar can be checked. Corrections and changes can tracked, hidden or made without a trace, as desired.  The document can be made more elegant – using bold, italics, increasing the size (or font) of any bit, giving special headings. Tables, graphs or images can be added and captions given. And by attaching a printer, the file or document can be printed on paper to get a hardcopy.

To help you do this many simple commands are available – Save, Open, Cut, Copy, Paste, Find, Replace, Bold, Italics, Redo, Undo, Headings, Numbering, Styles, Revisions, Track Changes, Spelling And Grammar, Thesaurus, Subscripts and Superscripts, Headers, Footers and Endnotes, Indexes, Cross References, Tables and Captions  to name only a few.

The more you use it, the more features you can learn as you go along.

I want to learn Windows - what is Windows?

Frequently people say they want to learn Windows and I wonder what they mean.  I see that someone reached my blog searching for what Excel means. Unfortunately they would not have found the answer here. So I will try devoting a few posts is to explain some basics.

First, I’ll use a small comparison that I gave to a niece of mine.  Let’s take electricity. As a user, you don’t learn electricity; you learn how to use gadgets or machines that run on electricity, even though the uses that you put to electricity are innumerable. Thus you use electricity to cool (fans, ACs) or to heat (geysers, room heaters), to light up the room (bulbs, tube lights) to increase shelf life (refrigeration) or to cook (electric stoves, microwaves) – the list is endless but I have given these examples to show how very varied the uses can be.  But basically electricity is only a source of energy and the same use can be got from other sources as well – thus you can cook with coal, heat up a room with wood and get hot water from solar energy. And you find  stoves that run on electricity but also those on wood or gas.

Keeping this parallel in mind it is easy to understand that Windows is an operating system i.e. it is the source of communication within the machine that we call the computer, something which we do not need to bother about unless our computer stops working. Of course as we go along we do need to understand more and more to make our computer system more efficient and to maintain it well.

Now a program is a series of commands of what is to be done. There are many such programs that are quite simple where the options are fixed and so is what the machine has to do e.g. in a microwave or in a washing machine. But if the uses are varied, changing, complicated, having many users each with their own needs and preferences, an operating system is used.

Besides Windows there are several other Operating systems – a few are DOS, Unix, Linux, Mac System. This enables the user to make changes in how the program runs, to keep software up-to-date and, most importantly, to add on many many more programs and hence to make your computer more versatile and useful. But since such changes are usually done by someone who is more experienced, to start with one needs to know how to use the mouse and the keyboard, how to open programs and files in Windows, how to search for files etc. only. It is the programs that need real learning.

Excel - Speed up data entry

If you are filling data in Excel, the system attempts to help you by automatically filling in a suitable option from those already filled in, in one of the cells above. (If you like what is suggested simply press Enter). This is really helpful. However there are many more ways that will make entry really fast, here are some that I use:

Use Ctrl + D to copy the contents of the cell directly above it – this works whether the cell above has numbers, text or a formula or even if it is hidden. This can also be used simultaneously on several cells by first selecting the cells and then pressing Ctrl + D.

Use Ctrl  + R to copy the contents of the cell on the left.

To simultaneously type in many worksheets, first select the sheets (see bottom left corner of the file) one by one by clicking on the sheet tabs, keeping Ctrl pressed. Then type in whatever is required. To stop this simultaneous entry, just click on any sheet name. This process can be helpful when you are typing say Headings of each column that you want to repeat on each worksheet.

Excel provides an Autofill process. Go to any cell and note the square black dot on the right hand bottom column. This is extremely useful and is called the auto fill handle. Type whatever is needed in a cell, click on the handle and drag it over multiple cells to enter the same contents (or formula) in all the cells. Further uses of this are in entering data in in a series such as 1,2,3..., or 3,6,9 etc. Select say three cells already filled (to establish clearly the pattern) and then drag the auto fill handle. Incidentally this also works with series such as days of the week or months of the year.  If you need to use autofill over a large number of rows, simply double click the handle and the system will complete your work for you. Do play around with this handle and you will find that it works for many combinations.