When I started writing, I used Microsoft Word 1998 and then graduated to 2000 and 2003. No problem. The 2003 version was the one I used while writing my mystery novel and the articles I wrote for the magazine for which I was a staff writer. So, naturally I got to be pretty knowledgeable about that version. I was happy as a lark, as the old cliché goes.
Then I bought a new computer with Word 2010. What was I thinking? You know the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?” So why did I have to ruin a good thing by getting a whole new program? I don’t know. I thought it would be a smooth transition like the previous ones. I thought programs became MORE user-friendly with each version. Where did I ever get that idea? Silly me.
When it comes to 2010, I feel like a kindergartener once more. Where is everything? When I first bought 2003’s version, I was still able to refer to print books I had for previous versions so I could read along as I explored the new one, step by step. What a help that was! After trying to find in the 2010 version what I already knew how to find on the previous version and wasting vast amounts of time in the process, I’ve given up, broken down, and resorted to searching for and purchasing a new printed book again. This time for Word 2010.
Of course, there is online help, but reading the help suggestions at the same time I’m trying to experiment on the new Word is terribly confusing and frustrating switching back and forth between the two. Okay, I even have to admit to being a tiny bit techy challenged. Grrrrrr!
Am I the only idiot on the planet with this problem? Maybe my difficulty is my age. Young people don’t seem to have this trouble. I have unfortunately reached dinosaur status, but I prefer calling it life #7 of my kitty cat lives. Somehow that sounds a bit gentler, a little less old and antiquated.
So, my new Word 2010 step-by-step printed manual will be delivered in a few days. Let’s hope it will open up the elusive wonders that have been so cunningly eluding me. By George! I think I’ve got it! The answer to my aggravating Microsoft Word 2010. Yeaaaaaay!
