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Office 2007: What's changed in Powerpoint?

Basic information on the changes between PowerPoint 2003 and 2007.

When Microsoft PowerPoint was first released in the early 1990's, it didn't include the numerous tools and options that more recent versions have. In response to a need for re-organization, there have been several changes made to the newest version that help increase productivity and decrease the amount of time it takes for a user to customize their document. Some of the major changes are as follows:

  • New Look, including the Microsoft Office Button, Ribbon, and dynamic toolbars.
  • Dynamic menus that change with the program the user is in and the task they are performing.
  • Default File Format is .pptx, which is an XML format that is editable with many other programs if handled correctly. However, PowerPoint 2003 requires an extra add-on to open these files. You can change the format that PowerPoint 2007 saves files to by default in the PowerPoint Options menu located in the Microsoft Office Button dropdown. Please note that the CAE lab computers will already have the default file format set to the 2003 version.
  • The Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar that provide commonly used formatting and editing options and can be customized to meet the needs of advanced users.
  • Keyboard Shortcuts haven't changed.
  • Quick Styles and Themes help to create professional-looking documents much more quickly than previous versions of PowerPoint.
  • SmartArt diagrams and charts link items across Word, Excel, and Powerpoint to ensure a consistent look.
  • Create Custom Slide Layouts - the user is no longer forced to use one of the numerous but confining default layouts... master sets with custom layouts for different slide topics can be created and saved for future use.
  • Improved effects that can be modified by the user.
  • New Text Formatting Options including themes, shapes, and the ability to select non-continuous text.
  • Improved Proofing Tools including contextual spell check, which can differentiate between "its" and "it's".
  • New Add-ins, including the ability to save directly as a .pdf file (users can share documents as a .pdf without an add-in).
  • Better Program Recovery helps to recover work in progress if PowerPoint has to shut down unexpectedly.

A complete listing of the old and new locations of each command is available for download directly from Microsoft here.

Need to open a file with Office 2003 that is saved in one of the new formats? Download Microsoft's Compatibility Pack.

 
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