Video: A first look at Word 2013

When you open Word 2013 for the first time, this is what you see.

It's a little different from the blank document you get when you open Word 2003.

In Word 2013, you start by choosing what you want to do.

You can choose a template and create a new document, or open an existing document here.

Let's see what happens when we open a Word 2003 document.

Just move to where you want to work in the document, and start typing.

Word may look a little different to you, but all the basic tools and features you're used to are still here.

You can copy, paste, and format text the same way. The commands are just organized a little differently.

You used to select a menu item; then click a command.

Now you select a tab on the ribbon, and click a command.

By default, the HOME tab is selected when you first open Word, and if you just want to get up to speed fast, this is where you'll find the most common commands for working with text.

For example, you can select text and make it Bold, change the Font, and increase Font Size.

If you want to save time, you can click here and choose a Style.

Notice that you can move the mouse over a style and see a preview before you select it.

When you are ready to save your document, you can use the Save command up here, or you can press the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+S.

You'll find that most of your favorite keyboard shortcuts still work in Word 2013.

I don't know if you noticed, but up here, next to the file name, it says Compatibility Mode. That means Word 2013 is continuing to save the document as a doc file, which is compatible with Word 2003.

You can keep working in the compatibility mode, if you need to. But, if you want to use a new feature that isn't compatible with the old format, then you need to convert it to the Docxformat.

For example, let's move down here to this Org chart.

It still looks a lot like the one I added in Word 2003.

But if we convert this document to the Docx format, we can start using the new feature for working with diagrams and org charts, called SmartArt.

Let's see what happens when we do that.

Click the FILE tab to go to the backstage, click Info, and then click Convert.

First you get a message. Click OK, and the document is converted.

Now, let's check out the Org chart. As you can see, it has a new design, and up here on the ribbon, you have new DESIGN options.

For example, you can Change Colors.

We won't go into all those right now. Instead, let's do one more thing. Click Save and save the converted file, which has a .docx file extension.

We'll get into compatibility mode in more detail in the final video.

So, you are well on your way to switch to Word 2013. Now, stick around and we'll do more.

In the next video, you'll see how things are organized in Word 2013.