Datasheet

 Notes pane: Beneath the slide is a small area called the Notes pane, which
you can use to add notes to your slides. For more information on using
this feature, see Chapter 5.
 Task pane: To the right of the slide is an area called the task pane. The
task pane is designed to help you complete common tasks quickly. When
you first start PowerPoint, the task pane isn’t visible, so you can’t see it
in Figure 1-1. However, it will appear whenever it’s needed, and you’ll see
plenty of examples of it throughout this book.
 Status bar: At the very bottom of the screen is the status bar, which tells
you the slide that is currently displayed (for example, Slide 1 of 1).
You can configure the status bar by right-clicking anywhere on it. This
reveals a list of options that you can select or deselect to determine
which elements appear on the status bar.
You’ll never get anything done if you feel that you have to understand every
pixel of the PowerPoint screen before you can do anything. Don’t worry about
the stuff that you don’t understand; just concentrate on what you need to
know to get the job done and worry about the bells and whistles later.
Unraveling the Ribbon
The Ribbon is Microsoft’s new user-interface gadget for not just PowerPoint
2007, but also Word 2007, Excel 2007, and Access 2007. The Ribbon replaces
the menus and toolbars found in earlier versions of these programs.
Across the top of the Ribbon is a series of tabs. You can click one of these
tabs to reveal a set of controls specific to that tab. For example, the Ribbon in
Figure 1-1 (earlier in the chapter) shows the Home tab. Figure 1-2 shows the
Ribbon with the Insert tab selected.
Figure 1-2:
The Ribbon
with the
Insert tab
selected.
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Chapter 1: Welcome to PowerPoint 2007
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