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"Office 2004 For Macintosh: The Missing Manual": The Mac User's Guide to Getting the Most Out of Office

Press release: February 18, 2005

Sebastopol, CA--Microsoft Office 2004 is four popular programs for Mac OS X in one cohesive suite: Word for words, Excel for numbers, PowerPoint for presentations, and Entourage for email and personal information management. And Office 2004 for Mac: The Missing Manual (Walker and Tessler, O'Reilly, US $29.95) is four books in one.

Despite a dazzling array of features to run small businesses, organize big families, and create stellar corporate presentations, Office 2004 doesn't come with a single page of printed instructions. But now, in an all-inclusive Missing Manual, authors Mark H. Walker and Franklin Tessler help readers use all four programs in Office 2004 to do their work and organize their lives more quickly and easily than ever before.

Microsoft has improved and enhanced Office 2004 to take advantage of the latest Mac OS X features. New and innovative features like the Project Center and Toolbox integrate the individual programs, and time-saving tools make for far more efficient Mac time--but only if users know where to find them and how best to use them.

"Microsoft's own studies indicate that most people don't even know about 80 percent of its program's features, let alone use them all," report Walker and Tessler. But with this book's step-by-step instructions for all major (and most minor) Office features and tools, readers will be fully prepared to get the most out of the software package. They'll master the programs individually and learn how they work together for even greater productivity and creativity.

Walker and Tessler deliver on their promise to use "very little jargon or nerd terminology" in this funny and friendly reference. They clearly and systematically guide both beginners and veterans through all four Office 2004 programs. The authors include all the advice and practical information users need to take command of the basics and make the most of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Entourage, including:

  • A gentle liftoff: The first chapter on each program helps readers grasp the essentials, taking care to point out useful shortcuts along the way.
  • Power techniques: Office fans will find both power-user techniques and detailed coverage of what's significantly improved, what's new, and what's removed in Office 2004.
  • Unvarnished truth: Because this isn't an authorized book, the authors can offer frank advice as to which Office features are gems in the rough--and which are junkware best left untouched.
  • With the trademark humor and clarity of every Missing Manual, this indispensable guide will teach Mac users everything they ever wanted to know about Office 2004 and show them how to put it to good use in their homes and offices.

    Additional Resources:

    Office 2004 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual
    Mark H. Walker, Franklin Tessler
    ISBN: 0-596-00820-1, 736 pages, $29.95 US, $43.95 CA
    order@oreilly.com
    1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000

    About O’Reilly

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