When you open Microsoft Office Word 2007, Office Excel 2007, Office PowerPoint 2007, and Office Access 2007, or create a new message in Office Outlook 2007, you'll see a lot that's familiar, such as your Word document or Excel worksheet. But you'll also notice a new look at the top of the window.

The old look with menus and toolbars has been replaced by the Ribbon at the top of the window. The Ribbon contains tabs that you click to get to the commands you already know how to use.

With a little time and exposure, you'll find that the Ribbon works for you, not against you. In fact, the Ribbon was developed in response to what Office users — possibly you — have asked for: programs that are simpler to use, with commands that are easier to find.

How do you use the Ribbon? Take this course to find out — and to see how you can make better documents faster.

To learn more about this course, read the text in Goals and About this course, or look at the table of contents. Then click Next to start the first lesson.