In Outlook 2007, the first time you create a new message (or open one you receive) you'll see the Ribbon. It's the band across the top of the window.

One of the most dramatic changes in Outlook, the Ribbon gives Outlook a new look. But as you get up to speed, you'll see that the change is more than visual — it's there to help you get things done more easily and with fewer steps.

And it doesn't end with the Ribbon. There's a lot more that's new to help you work faster and more efficiently. To name just a few of these things, there's the To-Do Bar, new navigation in the calendar, and a new format for contacts.

Note If you're looking for information about all of the new features in Outlook, or if you want to know more about the differences between earlier versions of Outlook and this version, take a look at the Quick Reference Card at the end of the course. We've listed some additional resources there.

Introducing the Ribbon

The Ribbon is visible each time you create or edit something in Outlook. Specifically, you'll encounter the Ribbon when you create or modify e-mail messages, calendar items, contacts, tasks, or journal entries.

Why did we switch to this new system? We did a lot of research about how people use commands in Outlook. Based on this research, we made some commands more prominent and organized common commands so that they're displayed and grouped in ways that make them easy to find and use.

Note If you've used Microsoft Office Word 2007, the Ribbon for Outlook messages will be familiar to you. Because the Outlook 2007 editor is based on Word 2007, many of the commands and options that are available in Word are available when you create messages in Outlook.

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