Get Ready for the Internet and Office

When you're working in Word and you need to check a Web page, you don't have to start Internet Explorer to do so. Microsoft integrated Office and the Internet. The seamless Web integration lets you get to Internet data much easier than before. The Internet interface between the various Office products differs a little, but the Internet interface is always underneath Office, ready to handle the connection.

The Web Toolbar

All core Office programs contain a Web toolbar that appears when you click a hyperlink ( underlined text that links to a document or Web page on your computer, on a networked computer, or to an Internet Web page). You can also display the Web toolbar by right-clicking on any toolbar and selecting Web from the list that appears.

If you're logged on to the Internet when you click a Web toolbar button such as the Start Page button, or when you type a Web address in your Office application's Web address bar, Office takes you directly to that Web page, substituting your Web browser for the current Office program on your screen. If you're not logged on to the Internet before using the Web toolbar buttons , Office initiates your logon sequence for you. When you click the browser's Back button, you return to Word or Excel or to whatever Office program you were running.

This back-and-forth nature of Office is a little-used but tremendous tool. Why should your workplace be littered with multiple windows , one for your Excel worksheet and a separate one for your Internet browser? Just display your Web toolbar, and you can go back and forth between your own computer's documents and data and the Web's information without ever having to start a Web browser or click buttons on your Windows taskbar.

If you happen to be working in Internet Explorer and decide you need to refer to an Excel worksheet on your own computer, don't start Excel; just select File, Open from the Internet Explorer menu and open your Excel worksheet. Internet Explorer's menus change to reflect Excel's menu, and your worksheet replaces the Web page you were viewing! Just click Back when you're done with Excel, and you'll be right back to the Web page.

As you use Office more and more, you'll find many ways to integrate Office and the Web. For example, suppose you're giving a PowerPoint presentation and you need to reference something on the Web. Simply insert a hyperlink to that Web site and click it during the presentation. PowerPoint jumps to the Web and displays the page ( assuming you're online).

A Web site does not even have to exist yet for you to insert a hyperlink to it. For example, you might be creating an in-house reference manual for your company's new Web site. You can insert a hyperlink to an address on your company site before the site actually appears on the Internet.