Computer Lab

1.Word processing:

Word processing describes creating or editing a document using a word processor, such as Microsoft
Word, Google Docs, or OpenOffice Writer. For example, a student could create a book report in a Word
Processor application. Then, the student could print it, save it to a disk, display it on the screen, or send
it over e-mail. Also, a person looking for a job could create a résumé using a word processor, then e-mail
or print and mail it to job recruiters.

Word processing is the process of creating and editing documents on a computer. It

allows a user to create documents that mimic the format and style of a typical
typewriter. It requires a computer and word processing software. A printer may
also be used to create a physical copy of the document.

MS Excel
Microsoft Excel, also known as MS Excel and just Excel, has been one of the best platforms for
spreadsheet creation and analysis ... ever. With tons of built-in features to make advanced calculations
easier, it’s no wonder why everyone has a hard time switching from Excel (if they even want to). Lately,
there has been one competitor who has managed to create an alternative that actually competes with
Excel - Sheets from Google.

Advantage of MS Excel:
Advanced Data Organization

Excel has one of the most complete data organization and analysis systems for the common consumer.
As such, it works for most business applications too. Using the power of your computer, Excel can easily
handle thousands of data formulas and/or computations rather seamlessly. If you have multiple sheets
which are interlinked, the formulas and data organization are unrivaled.

Built-In Formulas

In the past, Excel had formulas for almost every application imaginable. As such, users immediately fell
in love with the simplicity of the plug-and-play interface as it helped them to create beautiful
spreadsheets in almost no time. Over the years, Excel has consistently added more built-in formulas as
users have requested. Of course, these formulas are not proprietary, as they are just mathematical of
design, meaning these formulas could be used in other software platforms too.

Third Party Support

And finally, Excel can work with third-party programs through specialized connectors. Since Excel is built
on the .NET platform, it integrates well with almost anything that is built on the same platform. As such,
access to data and/or other software platforms has increased tremendously over the years. Now, not
only do you have the ability to do certain functions that only Excel had, but now you can incorporate
additions/extra software platforms which give even greater functionality to Excel

Disadvantage of MS Excel

Steep Learning Curve

Excel is a fairly complicated system. To use it efficiently, you have to be able to navigate through the
user interface which is much more complicated than in its original design. In previous designs, users
were able to just point and click and built beautiful spreadsheets. However, Microsoft has added a
plethora of features over the years that now I have to be accessed through multiple venues and/or
dropdowns. Doing this has created a little bit of confusion and even remove some features that people
were happy with. Now, there are tutorials and books for "dummies" to help you with Excel; this was not
necessary in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Cost

Microsoft Office and Excel had never been free, but the price was much more manageable in the past.
As Microsoft has continued to put tons of time and effort into their Office suite, the costs have risen
dramatically. In the past, you could purchase the software for as cheap as $19.95 per year; that simply is
not the case anymore. Now, the cost can easily eclipse $45.99 per year for a downloadable copy and
$99.99 for a cloud-based offering. While this is not egregious, it is cost-prohibitive for an office full of
computers.

Limited Collaboration

Finishing out the disadvantages for Excel, it is not a collaborative system (at least not inherently).
Microsoft was built on a desktop platform with the premise that computers would be the center for
productivity. As technology has changed, the ability to use smaller devices to do the same amount of
work has increased. Since Microsoft has not kept up with these changes as they should have, other
competitors like Google have stepped in to compete for their market share. Office 365 does give Excel
collaborative functionality, but not at the same level that Google Sheets does (and nowhere near the
pricing either).

Time Consuming
Manually entering data into Excel can take a very long time -- especially if you have a lot of data to
enter. The amount of time it takes to manually enter data can be extremely inefficient and as Lior
Weinstein of Cogniview points out, can lead to boredom, which leads to potentially costly
inattentiveness.
Calculation Errors
While Excel's automatic calculation functions make most large-scale batch calculations easy, it isn't
foolproof. Excel has no means of checking for human error during data entry, which means that the
wrong information can skew all the results -- sometimes disastrously. As Tim Worstall of Forbes reports,
JP Morgan lost billions of dollars due to an equation error in Excel introduced by users copying and
pasting data.

10 Benefits of Microsoft Excel

1. Best way to store data
2. You can perform calculations
3. All the tools for data analysis
4. Easy to data visualizations with charts
5. You can print reports easily
6. So many free templates to use
7. You can code to automate
8. Transform and clean data
9. Store data with millions of rows
10. You can work with Excel online + mobile app

Features of MS Excel
Various editing and formatting can be done on an Excel spreadsheet. Discussed below are the
various features of MS Excel.

• Home
o Comprises options like font size, font styles, font colour, background colour,
alignment, formatting options and styles, insertion and deletion of cells and editing
options
o
• Insert
o Comprises options like table format and style, inserting images and figures, adding
graphs, charts and sparklines, header and footer option, equation and symbols
o
• Page Layout
 o Themes, orientation and page setup options are available under the page layout
option
o
• Formulas
o Since tables with a large amount of data can be created in MS excel, under this
feature, you can add formulas to your table and get quicker solutions
o
• Data
o Adding external data (from the web), filtering options and data tools are available
under this category
o
• Review
o Proofreading can be done for an excel sheet (like spell check) in the review category
and a reader can add comments in this part
o
• View
o Different views in which we want the spreadsheet to be displayed can be edited here.
Options to zoom in and out and pane arrangement are available under this category.

What Is Microsoft Office?

Microsoft Word is part of the Microsoft Office suite. The whole suite also includes the
following products:

• Excel: A powerful spreadsheet tool.

• PowerPoint: An intuitive tool used to create great presentations.
• OneNote: A simple program that allows you to gather notes and information in one
place.
• Outlook: A great personal information manager that allows you to manage email
accounts, calendars, and address books.
• Publisher: This helps you design and publish great looking documents like brochures
and newsletters.
• Access: A very powerful database management system.

MS Word
Features of MS Word
Now let us read more about the features and components of an MS Word doc file in detail.
The image given below shows the different elements and categories which are available in MS Word
doc:

• Home
This has options like font colour, font size, font style, alignment, bullets, line spacing, etc. All the
basic elements which one may need to edit their document is available under the Home option.

• Insert
Tables, shapes, images, charts, graphs, header, footer, page number, etc. can all be entered in the
document. They are included in the “Insert” category.

• Design
The template or the design in which you want your document to be created can be selected under
the Design tab. Choosing an appropriate tab will enhance the appearance of your document.

• Page Layout
Under the Page Layout tab comes options like margins, orientation, columns, lines, indentation,
spacing, etc.

• References
This tab is the most useful for those who are creating a thesis or writing books or lengthy
documents. Options like citation, footnote, table of contents, caption, bibliography, etc. can be found
under this tab.

• Review
Spell check, grammar, Thesaurus, word count, language, translation, comments, etc. can all be
tracked under the review tab. This acts as an advantage for those who get their documents reviewed
on MS Word.
Apart from all the above-mentioned features, the page can be set in different views and layouts,
which can be added and optimised using the View tab on the Word document. Margins and scales
are also available for the benefit of the users.

Uses of MS Word
Given below are the different fields in which MS Word is used and simplifies the work of an
individual:

• In Education: It is considered as one of the simplest tools which can be used by both
teachers and students. Creating notes is easier using MS Word as they can be made more
interactive by adding shapes and images. It is also convenient to make assignments on MS
Word and submitting them online

• In Workplace: Submitting letters, bills, creating reports, letterheads, sample documents, can
all easily be done using MS Word
 • Creating & Updating Resume: One of the best tools to create your resumes and is easy to
edit and make changes in it as per your experience
• For Authors: Since separate options are available for bibliography, table of contents, etc., it is
the best tool which can be used by authors for writing books and adjusting it as per the
layout and alignment of your choice

Benefits of ms word

Microsoft is a graphical word processing program that users can type with. It is made by the computer
company Microsoft. The purpose of the MS Word is to allow the users to type and save documents.
Similar to other word processors, it has helpful tools to make documents. Microsoft word, often called
as word, carries with it a lot of benefits. Let’s discuss it in a little bit more detail.

It's the most popular word processing program in the world. One of the most obvious benefits is its
availability. Almost all windows users install Microsoft suit in their computer system. It is available and
used on all common computers. Microsoft word is used to save documents. The documents can be
copied to flash drive which serves as an external memory for your computer. This allows you to use the
saved documents conveniently taking with you anywhere.

Another important benefit which is gained from using Microsoft Word is it allows the users to make
different formats in accordance with the need and importance. In addition to allowing you to create
simple documents for business correspondence, it helps you greatly to create and design business cards,
brochures, new letters and many more items that are needed. Besides, the use of fonts, shapes, clip art
or smart art, charts has its own importance and value.

There are times when users need to integrate Microsoft Word with other programs as well, such as,
using Excel tables, rows and columns or calculations. For example, if you have created a spreadsheet in
Microsoft Excel and you want to display on your required document for a particular reason. You can do
this easily by pasting the saved work sheet on the document. Similarly, PowerPoint can also be
integrated with Microsoft Word for specific purposes. When working in slide sorter view of PowerPoint,
miniature versions of the slides called thumbnails are shown. A thumbnail is the term used to describe a
miniature version of a slide or picture. In this way, converting a PowerPoint presentation to a word
document will be easy. This allows you to provide handouts of the presentations to the audience.

Although it may seem as the word cannot help you out to fix all grammatical errors and there are still
things to be considered based on grammar and syntax, still it is worth using in terms of checking the
spellings and focusing on punctuation. Spelling check feature in Microsoft word helps you to correct the
spellings in your documents. In addition, you can fix the punctuation errors as well. At this stage, it is
important to mention that sometimes it is suggested differently from what grammatical structure you
want to add in your document. It is therefore important to consider appropriately before you accept the
suggested structure or punctuation in your document.

An extremely important feature of Microsoft word which is very useful for various purposes is that it has
Navigation pane at the top. It is a visual representation of many functions. It is where you can select
different functions depending on your need and make use of it conveniently.
Nearly every profession in the world should have some use of Microsoft word. People who use
Microsoft Word tend to have an easier time than those who lack this product. It helps in all the
professional requirements relating to business correspondence by reducing the time and efforts and
energy of the users to a great extent.

Advantages of Microsoft Word

Word allows you to produce most of the documents traditionally created by a secretarial
pool or by a marketing department. It reduces the time and cost to produce the
document and reduces the bottom line as there is no requirement for an administrative
pool dedicated to document production. Word gives you the right tools to allow you to
be productive.

The advantages of Word are wide and varied. Here are the main advantages.

• Integration: One of the most powerful features of Word is the ability to integrate any
document with other media available within the Office suite. It is easy to incorporate
graphs, presentation materials, worksheets, and any other media created in the suite. As
the link is dynamic, any document you create can be instantly updated when other
media changes.
• Mail Merge: Word makes it very easy to create personalized documents by using a
database list of names and addresses and merge them into your document. This is ideal
for mass mailings of brochures or letters. The mail merge feature is intuitive and feature-
packed, allowing you to create many different documents like mailing labels.
• Collaboration: One feature that is outstanding on Word is the ability to markup the
document for changes. This allows for a series of editors to amend and update the
document and allow all users the ability to see the changes made to the document.
 • Templates: The good thing about Word is that there are thousands of templates
available, so it’s very easy to create a brochure based on a template someone has
already designed. Most templates are very easy to use and very customizable, allowing
you to produce some stunning end results.
• Smaller Files: In the past, Word files had been notorious for being relatively large. This
was a problem if your device had limited storage space. Word 2007 introduced the new
DOCX format, which significantly reduced the size of Word files. This format is now the
standard for documents.
• Mobile App: A mobile version of Word is available on Windows phones and tablets.
While it is not as robust as the desktop version, it does allow you to create and edits
documents. This is a great app for working on documents while you are on the go.
Advanced users of Microsoft Word can use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to
automate Word. VBA is a very powerful programming language that allows you to
enhance the overall functionality of Word.

Disadvantages of Microsoft Word

• Cost: While Word is the best word processor available, it can be very expensive. You
can get free word processors that are nearly as powerful that will satisfy the needs of
most users.
• Complexity: Most users will probably never use 50% of the functionality of Word. The
complexity can actually be a deterrent as some users will be overwhelmed by the
features available. The ribbon does present some of the more frequently used elements,
but the lack of intuitiveness of the ribbon can add to the confusion.
• Not Always Intuitive: Some functions are not always intuitive, and it can take a while to
get your desired effects. I have personally had problems trying to insert pictures and
align text correctly around the pictures. The options available seem to offer what I need,
but I don’t always get the desired effect.
 • Removed Features: Some familiar features of Word have been removed in the past.
This includes the iconic toolbar that was replaced by the ribbon. Word also previously
had tools like speech recognition, although that feature became a part of Windows.

Microsoft Word Alternatives

Microsoft Word is the most popular word processor in the world, but there are several
very good alternatives to consider.

• Apache OpenOffice: This is the most widely used free alternative and features a full
office suite. The word processor is very good; it does not have all of the features of
Word, but it is ideal for the average user. It is a little more difficult to use than Word, but
it can produce comparable results.
• Google Docs: This is a completely cloud-based application that provides a decent word
processing experience. It’s not as complex as Word, but it does offer great collaboration
features.
• Corel WordPerfect: WordPerfect is perhaps the closest competitor in terms of
functionality to Word. It is very powerful and can produce excellent documents. I find it a
little less intuitive to use, but it does have some powerful features that Word doesn’t
have.
• LibreOffice Writer: LibreOffice is an open-source alternative to Microsoft Office. It offers
many similar programs, including a word processor called Writer. It offers many similar
features as Word. In terms of appearance, its layout is similar to older versions of Word.
• AbiWord: This is a free word processor that is not attached to an office suite. It has
standard features such as templates and formatting options. It also has an online
component that allows you to store documents on the web and collaborate with others.

Power Point
Features of MS PowerPoint
There are multiple features that are available in MS PowerPoint which can customise and optimise a
presentation. The same have been discussed below.

• Slide Layout
Multiple options and layouts are available based on which a presentation can be created. This option
is available under the “Home” section and one can select from the multiple layout options provided.

• Insert – Clipart, Video, Audio, etc.

Under the “Insert” category, multiple options are available where one can choose what feature they
want to insert in their presentation. This may include images, audio, video, header, footer, symbols,
shapes, etc.

• Slide Design
MS PowerPoint has various themes using which background colour and designs or textures can be
added to a slide. This makes the presentation more colourful and attracts the attention of the people
looking at it.
This feature can be added using the “Design” category mentioned on the homepage of MS
PowerPoint. Although there are existing design templates available, in case someone wants to add
some new texture or colour, the option to customise the design is also available. Apart from this,
slide designs can also be downloaded online.

• Animations
During the slide show, the slides appear on the screen one after the other. In case, one wants to add
some animations to the way in which a slide presents itself, they can refer to the “Animations”
category.

Uses of PowerPoint Presentation

PowerPoint presentations are useful for both personal and professional usage. Given below are a
few of the major fields where PPT is extremely useful:

• Education – With e-learning and smart classes being chosen as a common mode of
education today, PowerPoint presentations can help in making education more interactive
and attract students towards the modified version of studying

• Marketing – In the field of marketing, PowerPoint presentations can be extremely important.

Using graphs and charts, numbers can be shown more evidently and clearly which may be
ignored by the viewer if being read

• Business – To invite investors or to show the increase or decrease in profits, MS PowerPoint

can be used

• Creating Resumes – Digital resumes can be formed using MS PowerPoint. Different

patterns, photograph, etc. can be added to the resume
 • Depicting Growth – Since both graphics and text can be added in a presentation, depicting
the growth of a company, business, student’s marks, etc. is easier using PPT
Question: What is a PowerPoint presentation or PPT?
Answer: A combination of various slides depicting a graphical and visual interpretation of data, to
present information in a more creative and interactive manner is called a PowerPoint presentation or
PPT.
Question: What is a slide show in a PowerPoint presentation?
Answer: When all the slides of a PowerPoint presentation are set in series and then presented to a
group of people, where each slide appears one after the other, is a set pattern, this is known as a
PowerPoint slide show.
Question: What all elements can be added to a slide?
Answer: The following elements can be added to a Powerpoint slide:

1. Clip Art
2. Graphs
3. Tables
4. Photographs
5. Charts
6. Media Clips
7. Videos

All these elements are mainly used to enhance presentation skills and make the slide more
interactive.

Question: What is MS PowerPoint?

Answer: PowerPoint (PPT) is a powerful, easy-to-use presentation graphics software program that
allows you to create professional-looking electronic slide shows.

Advantages and Disadvantages of

PowerPoint
PowerPoint—Advantage or
Disadvantage for the Presenter?
PowerPoint is the most popular presentation software. It is regarded by many as

the most useful and accessible way to create and present visual aids to the

audience.
On the other hand, others believe it has created its own mind-set which forces

presenters to spend countless hours thinking in PowerPoint and developing

slides. A political party has even formed to ban PowerPoint in Switzerland.

Depending on one's perspective, it seems that many advantages could easily

be viewed as disadvantages.

Look over the list below to see where you stand—with or against PowerPoint.

Advantages
Design

• Quick and easy: the basic features are easy to master and can make you

appear to be organized, even if you are not.

• Simple bullet points: it can reduce complicated messages to simple bullet

points. Bullet points are a good basis for a presentation and remind the

speaker of main points and the organization of the message.

• Easy to create a colorful, attractive design: using the standard templates

and themes, you can create something visually appealing,even if you do

not have much knowledge of basic graphic design principles .

• Easy to modify: when compared to other visual aids such as charts,

posters, or objects, it is easy to modify.

• Easily re-order presentation: with a simple drag and drop or using key

strokes, you can move slides to re-order the presentation.

Finally, PowerPoint is integrated with other products that allow you to include

parts of documents, spread sheets, and graphic.

Disadvantages
Design

• Design power pointless: gives the illusion of content and coherence,

when in fact there is really not much substance or connection between the

different points on the slides.

• PowerPoint excess: some speakers create presentations so they have

slides to present rather than outlining, organizing, and focusing on the

message.

• Replaces planning and preparation: PowerPoint is a convenient prop for

poor speakers, as it can reduce complicated messages to simple bullet

points and elevates style over substance.

• Oversimplification of topic: the linear nature of PowerPoint forces the

presenter to reduce complex subjects to a set of bullet items that are too

weak to support decision-making or show the complexity of an issue.

• Feature abundance: while the basic features are easy to use and apply, a

speaker can get carried away and try to use all the features at once

rather than simply supporting a message. Too many flying

letters, animations, and sound effects without seeing much original

 thought or analysis can be a real issue. In many cases, the medium shoves

the message aside.

What is the difference between Rich Text and Plain

Text?
Rich Text: Rich Text Format (RTF) is a file format that allows the exchange of text files between
different editors. This styled text allows for the addition of formatting, such as font sizes and colors,
bolding, italics, etc...

In order for HTML functionality to be used in the creation of an email, the Rich Text editor must be
turned on.

Plain Text: Plain text contains no formatting, only line breaks and spacing. Therefore no text
formatting (such as font sizes and colors, bolding or italics) can be used.

Since it allows for text formatting, Rich Text is a popular default format for the creation of
emails. But, it should be noted that depending on a recipients email settings, they may not be able
to view emails in Rich Text/HTML format and therefore they will need to receive emails in Plain Text.

Plain Text and Rich Text

Plain text files can store only text, including numbers, symbols and line breaks.
TXT files can't save formatting options, such as fonts, colors or text sizes, and if
you convert another type of document to plain text, it loses these settings. Some
plain text editors, such as Notepad, provide font and size settings, but these
settings only change how the entire file looks on your screen, rather than actually
formatting selections of text. Conversely, rich text files, produced in programs
such as WordPad, do store these types of formatting selections, just as a Word
document would
What Is Microsoft Office Suite?
Microsoft Office is the collective name for Microsoft's set of home and business
productivity software. The MS suite of programs includes Microsoft Word, a word
processing tool; Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet program; Microsoft PowerPoint,
used for creating interactive presentations; Microsoft Outlook, used for email and
calendar management; Microsoft Access, a database management program; and
Microsoft OneNote, a note-taking application

The Microsoft Office suite is a set of programs for common productivity tasks,
including a word processing program, a spreadsheet tool, presentation software,
an email program and others. Often abbreviated as the MS Office suite, it's
among the most popular software packages in the world, though it does face
competition from other commercial products, including some from Apple and
Google and from open source packages such as LibreOffice. Parts of the
Microsoft suite of programs are available both for use in a web browser and local
use on a computer.

Productivity software is a category of application programs that help

users produce things such as documents, databases, graphs, worksheets and
presentations.

Many productivity applications are intended for business use. Examples of

office productivity software include word processors, database management
systems (DBMS), graphics software and spreadsheet applications. The
definition of productivity software is sometimes broadened to include any type
of application that is used to help people do their jobs,
including collaboration and communication programs.
employee productivity (sometimes referred to as workforce productivity) is an
assessment of the efficiency of a worker or group of workers. Productivity
software increases that efficiency by facilitating people's tasks. For example,
using a word processing application, such as Microsoft Word, which yields
digital files, makes the tasks of creating, editing, storing and sharing
documents much more efficient. Similarly, database management systems
greatly simplify the tasks of storing, retrieving and working with data while also
enormously expanding the capabilities of data manipulation and analysis.

Productivity software, like most types of applications, is increasingly available

for mobile devices. However, mobile productivity apps are generally for basic
tasks like e-mail, note-taking and calendar functions, rather than more
substantial tasks, such as word processing.

Alternatives to Excel

While there may not have been much competition in the beginning, myriad programs
offer alternatives to Excel. If you’re looking for something at a lower price, or you just
aren’t a fan of Microsoft’s program, we put 10 options for you and your team.

1. Google Sheets
2. Zoho Sheet
3. Microsoft Office Excel Online
4. Smartsheet
5. LibreOffice
6. WPS Spreadsheets
7. Quip
8. Apache OpenOffice Calc
9. Airtable
10. Numbers