Using Microsoft Word

As I begun this tutorial task, I found myself rolling my eyes when instructed to make words bold or put them into italics.
I had the same reaction to the step by step instructions of how to make/adjust a header and footer.
To me, this was all simple.
All my high school assignments had faithfully been carried out by Microsoft Word.
It was my friend. It showed me squiggly lines when I had spelt words incorrectly, or didn't have the right grammar.
And I knew I could always rely on that little animated paperclip to pop up and help me if I ever wanted to write a letter.
So I admit I came into this task thinking that I knew all.

However, the first Advanced Excercise had me saying 'Whoaaaaaa'.
This 'track changes' business was completely new to me, and I gotta say, it's a pretty handy tool.
I wish I had known about it earlier. It's going to make drafting and editing assignments a whole lot more concise.
All in all, that little exercise was very much appreciated and I managed to work my way around it easily.
*applauds*

On the other hand, I didn't have such a positive reaction to the Mail Merge exercise.
Some faint memories of my Year 10 Extension Computing class (yes - Extension. For those special kids ie. the ones who sorta actually knew how to handle a PowerPoint presentation) came rushing back, but seeing as though sometimes I have a hard time remembering what I did last week, I really didn't trust myself to rely on my Grade 10 skills.
While I think I got the basic idea of Mail Merge, and no doubt it will be useful when I have numerous contacts and letters to send to them, I still found myself raising a confused eyebrow and saying 'Eh?' to the somewhat detailed/complex instructions. I think I managed to get there in the end though.
But when it does come time for me to use this tool seriously, I think I'll definitely have to have a little one on one time with the Mail Merge Wizard.