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Have you ever searched for a document
in Microsoft Word only to find two or more versions of the same
thing, with no way to know what, if any, differences exist between
the files? Or perhaps you’ve asked someone to review and modify a
draft document, but when you receive the revised copy, you have no
way of knowing exactly where changes were made.
In Word 2002 and 2003, the ability to track changes and compare
documents has been made more sophisticated and intuitive than ever.
Tracking changes is as easy as turning on a toolbar. When modifying
a document, go to Word’s View menu and select Toolbars, then
Reviewing. On the reviewing toolbar that appears, click the Track
Changes button. Now every change from deletions and insertions to
changed spellings will be clear to the reviewer.
On the reviewer’s end, buttons on the same toolbar for accepting and
rejecting changes are easy to use, and the document can be viewed at
any time in its original form, original with changes, final, or
final showing changes.
In situations where the reviewing toolbar was not used, it is still
possible to compare document versions. Simply open one of the
documents and choose Compare and Merge Documents from the Tools
menu. You can then merge the second file and begin to sort through
the differences. When opening the second file, note the “Legal
blackline” checkbox in the lower right hand corner of the compare
and merge window. Checking this box allows you to compare documents
at first without trying to merge them.
For a more detailed look at comparing, merging, and tracking
changes, follow these links:
Comparing Documents:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=306484
Tracking Changes:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305216
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