Ever looked at a document and thought, that’s kind of boring? Or  struggled to make your documents stand out?  We have too. 

But Microsoft Word 2010 includes a bunch of new features that make that pain go away.  In fact, it made us think--what if Word had been around as a tool for some of the world’s most significant documents, say the Declaration of Independence?

Well, in this video you can find out exactly how our founding fathers might have easily collaborated using Word 2010.  Have a look at this video, and enter a sweepstakes for a chance to  win a trip to see the historic sights in Philadelphia (or one of many weekly drawings for an Xbox 360 with Kinect).  It’s just that simple--watch & get a chance to win.*

Video lijnk

So how would the founding fathers have collaborated on this historic document more easily with Microsoft Word 2010?  

First, with the integration of Microsoft Messenger in Word they could have worked together from anywhere. TJ could have chimed in from VA, and GW from DC. spots in Philadelphia.

Microsoft Messenger

To add a little flare to their document, they could have used a picture as a background image.

Choosing a background image

The navigation pane would have also made it super easy for them to get to specific points in the document so they could have made their masterful edits  without having to navigate through the entire document.

Navigating a Word document in the Navigation Pane

Each change could have been easily tracked with Track Changes so they (and we) could have seen the evolution of language and the changes each individual suggested or made during the course of development.

Accepting tracked changes

And to make sharing their work of art even easier, they could have simply used the Save & Send feature in the Backstage view to notify the King of England of their coup.

Save and Send options in Word

Send a Word document as an attachment in email

We think these new features would have made collaboration easier for the founding fathers, and we hope they’ll help you create and share your brilliant documents as well.  

Let us know how you think Word could have helped other great documents come to life.  We’d love to know.  Enjoy the film!

Oh, and be sure to check out the Office blog for the full run down on all the videos we created.

-- Kelby Johnson, Word Team

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.  Legal residents of the 50 United States (D.C.) and Canada 18 years and older.  Ends 8/17/11.  To enter and for Official Rules, including odds, and prize descriptions, visit www.microsoft.com/office/office-documents-in-history/.  Void in Quebec and where prohibited.