46
Things to Notice Whilst You Type
The text you type appears on the computer screen, in the blank, page-like area
in the middle of the Word window. But that’s not all! As you type, you may
notice other things going on. These aren’t bugs crawling on the screen, nor
are they signs that you need to have your eyes checked. These side effects of
typing may puzzle you or annoy you; either way, this section explains things.
The left end of the status bar
The reason it’s called the status bar is that it can show you the status of your
ur
document, lively updating the information as you type, as shown in Figure 2-2.
The type of information that’s displayed, as well as how much information is
displayed, depends on how you’ve configured Word. Chapter 30 explains
which features the status bar can display.
The status bar also displays information when you initially open a docu-
-
ment, giving the document’s name and character count. That disappears
quickly, however.
When a document is saved, the status bar displays information about
t
the save, though often the information appears too fast to see.
Page position count
Word count
Other stuff may appear
Proofing
Figure 2-2:
Stuff that
grows on
the status
bar.
31
Chapter 2: Making Friends with the Keyboard
Curse you, StickyKeys!
As your mind wanders, your fingers absently
press and release the Shift key. Suddenly, you
see the warning: StickyKeys! By pressing the
Shift, Ctrl, or Alt key five times in a row, you acti-
vate the Windows XP StickyKeys function, a tool
designed to help disabled people more easily use
a computer keyboard. Rather than be glad for the
help, you’re annoyed at the intrusion.
Don’t panic! It’s easy to turn off the StickyKeys
thing: Open the Control Panel’s Accessibility
Options icon to display the Accessibility Options
dialog box. In that dialog box, remove the check
mark by the item labeled Use StickyKeys. Click
OK, and you’ll never be bothered again!