Hi, Steve. I learned alot and brushed up on tools at gcf learning, which is a free tutorial I found by googling. They have a power point course at www.gcflearnfree.org/powerpoint2013. GCF has helped me ace exams when interviewing.Best of luck to you!

MS2016 is the "latest and greatest" variant of Microsoft's MSOffice application suite (which is comprised of Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access). MS2013, as the name implies, came out a few years ago (deductive reasoning leads me to suspect 2013) and as a consequence its a bit dated. Conceptually, there's no real difference between the two packages, although 2016 has a few new features, colors, themes and/or functions that MS2013 lacks. One point of interest is that MS2013 & 2016 can only be installed on a single computer, whereas Office 365 (which offers the same applications) can be installed on as many as 5 computers. Also, Office 365 allows you to pay either on a monthly basis or all at once, whereas MSOffice 2013 & 2016 require payment in full at time of purchase. Finally, Office 365 supports feature updates whereas you'll have to buy the updates if some new feature or function comes out for MSOffice 2013 or 2016. Since you're probably buying the suite for learning purposes, I don't see where you'd need Office 365's multi-install feature, so I'd recommend going with MSOffice 2016. Also, I'd recommend looking around at your local community colleges to see if any in your area offer an Introduction to MSOffice course. Some colleges even offer such classes online, so you needn't bother with physically going to class. I know because I teach one! :-).

Hi J: There are some excellent courses on a website called udemy.com. They have courses (books in the form of videos) on just about every subject you can imagine. There are a few freebies, so you can try it out and see of its something that can be of help to you. Each course varies in price (anywhere from $10 to $50 depending on the depth and the subject matter).

There are courses for beginners, intermediate and advanced students in the subject in question. I have used it to learn and sharpen my programming skills in various languages and they are very effective. And you have lifetime access to the courses so they can serve as references so you never get rusty.

I personally want to learn more on 365 because it seems to be what people are switching to from where I have been. They offer free classes on how to use Microsoft programs. I have the place written down somewhere but in the meantime call Bestbuy or any store that has a great comp. dept.and speak to someone who's knowledgeable in this stuff and they can give you different opinions on programs and tell you who offers what classes in what software. For me it has always been real easy to learn and for things to stick when I in a room with others there is a professional(s) there to assist and maybe teach what you may read over or get a short attention span for bc it is learning about a program. This is just my view but always be open to new thing you may enjoy it.

Hi Steve, have you checked online training info on sites like Udemy, https://www.udemy.com/. They offer supper affordable lecture and online training. Check it out for those courses.

Hi J: I agree with Mariah - most companies still use 2013. Sometimes I think the technology is changing so quickly they have trouble keeping up. Good Luck

Hi J: Thanks for posting to Jobcase! I would go with the most recent Microsoft Office (in this case, 2016). Microsoft Office 365 has a lot of bells and whistles - probably more than you need if you're sticking with the primary programs.