I am a big fan of using the Normal style and would recommend that rather than using a custom style. If your Dad never changes styles then why would it matter if there are styles 'based on' Normal that you don't want to change.

You are right that he doesn't need to learn a new interface if Word 2000 is still going strong but he should have a basic understanding of styles and you should be setting up his Normal.dot template so that his new documents already have the base style configured to suit his requirements.

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Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia