The issue - and this goes back to early versions of Word - is that Word is a word-processor. It is not a layout applicatiuon.

I heard this same discussion back with Word versus Quark. That is the way it is. A word-processor is not a layout application. So we can complain about what Microsoft should be able to do in Word

"someway similar to tables made in professional edited books or magazines,"

but the reality is those use layout applications NOT word-processors.