Discussion on:

Multi-task tricks of the Table Move handle in Word

You didn't mention right clicking on the handle to open a menu for more table options

Double clicking in my setup of W2003, apparently does nothing, however right clicking brings up the option box that includes the properties function. What I miss from Word 95, I believe or maybe before, is the ability to set any cell to any size without changing the column width for the rest of the table.
There is sometimes a need--you have a listing and one entry is longer, instead of changing the font as I have to do now, you could adjust the cell's width to accomodate the longer set of data. For some reason new and improved is not always true, their improvements take away some functions that were preveiously available.

If you select the cell, then you can resize it without changing the width for the rest of the table. I just tried it. It does move the table row edge you're in, but just drag the borders to resize it.