Skype is getting a surprise makeover with improved group calling views, display customization, two camera support and even translation on calls to regular phone lines. Microsoft calls these changes, we’re not kidding, ‘buttery smooth’. The announcement is a surprise because all the indications have been that Skype is on its
The Search box in the title bar of Excel 365 is getting access to Stock and other linked data types with Word 365 and PowerPoint 365 promised soon. You’ll be able to find and insert linked data direct from the top Search box. The modern Office Search box doesn’t just
In addition to the general Office 2021/LTSC features there are some useful additions to Excel 2021/LTSC including the dynamic array functions, improved XLookup()/XMatch() and Let() but sadly no Lambda(). All these features are in Excel 2021 and Excel LTSC for both Windows and Mac in addition to the overall updates
In addition to the general Office 2021/LTSC features there are some useful additions to Outlook 2021/LTSC including a better search box, translation of emails. See all about Office 2021 for Windows & Mac plus The good and bad in Office LTSC Here’s what’s new/changed in Outlook 2021 in addition to
In addition to the general Office 2021/LTSC features there are some useful additions to PowerPoint 2021/LTSC including recording presenter videos and changing the reading order for accessibility. See all about Office 2021 for Windows & Mac plus The good and bad in Office LTSC Here’s what’s new/changed in PowerPoint 2021
As if Lambda() was already a great addition to Excel 365, Microsoft is adding what they call ‘helper’ functions to add even more abilities. Here’s a very short overview of each helper function with links to more information. In some cases, the helper functions are a new and better way to do things already
Microsoft has publicly released Office LTSC or Long Term Servicing Channel. It’s the ‘fixed feature’ Office suite for volume licence customers. It’s a replacement for Office 2019 but only available to business and government customers. Office 2021 is the personal and small business equivalent which will be out on 5
Microsoft has announced that Office desktop apps (Windows and Mac) can now co-author encrypted documents. Until now, encrypted docs could only have shared editing using Office on the web. What’s in the fine print is often overlooked, this feature isn’t for everyone. The announcement in bold from Microsoft has got
Microsoft has released a patch for the MSHTML security bug that’s being used with Office documents to infect computers. The bug is in MSHTML, the browser rendering engine used by Microsoft Office. If someone is tricked into opening a hacked Office document with ActiveX control, they could infect their computer
There are many API’s available on the Internet that can provide great and timely data in ways that Excel can understand, here’s how you can do it. We’ve recently received emails asking how to use Excel to import data from specific API’s. Always we have the same answers because most
Printing email messages is something that we all do at various times, and in theory it should be as simple as clicking the Print icon in your email program – but what if the message won’t print out properly? Sometimes the printed version of an email message (or web page)
Outlook 2007 has a feature which may help your outgoing messages be distinguished from spam. There’s a lot of talk about anti-spam measures but less talk about legitimate messages being mistaken for spam. When this happens your message might be overlooked in the receivers ‘Junk’ folder but at worst will
The Read Aloud feature in Word 365 and Outlook 365 is getting fewer but much better and realistic sounding voices. Read Aloud is how documents can be read to you. Great for ‘reading’ without adding more eye-strain or proof reading against an original document. These options are at Review |
The September 2021 release preview has a lot more than usual new and updated features in Office 365 for Windows. Almost as if Microsoft has been saving them up for a bumper surprise! It’s all in the ‘Current Channel (Preview)’ release v2109 build 14430.20088 that’s out now. This is the
Soon older versions of Outlook won’t be able to connect to Microsoft hosted mailboxes, even though both the software and service come from the same company. Here’s what’s happening, why, who is affected and what to do. Microsoft is finally ending older, insecure, ‘Basic’ authentication connections to their Microsoft 365
Office Depot in the USA has a good deal available now for both Microsoft 365 Family and Personal, but with an important limitation buried in the fine print. Both offers are for 15 months of Microsoft 365 for the price of 12 but you must buy a ‘qualifying product’ to
Simple, easy and free ways to convert audio files like WAV, FLAC and many others into a format that PowerPoint or your smartphone prefers such as MP3, MP4 or AAC. The BBC Sound effect downloads are in WAV format. That’s a good, high-fidelity and uncompressed format that works in PowerPoint
The hardware requirements for Windows 11 are surprisingly high especially the increased security requirements. Some brand-new computers, even Microsoft’s own high-priced Surface computers bought today might not be compatible with Windows 11. See all the Office-Watch.com coverage of Windows 11 Unlike previous major Windows releases, you can’t assume that a
The new Widgets pane in Windows 11 has three widgets for Outlook and Microsoft 365 users. Calendar, To Do and one only for Enterprise users. Widgets are a pop-up window of configurable small panes. The selection of widgets is quite limited, at least for now; Weather, Traffic, Stocks, Sports, Entertainment
If you think font selection is hard, spare a thought for lawyers who have to deal with different official rules, recommendations and accepted practice for court submissions. Jason Steed at JDSupra sets out the complications for US lawyers. The D.C Circuit court started ‘discouraging’ use of Garamond font but no
Microsoft has updated the Office programs to support the OpenDocument format (ODF) to version 1.3. Most people use Office Open XML format (OOXML) which is the official name for what is usually called the ‘new’ Microsoft Office formats, .docx .xlsx .pptx etc. OpenDocument files .odt .ods .odp etc are also
OneDrive on Mac computers won’t be supported on older macOS from mid-September 2021. The latest macOS and last two releases will continue work and be supported. Microsoft’s general policy for supporting Office on Mac computers is to support the most recent version of macOS and the two versions before that.
The Office for Android apps won’t be supported on Chromebook devices from mid-September. That admission was finally dragged out of a reluctant Microsoft. That leaves Chromebook users with Office on the web and Outlook.com in the Chrome browser. See Two ways to use Microsoft Office on a Chromebook Microsoft reluctantly
Here’s how to collaborate on a ‘live’ file (Word document, Excel workbook, PowerPoint deck or OneNote notebook) saved on OneDrive or other cloud service. It’s part of our series on accept a sharing request and collaborating on a ‘live’ document saved online. Microsoft spends a lot of energy getting people
