QR Codes are those funny little boxes you see on ads, signs or, ahem, the cover of a great book … Scan that code with your smartphone camera and it’ll read information, most commonly a web link. QR Code in Word Putting a QR Code into Word is simple because it’s just an image. You […]
What is an RTF document and why is it still being used? “I’m looking for a job and many employers are asking for my resume in RTF format. How do I do that and why can’t I just use a Word document?” Ian G. RTF (Rich Text Format) is an older document format that’s been around […]
There’s SUM and then there are all the useful SUM variations to choose from. Excel’s SUM() function is probably the first one we learn but there’s a lot more to it than simply clicking on the button to add up a list of numbers. In this article we’ll look at the options available in SUM […]
The new Wikidata site should provide hours of Excel ‘fun’. The WikiMedia foundation, operators of Wikipedia among others, is developing a new site called Wikidata. It will be a home for public ‘structured data’ in other words, lists. There are plenty of lists already in Wikipedia. Wikidata will link with Wikipedia and help structure those […]
The new version of Hotmail is called ‘Outlook’ – just ‘Outlook’ – at least on the web site itself. The new version of Hotmail is called ‘Outlook’ – just ‘Outlook’ – at least on the web site itself. In the promotional material for the new service it’s called Outlook.com which is a better name because […]
How to show original text and translation side by side in Word. The recent versions of Word have had an in-built translation feature that, like so many things in Microsoft Office, doesn’t quite go far enough. The basics are simple enough. On the Review tab there’s a Translate button. Click on that to translate the […]
What is an interrobang and how to use it in Microsoft Word. Interrobang is a non-standard punctuation mark – a combination of a question mark and exclamation mark. In Word, interrobang looks like this: (Interrobang in some common Word fonts: Calibri, Cambria, Arial Unicode MS & Lucida Sans Unicode.) In the sixties, the interrobang was […]
Adding comments to documents isn’t just for groups, use them yourself. Word has a feature to let you add ‘below the line’ comments to documents – comments that don’t show up in the final document, don’t effect the formatting yet stay with the document file. Comments are included in Word’s collaboration features to help groups […]
Google buys QuickOffice in an effort to keep up with Microsoft’s move into tablets with Office. Google has announced the purchase of QuickOffice for the traditional amount in these situations ie ‘undisclosed’. To understand why, you need a summary of the three main players. QuickOffice has a set of well regarded apps that let you […]
Reports that Office for iPad and even Android are due later this year. Boy Genius Report is reporting that Microsoft will release versions of Microsoft Office for both Apple iPad’s and Android devices. By this rumor, Redmond is aiming for a November 2012 release date. This would put it in line with the release of […]
How private is your cloud data from legal copying? The issues and concerns about the law, privacy and cloud storage. In this article we’ll try to set out some of the legal issues surrounding cloud storage. We’ll focus on the legal side, not the technical possibilities, and give links to source material where possible. Location […]
Some more cloud privacy problems to consider … In preparing our article about privacy law and the cloud some other possible privacy breaches came to our attention. Cloud storage can move Let’s say you setup a cloud service and ensure that the servers are located in a place that’s acceptable to your organization and applicable […]
Some comments and official statements from Microsoft, Google and Amazon. Here’s some collected statements and legalese from some of the major players in the cloud market. What Microsoft says about the Patriot Act The UK launch of Office 365, Microsoft’s managing director for the UK made it clear that neither Microsoft nor any other company […]
How to use the latest incarnation of Microsoft’s Skydrive. Skydrive from Microsoft has been around for some time, but now they’ve finally released software to synchronize the cloud storage with your PC and some other devices. It’s the Microsoft version of Google’s new Drive service. Both offer browser based editing as well as online storage […]
If you get Office 365, should you subscribe or buy. An in-depth look at whether the Office 365 software subscription is worth considering. Office 365 comes with the option to rent Office 2010 software – is that a good choice? For the most part, Office 365 is a collection of cloud based services in somewhat […]
Office 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is now available for download, if you want to be a guinea pig for Microsoft. Office 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is now available for download, if you want to be a guinea pig for Microsoft. The major update to Office 2010 can be downloaded now: 32-bit Office 2010 […]
Office 365 is available now – is it anything really new? Office 365 is the latest incarnation of the Microsoft Office family and is now publicly available. It isn’t anything new from a technical point of view. Office 365 is a marketing move to bundle online and software services into a single package. It is […]
Gmail hack from China has lessons for everyone and there’s one simple thing you can do to protect yourself. The latest attack on Gmail accounts could happen to anyone with any online email account – here’s how to avoid being hacked with one simple trick that will save you from any phishing attempt. Today’s news […]
There’s an “Office Web Apps” listing on the Chrome browser application store – is it a trap? There are questions about an “Office Web Apps” applications available on the Google Chrome web store. The Chrome web store is a place to get apps that can run inside your Chrome browser. Some are clever little programs […]
Another step towards cloud based MS Office with Office 365. Microsoft has announced ‘Office 365’ a further merging of Office software with online services, mostly aimed at small and medium sized businesses. Office365.microsoft.com Office 365 is a marketing bundle of online and, optionally, software licensing that can be paid for on a monthly, per staff […]
Live Mesh goes back to being Live Mesh with 5GB online storage. The bad news came when Microsoft announced that the wonderful ‘Live Mesh’ system had been renamed ‘Live Sync’ and emasculated into a shell of the popular system they were working on. Now the good news – Microsoft has changed their minds. It was […]
The next release of SBS will include Office Web Apps. We’ve always liked Microsoft’s Small Business Server – a relatively cheap way to get centralized email, document storage and sharing. You get the considerable power of Exchange Server and Sharepoint in an easy to configure system. Office Watch has used Small Business Server for years […]
Microsoft adds some more features to their online service, including printing. Microsoft’s online version of Office – Office Web Apps has been revised with some extra features including printing. A major difference between the traditional Office software and the online service is how they are updated. Software is updated with a rush of new features, […]
The free browser version of Office is worth trying out. Office Web Apps are the online, browser based versions of the Microsoft Office programs. There are versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote that can run in a web browser wherever you are and are totally free. The Web Apps are a useful extra tool […]
Live Sync is a useful tool for sharing files and Office settings between different computers. As Office-Watch.com regulars may know, we’ve been big fans of Microsoft Live Mesh – a beta service to synchronize files and remotely access computers. Live Mesh was great and the underlying technology revealed some enticing possibilities for the future. Alas […]
A cleverly written phishing email looks like a request from Microsoft. On the back of many fake Amazon emails comes another message not caught by a fully updated Outlook Junk Email filter on the ‘High’ setting. Instead of being safely parked in the Junk E-mail folder, Outlook leaves the message in your Inbox. This one […]
Webmail dangers and what you can do about it. A recent article in the New York Times ‘I was hacked in Beijing‘ highlights some of the problems with storing your email or documents in the much-promoted cloud. In this case it seems the journalist was using a Yahoo online mail account which was hacked, […]
What’s the difference between Microsoft’s Live Sync, Live Mesh and Skydrive? Microsoft has two consumer level synchronization services, both use the Windows Live login and have ‘Live’ names. What’s the difference between them? How do those sync services fit with Microsoft Skydrive and Office Web Applications. Live Sync Live Sync lets you synchronize files between […]
Google increases the pressure on the Microsoft Office online service. Google has purchased a little online service called DocVerse shooting another ‘shot across the bow’ at Microsoft’s rival online service. Docverse lets you collaborate, editing and viewing documents using Microsoft Office with the Docverse add-in and shared ‘cloud’ storage provided by the company. Docverse works […]
Our new ebook – Protecting your information from prying eyes, theft and deliberate attack We’re delighted to announce the latest book from Office Watch Privacy and Security in Microsoft Office “Protecting your information from prying eyes, theft and deliberate attack” Privacy & Security in Microsoft Officefocuses on using the security and encryption options available within […]
You don’t need a live.com address to get Office Web Applications We’ve had various emails from readers who are trying Office Web Applications and sharing documents with plenty of confusion. Most of the confusion comes when sharing an online document. Sharing access is given via an email address, not a name. The problem comes if […]
How to qualify for Microsoft Office on the web There are two ways to try out Office Web Applications and only one of them needs Office 2010 on your computer. Office Web Applications (just one of the OWA acronyms from Microsoft) are the browser based versions of the Microsoft programs, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Onenote. […]
Step by Step preparing for Office Web Applications Part of Office 2010 is the Office Web Applications (OWA), a browser based version of the main Office programs. In this article we’ll take you through the setup process for Office Web Applications. Office Web Application or OWA are the online, lightweight versions of MS Office applications […]
