The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 has unleashed so many books and videos you could easily trip over them walking down the street. Our Editor-in-Chief, Peter Deegan, has been a NASA nut since well before July 1969. Friends have asked him for recommendations of what you see and read … here’s his suggestions. They are […]
There’s a security bug in Windows that’s so serious Microsoft has released fixes for version of Windows they don’t officially support anymore. Here are links to the critical updates necessary or workaround if updating isn’t possible. About Bluekeep The Bluekeep security hole is being used by criminals to attack computers to install ransomware or steal […]
Tucked away in the Windows 10 Explorer options is a choice that should be turned on and is now the default setting for Windows 10 May 2019. Normally Explorer is a single program no matter how many windows are open on the computer. That made sense when memory was limited even though it meant slightly […]
Windows 10 October 2018 (version 1809) wasn’t Microsoft’s finest hour with many update bugs that took too long to discover (listen to customers) and fix. The update is worth getting for one thing: a better clipboard but there’s a big problem as well. Windows 10 now saves more than one item into a clipboard memory. […]
Windows Sets would have been an important innovation for Office users but has now been killed by Microsoft. Sets was a proposed and tested Windows feature which would let you group different programs together in a tabbed interface. Think of the familiar tabs in a browser except each tab had your choice of programs. That […]
Readers asked us about Window 10 naming, version and builds after Overdue changes to Windows 10 available now. Some told us we were wrong while others are confused, with both groups quoting various Microsoft sources for their ‘truth’. The sad fact is Windows naming, version and builds are a confused and inconsistent mess. Microsoft itself […]
Microsoft is rolling out a ‘patch’ to Windows 7 which is really a series of annoying ads for Windows 10. The ads are reminders that Win7 support ends in mid-January 2020 as encouragement to buy Windows 10. Here’s how to stop the patch or the ads it installs. See Microsoft starts ‘reminders’ for Office 2010 and […]
There’s a simple trick to make WhatsApp send full size, original pictures instead of smaller versions that WhatsApp usually sends. Sending the original, unchanged picture is better for display on larger screens and especially for editing the image. It’s best to have good resolution pictures in Word and especially PowerPoint presentations. Choose the send option […]
What can you do when two Windows computers can’t ‘see’ each other for file sharing on a local network? It’s an old, old Windows problem with too many possible faults, but a smart Office Watch reader found one possible fix. File sharing is necessary to let you share documents and files between local computers. Microsoft […]
If you like Reddit but want to hide it from your boss, co-workers, partner etc then we’ve got a web site for you. It makes Reddit look like Outlook Web Access (aka OWA). Go to https://attaxia.github.io/MSOutlookit/ or http://pcottle.github.io/MSOutlookit/ There’s a web page with the latest Reddit posts in the familiar form of Microsoft Outlook. The […]
The famous Earthrise photo from Apollo 8 is not what the astronauts saw and photographed. Here’s where to get the original, uncropped images from the source. Cropped, rotated & color adjusted: the common version of ‘Earthrise’. Earthrise is one of the most famous images of all time and rightly so. Among the many achievements of […]
Microsoft’s Project Natick now has two live camera feeds showing fish around their underwater data centers. One of the big problems for server farms is heat. All those computers generate a lot of heat that must be dissipated somehow. Microsoft’s servers store your OneDrive files, Azure data, run Office cloud features and a lot more. […]
Here’s some tips from our Editor-in-Chief, Peter Deegan on getting the most from a Edinburgh visit in August. Create an online account with the main festival sites (International, Fringe and Underbelly). You can login and see what shows you’ve booked, make your own list of ‘favorites’ to choose from. Sign up for their email newsletters […]
A jury has found Corel guilty of six patent violations in it’s WordPerfect and QuattroPro products which have breached Microsoft Office related patents. Yes, WordPerfect and QuattroPro are still out there! We were surprised too. The patents relate to the Office interface like the ribbon. In WordPerfect, Corel even goes so far as to say […]
The passing of the author Ursula Le Guin, aged 88, is a great sadness. “Truth, is a matter of the imagination” – Genly Ai Her stories, novels and other writings were always thoughtful, well constructed, elegantly written and much loved by her many readers. Peter, our Editor in Chief recalls: “On my 1996 visit to […]
There’s so much information and mis-information about the Spectre and Meltdown chip problems, we’ve decided to have a look at what Windows and Mac users need to do about Spectre/Meltdown, what not to worry about, plus some trivia and nerdy details. A quick What to Do that quickly tells you how to update your computer, […]
Microsoft has released a preview of their Whiteboard app for Windows 10 which includes collaboration options if you’ve got an Office 365 account. Here’s how you can try it, with help on some features. You can use the Whiteboard on your own or with a group online (combined with audio/video conferencing). To use the collaboration […]
Kaspersky has blamed a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor using pirated Office software for the leak of classified documents to their Moscow servers. The US government had banned Kaspersky security software after classified files were uploaded to the Russian company. It’s alleged those documents where passed to the Kremlin. Kaspersky’s version Now Kaspersky has responded […]
Sometimes you need to merge or split a PDF file. Here’s how to do that for free without bothering with Word’s PDF conversion feature. We often combine PDF’s made in Microsoft Office. Separate PDF’s saved from Word, Excel or Powerpoint can be mushed into one file. Some printing services charge per document as well as […]
With all the gushing over the $1,000 iPhone, it was nice to see a different perspective recommending the cheapest iPhone instead. Ben Gilbert at The Independent points out that the iPhone SE was made $50 cheaper with the release of the iPhone X. From Apple direct, the iPhone SE 32GB model is now US$350 and […]
If you love digging into US election details you’ll love these spreadsheets with US Presidential Election results, by County and Party from 1836 to 2016 Unleash your inner Nate Silver, see how your county or state voted over the years, starting at Google Docs There are tabs for each state plus a table of the […]
Can you believe it? Clippy, the unloved spawn of Office 97 is returning. Eros Fratini is a developer with, presumably, a perverse sense of humor. He’s created a Visual Studio add in which lets developers make Clippy part of their projects. Get it from GitHub. Oh joy, we can hardly wait. According to Microsoft’s revisionist history, […]
Office Watch has a presence on Facebook, finally, https://www.facebook.com/OfficeWatch/ Our new Facebook page has the very latest Office related news posted to it as soon as we publish. Go to https://www.facebook.com/OfficeWatch/ and click Follow to see our posts in your timeline. Admittedly, we’ve been slow to adopt social media. We’ve focused on quality Office journalism, […]
Some readers know that Peter Deegan (our editor-in-chief) is an eclipse chaser. The USA eclipse next Monday will be his tenth Total Eclipse of the Sun. Here’s his tips and links for anyone heading for the totality zone and for people who can’t make it. A total eclipse of the Sun is definitely worth seeing. […]
WPS Office, a Microsoft Office clone, has announced they’ve stopped development on their Linux version. UDPATE: WPS Office now denies there’s a halt to Linux version development and blamed the media for the ‘false’ story (sound familar?). So where did Office-Watch.com and many other outlets get the idea? Errrr, from WPS Linux itself! Their official […]
We’ve all played Solitaire, it’s been part of Windows since v3.1 but how did it begin? Surely there was a team of Redmond developers dedicated to the task, beavering away day and night, powered by diet cola and chocolate bars? Nope. Solitaire was made by a bored intern at Microsoft who needed something to do! […]
The Creators update to Windows 10 is coming this week. Windows 10 for Microsoft Office users, Creators edition is ready now before Microsoft publicly releases the new Windows 10. Past purchasers of Windows 10 for Microsoft Office users get a free update to the new edition. Be ready for the major changes to Windows before […]
The sad Antipodean news (at least for me and many others) is the death of John Clarke. Office-Watch.com has often referenced John Clarke’s early work, using names like Bruce Bayliss, Trevor, sheep-dip and Gumboots from his most famous character Fred Dagg. John was little known outside Australia and his native New Zealand which was a […]
Facebook Messenger is the instant messaging part of anyone’s Facebook account but it’s not something that everyone likes … far from it. We all have many forms of communication clamoring for our attention – phone calls, SMS/texts, email to various accounts and instant messaging. Checking each of these can be a pain in the (you […]
Avecto has released an analysis of Microsoft’s security lapses and patches over the last few years. It makes interesting reading even though the headline conclusion hasn’t been well understood. Administrator Rights problem Most media have focused on a quote from the report that says “94% of Critical Microsoft vulnerabilities would be mitigated by removing admin […]
In our recent article – USB charging – check the adapter AND the cable we tested some USB cables to see how much power they supplied from the same AC adapter. The results showed that a poor quality cable would only transmit a fraction of the available power and that means a much slower charge […]
We’ve been digging and found something interesting – when charging a device from a USB socket, the CABLE can make a big difference to charging speed. I’ve been having trouble with slow charging of my phone … sometimes the charge can only keep up with use and there’s little improvement in the battery charge. It […]
We’ve used Lenovo laptops for a long time, back when they were IBM computers. They are usually good machines with excellent keyboards, pricey but generally reliable. So it’s with great dismay they we’ve been reading about Lenovo and the ‘Superfish’ software that was installed on some of their computers in 2014. Superfish wasn’t ordinary loadware […]
Is your solid state drive getting near the end of its life? Here’s how to find out. Solid State Drives (SSD’s) are a great option for anyone looking to speed up the computer, especially Outlook. Starting up Windows and major programs like Outlook is noticeably faster. Either get an SSD with a new computer or […]
Miracast gives you a wireless external screen for PowerPoint and a lot more. Miracast is a clever trick that lets you wirelessly connect some Windows 8.1 portable computers, Android and other devices to any HDMI capable monitor or TV screen. All you need is a Miracast dongle available online for around US$20 or perhaps a […]
A guide to getting more life and value from your printer. The Guardian has a nice little guide to maintaining an inkjet printer and saving money. We’ve never had good experiences with recycled ink or toner cartridges and have always found their quality to be poor. But others swear by recycled/refilled cartridges so if you […]
A funny item in Britain’s Viz magazine. Viz magazine is a British institution and not to everyone’s taste, including ours. But this recent item struck a chord. Printer Prints What Man Wanted it to Print With a happy ending where the printer maker honors its warranty promising: “We will happily replace it with one that […]
Group calling returns to the Skype ‘free’ list. Good news for Skype lovers, group calling has returned to the list of free features. You can now add group calling to our list of Skype hidden extras Group calling is having three or more people on the same video/audio call. Microsoft tried making that a paid […]
Easyjet lets you leave your device on all the time – even takeoff and landing. European airline, Easyjet has introduced unrestricted handheld device use. You can use your phone, tablet, ebook reader anytime while on the plane, as long as it’s in ‘Flight Mode’ (i.e all wireless communications off; Wifi, mobile and Bluetooth). An interesting […]
Save money, you don’t always need to pay for the ‘Pro’ version of Windows. In Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, Microsoft has ‘Business’, ‘Professional’ or ‘Ultimate’ versions which, among other features, can login to a Windows domain. This has the effect of forcing organizations to buy a more expensive version of Windows just […]
