Microsoft 365 – the subscription / annual fee plan for Microsoft Office on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android.
Includes Word 365, Excel 365, PowerPoint 365, Outlook 365 and many other ‘365’ programs, apps and services.
July 2021 security fixes for Windows and Office
Another round of bug fixes for both Window and Office including an update to the PrintNightmare fix. PrintNightmare is a serious security breach found in all versions of Windows and Windows Server back to Windows 7. The original ‘out of band’ patch was flawed, stopping some USB printers completely. A patch has now been included […]
PrintNightmare – what it is and what you must do now
The latest and serious Windows security bug is called ‘PrintNightmare’. We’ll explain what it is, how serious the bug could be, what you should do about it balancing the ‘known unknowns’. UPDATE: Almost as predictable as the sun rising … the PrintNightmare patch caused problems for some Windows users. The July 2021 monthly security update […]
Fire 🔥 symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Type the Fire 🔥 symbol or emoji into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Fire 🔥 emoji has many names like Hot, Lit, Flame and Snapstreak How Fire 🔥 looks in different fonts. Here’s some examples of how Fire 🔥 looks in common Office fonts. Fire […]
50 first dates with Excel
Excel isn’t just for budgets and number crunching, you can use it for making lists and even organizing your love life! Lisa used Excel to find her True Love. She listed all her dates in Excel with details somewhat like this… Excel, combined with some personal rules. eventually led her to that special someone. Hear […]
New and new-ish stuff in Windows 11
Let’s look at some of the new (or new-ish) stuff in Windows 11. Widgets (again), Voice typing (Speech to text), Meet Now, Teams and putting Android apps on the Windows desktop. See all the Office-Watch.com coverage of Windows 11 Widgets Widgets are returning or to put it another way, Microsoft is trying again to have […]
How will Microsoft Office work on ARM devices?
Windows 11 will work on low-power ARM chip computers, as well as the usual Intel systems. What does that mean for Microsoft Office? ARM based devices use less power than Intel chips, so they are more suitable for smaller devices. Microsoft needs to get Windows onto more portable devices and claw back some market-share from […]
Project Monarch is now called just Outlook
Microsoft’s attempt at making a version of Outlook entirely as a web application is continuing but is now called just ‘Outlook’. Like we don’t have enough different ‘Outlook’ products already. Outlook is Microsoft’s name for all email/calendar/contacts software and services, often without clear distinction between each one. Project Monarch is an attempt to make an […]
Beware the latest Microsoft and Office 365 scams
Office Watch readers have sent us timely reminders of some common scams targeting Office 365 and Microsoft customers. In both cases criminals impersonate Microsoft to trick people out of passwords or money. Microsoft call scams First up, a report from an anonymous reader … “ Somebody from Microsoft called and that we get a refund of 300.00 […]
You can protect yourself from Microsoft Office phone scams
Criminals try using Microsoft Office to get money from you using various phone scams impersonating Microsoft. Here’s how to protect yourself. Scammers are clever, sophisticated and look very sincere. Often there are stark warnings about dire consequences. In the end they want your money, infect your computer, steal your personal information or all three. The […]
Here’s the new look for Office 365 on Windows 10 and 11
Microsoft Office 365 is getting a new look for Windows 10 and the upcoming Windows 11. We have a video of the changes coming soon. On Windows 10 and 11, the Office apps get a ‘visual refresh’ to a more neutral, color scheme. Windows 11 apps get what Microsoft calls ‘soft’ corners but everyone else […]
Save with Microsoft 365 Family deal from Amazon UK
Amazon UK was offering Microsoft 365 Family at more than £25 less than the usual price for both new and renewing customers as part of their 2021 Prime Day deals. It’s still available more than a week later! There are a few peculiarities about the offer, we’ll explain those below but the basics are: Microsoft […]
Stop or change new email notifications from Outlook
New email notifications in Outlook can be quite distracting, especially in Windows. Here’s how to stop them or change the notices to make them less distracting and suit you better. Or just change the new email sound to something you prefer. The default email notification appears in the bottom right corner. If you’re trying to […]
Skype still has one big advantage over Team’s Meet Now
There’s a major gap between Meet Now in Teams and Skype which means you’ll want to keep both. Also two other features in Skype but not Meet Now plus another reason that Microsoft doesn’t like talking about. Meet Now is Microsoft’s newer computer-to-computer calling and virtual conferencing service. It’s linked to Teams but Microsoft is […]
Meet Now buttons where you need them in Outlook
Outlook 365 for Windows has a Meet Now button on the calendar views, why not elsewhere? Meet Now is Microsoft’s calling & meeting service. It’s officially part of Teams but is getting a life of its own for computer-to-computer calling and online meetings by individuals. It has features like screen sharing and chat which are […]
Beware the Mackenzie Scott (Bezos) scam email
It was predicable that the Bezos divorce would lead to scam emails pretending to come from the former Mrs Bezos, now Mackenzie Scott. Mackenzie Scott is now the fourth richest woman in the world, following the divorce settlement with the Amazon founder. Though show might not hold that position for long as she gives away […]
The Tyranny and History of Spreadsheets over 700 years
Tim Harford has an interesting long read on spreadsheets from its origins in the late 14th Century Italy to modern Excel with diversions into smallpox, Enron, Covid and even teasing Bill Gates. The Tyranny of Spreadsheets is on the Financial Times web site. It’s usually firewalled but the link should, hopefully, show the article. Harford […]
