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.
2025 Spelling Bee champs vs Microsoft Word
Our annual look at the words that challenged the Scripps Spelling Bee champs to see how many are recognized by the spell check in Microsoft Word. Again in 2025 Word was beaten by some very clever 14 year olds. Here’s a selection of the last round words from the 2025 Bee, starting with the winning […]
Microsoft money grab from non-profits
Microsoft has decided to discontinue the free Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses previously granted to non-profit organizations. They’ll now have to pay a discounted price or move away from the Microsoft 365 desktop apps. Effective immediately, nonprofits will no longer receive ten complimentary Business Premium licenses, which included desktop versions of Office applications and management […]
Collective Nouns – Copilot to the rescue.
Can Copilot do a better job adding the right collective noun for an animal or group? The answer is a good example of why NOT to trust AI fully. Plus, another AI trick and the better answer from ChatGPT. Microsoft Word grammar has a problem with collective nouns, see our article Collective Noun check in […]
Watch Out for Fake Microsoft 365 Purchase Emails
A new scam is making the rounds via email. It pretends to be a receipt for a Microsoft 365 subscription renewal—usually with a high price to scare you. Worse – noone is sure how the hackers are doing it. The email urges you to call a phone number if the charge looks wrong. But don’t […]
Mastering Date Comparisons in Excel Using IF Statements
Whether you’re managing schedules, tracking deadlines, or analyzing time-based data, comparing dates in Excel is a critical skill. This guide walks you through how to use the powerful IF function to compare dates—such as determining if one date is before, after, or equal to another. Learn essential Excel formulas that simplify date logic and help […]
Excel case-sensitive text comparisons or not
Be careful comparing text in Excel because it looks easy but there are traps when comparing exact text (including upper/lower case) or not. Whether you’re cleaning data or ensuring accuracy in sensitive fields like usernames or product codes, we’ll help you get the results you need every time. Case-insensitive IF statement for text values When […]
Copilot image making is now a LOT better
Microsoft has updated Copilot’s image making features in two important ways. Now it can spell properly and properly change your own photos. Available in both Copilot and it’s ‘parent’ ChatGPT we’ll show you what’s now possible and a lot better. You may have read that Copilot is now using OpenAI’s GPT-4o model – which means […]
PowerPoint Designer is now Copilot Design Suggestions
Microsoft is replacing a feature in PowerPoint with something called either “Slide Starters” or “Design Suggestions” using Copilot AI. It offers pre-populated slide templates with structured content such as titles, placeholders, tables, and timelines, tailored to match the user’s chosen layout. “Design Suggestions” replaces “Designer” which has been in PowerPoint for the last few years. […]
What does ‘Unverified’ mean in Outlook?
Outlook might label some emails as ‘Unverified’ and the photo/initials is just a question ? mark. What does ‘unverified’ mean? Is the email safe to open and how to stop some messages showing as ‘Unverified’? Unverified can appear in mailboxes hosted by Microsoft directly (Microsoft 365, Outlook.com). It’s a feature mostly controlled by the server […]
Outlook confusion for Admins might end next month
Microsoft is updating how administrators enable or disable the Outlook (new) experience for Windows and Outlook on the web. This change allows IT administrators to independently enable or disable each Outlook, at last addressing long-standing confusion. Originally set for rollout in late January 2025, the change is now scheduled to begin in late June 2025, […]
Beware SVG graphics used to Bypass Microsoft 365 Security Measures
SVG and invisible Unicode is being increasingly used to hack Microsoft 365 and Google/Gmail users even with multi-factor authentication (MFA). It’s possible because of significant enhancements in the Tycoon 2FA platform. Hacking into accounts is big business and like most businesses, hacking has moved into the cloud. “Software as a service” (SaaS) is a big […]
Microsoft 365 Copilot Explained: Features, Limitations and your choices
Navigating the evolving landscape of Microsoft 365 and Copilot AI can be challenging amid frequent update, varying features and so much hype. Our independent guide breaks down what Copilot is, its capabilities within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Onenote and Outlook, and the distinctions between different Microsoft 365 plans. Microsoft has changed Copilot so many times that […]
Add Singular or Plural text in Excel
In Excel there are various options for making sure a text label singular (e.g. person) or plural (people) matches the quantity. There’s the standard answer (IF() functions) or clever cell formatting tricks. For example if the cell has 1 item you want the singular label: 1 cookie But if the value is more than one, […]
All your choices before the end of Windows 10
Windows 10 ends support on 14 October 2025 and so does Microsoft 365/Office on Win10 (mostly). Here’s a guide to ALL your choices, not just the ones Microsoft is pushing. Including the Microsoft 365 support policy change. There’s a lot of advice around for the many people with Windows 10. Some of it is self-serving […]
🚦 Mastering Excel’s Visual Indicators, icons and emoji
Use Excel with visual indicators to make lists easier to understand. Use IF function together with Conditional Formatting to display icons, text based on specific conditions There are so many possibilities available using Conditional Formatting or simple IF statements like these. Use IF Formula to show icons First, decide the conditions under which icons should […]
Excel Users: Are Your Date Calculations Accurate?
There’s a little trap in Excel when figuring out the number of days between two dates. Excel has one way, but the real world has two others. It’s easy to forget the differences and it can matter when the date calculation is close to some limit, for example in a Schenghen Visa Calculation. How Excel […]
