All about Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and earlier versions.
Office 2016 – switching from perpetual licence to Office 365 subscription
How easy is it to switch from the one-time purchase/perpetual licence version of Office 2016 to the Office 365 annual payment / ‘subscription’ version? You might think that the switch is no big deal but it’s not just about how you buy Office 2016. The perpetual licence version is installed and run quite differently to […]
Another Word hack with RTF files
A new vulnerability in Word was discovered and patched by Microsoft earlier this month. Again, the source was an RTF (Rich Text Format) document. There’s still a widespread myth that RTF files are ‘safe’ supposedly because RTF’s can’t contain macros. That’s FALSE. .RTF documents aren’t designed to accept code, they are hacked in many, many […]
Word 2016/Windows table bug, fix is delayed
A table bug in Word 2016 for Windows was caused by not one but two different software patches with customers expected to wait up to two months for a proper fix. The trouble started with 8 August 2017 patch and continued a month later with the 5 September 2017 patch. Either of these patches could […]
Microsoft Pix, camera magic comes to iPhones
The Microsoft Pix app has been updated to include more automatic ways to fix photos. Photos of documents magically look like they were scanned in. It’s a ‘Garage’ project, supposedly for trial software and technologies. These days ‘Garage’ projects are presented in a more professional manner and promoted a lot more, blurring the line between […]
Our great Office 2016 book is ready now
We’re delighted to announce that our champion Office 2016 ebook has been updated, yet again, to include new and added features for the main Windows version of Microsoft Office. A bit like Office itself, Office 2016: the real startup guide is updated to keep pace with the improvements in Office 2016 itself. As an ebook, […]
Should you uninstall Kaspersky software?
The US Government has banned Kaspersky security software from Federal agencies – should you do the same? Homeland Security has moved against Kaspersky software due to concerns of links with the Russian government. Here’s the operational directive: “concerned about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other government agencies, and requirements under […]
Office 2016 for Windows Store – a closer look
Microsoft has released another version of Office 2016 for Windows to be tested by insiders. This one is bought and installed from the Windows 10 Store. Naturally Office-Watch.com dived in to check it out. At the moment, only some Windows Insiders and users of Windows 10S can get Office in the Windows Store. Later this […]
Outlook.com Premium coming free to Office 365 Home and Personal
Outlook.com Premium (that usually costs either $20 or $50 a year) is being added as another feature of Office 365 Home or Personal bundles. Microsoft said that their top level Outlook.com would become part of Office 365 Home/Personal but haven’t done anything in the six months since that hint was dropped. Now an Outlook.com promo […]
Office 2016 for Windows versions, quick guide
There are at least SEVEN different versions of Office 2016 for Windows that are available at any time. Here’s a quick guide to each and how to tell what you have. Microsoft has three different ways to install Office 2016 for Windows plus various preview and feature bundles. If you’re confused, join the club <sigh>. […]
Maths equation and LaTeX improvements in Word 2016
The Office 365 version of Word 2016 for Windows has some nice improvements to LatTex support. LaTeX is the maths boffins preferred way of writing formula in computer code for conversion into the symbols that confuse us mere humans. In Word 2016 (Windows, Office 365 users only), you can see some extras on the Equation […]
Clippy lives again and coming to a program near you
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 ransomware hasn’t gone away
Ransomware hasn’t gone away, it’s just not making headlines. MalwareBytes reports that two more variations of the Locky ransomware have appeared in the last few weeks. Beware DOC and DOCM They spread in ZIP files or the hackers favorite way to infect a computer, Microsoft Office files, most likely Word documents. .DOC or .DOCM files […]
Back to School tips for buying Microsoft Office
It’s back to school time in the USA, rushed parents in stores with long lists of supplies. Here’s some tips for getting Microsoft Office for less. Do you already have Office? Maybe you’ve already got Microsoft Office? Before buying, make sure you’re not already entitled to use Office. Some schools have bought a school-wide licence […]
Visio is getting web and mobile wireframes
Visio is adding a really useful tool for web site developers – wireframes. Web wireframes are a way to create a rough draft or mockup of a web page. Each page element can be dropped onto a web page, standard or mobile. Source for all images: Microsoft There are Visio shapes for a wide range […]
Facebook now has Office Watch
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, […]
Office Insider naming is ‘simplified’
Microsoft is changing the names of the various Office 2016 for Windows releases (Office 365) including Insider editions. They say it’s ‘simplified’ but we’re not so sure. Insider Fast level becomes just ‘Insider’ Source: Microsoft While the old Insider Slow becomes Monthly Channel (Targeted) – how that’s ‘simplified’ is anyone’s guess. The new name does […]
