All about Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and earlier versions.
Virus danger from WhatsApp
It was inevitable, I suppose. WhatsApp, the messaging service, allows documents to be sent through their service, so scammers are using the new feature to send virus infected documents to people. The Independent is reporting that “Fake WhatsApp documents being used to trick people into downloading and installing viruses onto their phones”. The article is […]
Degrees, Money and other symbols in Office
a look at some commonly used characters used in Office but are missing from the standard keyboard. How to insert symbols on a ‘one-off’ basis or insert quickly for more commonly used characters. Degree mark for temperature. Has no special shortcut but you can make one (see below). Currency symbols. We have a quick way […]
Office ‘Activation Wizard’ Scam Tech Support Removal Guide
There’s a piece of malware about that tries to trick Microsoft Office users into ‘activating’ their Office software when there’s really no problem. Here’s how to deal with it if you get caught. Once it’s running, the malware appears ‘on top’ of your screen with a phone number to call. It uses the current Microsoft […]
Pantone’s 2017 ‘Color of the year’ in Office
Another festive season (marketing) tradition is the Pantone ‘Color of the Year’ which gets a lot of media coverage. It gives us an excuse to explain how to convert (as best you can) a Pantone color into something to use in Microsoft Office. Pantone colors don’t have a direct match in Office because Pantone is […]
US Election results in Excel
If you’re interested in the hard numbers about the 2016 US election, David Wasserman @redistrict has done the work for you. Channel your inner ‘Nate Silver’ <g>. Go to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/133Eb4qQmOxNvtesw2hdVns073R68EZx4SfCnP4IGQf8/htmlview?sle=true#gid=19 to see a ‘read only’ Google Docs worksheet showing the state-by-state results. Not visible above are columns with the total number of votes cast in […]
SVG graphics coming to Office … at long last!
Office 2016 for Windows will soon support scalable vector graphics (SVGs). Preview/Insiders can try them now and it’ll be available to all Office 365 subscribers in 2017. That means you’ll be able to make your documents look even better with vector-based SVG files that won’t pixelate when increased in size. SVG support has been a […]
Take care buying Office with a new computer
A story in the UK’s Daily Telegraph got us thinking about some of the traps when buying Microsoft Office with a new computer. The Telegraph reader bought a new computer and was told by staff that Office 2007 wasn’t supported on the new computer. The reader was sold, as a replacement, an Office 365 Personal […]
Ink innovations coming to Office
Microsoft is gradually adding to Office some interesting new Ink related features; Replay and Math. Rewind and Replay Until now drawings or ‘ink’ in Office documents has been static and fixed, much like real ink. OneNote Mobile for Windows 10 is the first Office app to make ink additions animated. Office remembers how you’ve drawn […]
Automatic Renewals trap in Office 365 – and how to take advantage.
How to take advantage of Microsoft’s greedy little trap for Office 365 subscribers. When you setup a new Office 365 ‘subscription’ you’ll probably see this offer on the My Account page. ” Turn on automatic renewal and get an extra month free” Enjoy uninterrupted access to your Office applications and services. ” This sounds great […]
Microsoft cuts OneDrive for Office users
Microsoft has today dropped their promise of ‘unlimited’ OneDrive storage for Office 365 customers. Their lame excuse for the reduction is an insult to their customers. “Microsoft giveth and Microsoft taketh away” What Office 365 subscribers (Home, Personal and University) now get: 1TB of OneDrive storage, down from ‘unlimited’ storage. If you’re using a lot […]
Warning: image editing and redaction in Microsoft Office
Editing an image in Office is not a way to hide the original details or redact a photo. Images in a document can be fully redacted by replacing the image with black box (or other full color block). But what if only want to hide/redact part of the image? That’s possible with the image editing […]
Office 365 subscriptions are great for Microsoft
The latest financial disclosures from Microsoft show that the move to annual ‘subscriptions (rentals) mean a price increase to customers of up to 80%! This is a long way from the common media narrative, based on dubious calculations, which says that Office 365 ‘subscriptions’ are better value. Microsoft CFO is quoted saying that Office 365 […]
How to safely (securely) send an Office document
How can you send an Office document safely and securely to another person? A simple question with no simple answer. Who you are guarding against? A random snooper at the recipient’s end who accidentally finds the document, or someone targeting your or your data, such as a commercial rival, nosey journalist, law enforcement, the […]
Buy Android – get Office as well
Yet one more for the list of things you’d never thought you’d see from Microsoft. They now have a deal with major Android phone and tablet makers to include Office software in some of their products. That’s right, Microsoft is paying companies to put their software on non-Windows devices. At least we’re assuming Microsoft is […]
Who owns Office.porn and Office.adult ?
According to a report at CNN Money … Microsoft has bought both Office.porn and Office.adult ! It’s not likely they’ll be used. Microsoft is probably preempting any attempt to hijack those names when .porn and .adult Top Level Domains go online from 1 June 2015. They aren’t the only brand to get ahead of opportunists. […]
Office goes to Scotland
Microsoft has officially launched an Office Proofing Tool/spell checker for the Scottish Gaelic language. It’s been done by Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the statutory language authority in Scotland, and was announced by Microsoft during a meeting at the Scottish Parliament. Scottish Gaelic has only 60,000 speakers so an Office spell checker is important to helping keep […]
