Microsoft cloud servers slow down
Microsoft has quietly announced some minor but important slow down in some of their cloud services including the way real-time edits of Office documents are handled. It’s a wise move given the increased demand for cloud services. Microsoft had an outage on their much-hyped Teams services earlier this week. Like other cloud companies, Microsoft has […]
Using Skype with Microsoft Office
Skype can be integrated into collaborating on Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents. It’s not officially part of Microsoft Office collaboration but is easily done. It lets you work on a document while talking to other collaborators at the same time. Like this … This works with any modern version of Office or really any program […]
No nonsense guide to fixing Windows audio problems – speakers
When the speakers or headphones don’t work on a Windows computer don’t make a noise, fixing the problem can be frustrating. Here’s our no nonsense guide to the problem and finding a fix. The problem with Windows audio Windows audio support is a mess. Anyone who has tried to get a speaker or headphones working […]
Remote Access options to control a distant computer
There are several free options to access one computer from another. You can see the screen, type and mouse from a remote location, just as if you were in front of the real computer. Access work computer from home computer Use desktop computer from a laptop or tablet Interact with laptop machine from a desktop […]
Collaborate remotely on documents, spreadsheets and presentations
Working on an Office document can easily be done between many people no matter how far away they are. Most organizations will have some way to share documents remotely If not, there are clever options available. Instead of exchanging documents (we’ll get to that in a moment), save the document in a cloud location that […]
Prepare your computer for isolation or quarantine
There are many free tools available to make work and life continue if your movements are limited. Things you should do to prepare for a possible ‘work from home’, ‘no school’ or at worst ‘quarantine’ or ‘social isolation’ of some type. We know what we’re talking about because Office Watch has been working remotely for […]
Ignore Microsoft’s opportunistic marketing, Teams is not for everyone
Microsoft is cunningly pushing Teams as part of its COVID-19 preparedness recommendations. But Teams isn’t the best option for everyone, far from it. Promoting Teams is good for Microsoft and their sales partners but not necessarily their customers. At Microsoft.com there are now special banner ads promoting Teams as the solution for ‘working remotely’, clearly […]
Starting with Document Collaboration in Word, Excel or PowerPoint
Microsoft has been talking about document collaboration for a long time but now it’s available to everyone with a recent version of Office and OneDrive. So here’s a simple guide to opening the same document at the same time on multiple computers. You don’t need two people to try out document collaboration. You can try […]
Share a cloud stored document from Microsoft Office
Here’s how to share a Microsoft Office document that’s saved on a compatible cloud service like OneDrive or Dropbox. All you need is Office 365/2019 or 2016 for Windows or Mac. Document collaboration works in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Sharing a single file via cloud storage is a lot faster and less trouble than exchanging […]
A better Side-by-Side document view for Windows and Mac
We highlighted Word 365’s Side to Side view but there’s another side-by-side viewing trick that works for any two windows on either Windows or Mac. Side by Side or Split View is great for many situations. No fussing about switching between windows or getting lost with all the open application. For example, Word on one […]
Konami Code in PowerPoint and other Office documents
The Konami Code symbols can be used together or separately in PowerPoint slides, Word documents or elsewhere. They serve to demonstrate some tricks and failings in Office and it’s SVG support. The Konami Code graphics caught our eye because they are a useful set of icons or graphics either complete or separately. There’s nothing like […]
Fixing Office confusion and other hassles on Windows Start menu
The Start Menu on a new Windows 10 has Microsoft Office icons which are badly labelled, misleading and setup to promote Microsoft’s corporate agenda. We’ll explain what Microsoft has done and how regular Office users can make the Start Menu better. Make a Start Menu that suits you, not Microsoft. A new or reset Windows […]
Office all-in-one app for Apple iPhone and iPad
Last week we said it would not be long before Microsoft released their Office app for Apple devices and, sure enough, within a few days Office ‘all in one’ for iPhone and iPad is out. The app is a combination of Word, Excel and PowerPoint plus other tools into a single app. Individual Office apps […]
Office ‘All in One’ Mobile app – the video!
Microsoft has released a video to promote the Office Mobile ‘all in one’ app for Apple and Android. It’s big on fancy graphics but almost no useful information. There are lots of fancy colors, bouncing bubbles and even Office logos turning into balloons then exploding … all for no good reason. There’s more info in […]
Pete Buttigieg – a Microsoft Word guy
Apparently nothing can escape the touch of US politics*. Even Microsoft Word and PowerPoint got dragged into the latest Democratic Primary debate. It all started with Elizabeth Warren describing Pete Buttigieg’s health plan as ‘just a PowerPoint’. Buttigieg responded with the ad-lib that “I’m more of a Microsoft Word guy.” Which isn’t bad as an […]
PowerPoint makes animated GIFs of your slides
PowerPoint 365 is now able to create animated GIF’s from presentations. It’s a little limited but the basics are there, and we’ll explain how to get even more from ‘Export to Animated GIF’. Animated GIF’s have long been wanted in PowerPoint. They make simple animations or mini-videos which are widely compatible with web pages and […]
