Everyone can print from Office for iPad. An important new feature in Office for iPad is printing, at least to AirPrint enabled printers. The assumption is that printing is only available to Office 365 subscribers who get the full product enabled with editing. Printing is available to ALL Office for iPad users – subscribers or […]
One of the non-AirPrint options for iPad printing. Office for iPad now has printing but only Airprint which leaves a lot of printers not available to iPad user, especially if they have a Windows computer. One alternative is “Printer Pro”. Printer Pro for iPad supports printing to network linked printers and printers shared via a […]
Group calling returns to the Skype ‘free’ list. Good news for Skype lovers, group calling has returned to the list of free features. You can now add group calling to our list of Skype hidden extras Group calling is having three or more people on the same video/audio call. Microsoft tried making that a paid […]
Court confirms that any US controlled cloud server is vulnerable to US government access. Here’s a story that got little coverage but deserves a lot more. A US district court has confirmed what has been known for the last decade, that US companies have to supply data to the US government from any server they […]
OneDrive for Business customers get a 4,000% increase. Microsoft continues to push their cloud services with a big jump in available storage in OneDrive for Business from a default of 25GB to 1 Terabyte. It’s a whopping increase intended to put pressure on Google, Dropbox, Box etc to compete or drop out of the race. […]
Some nice new tricks and a lot of secrets in the first update of Office for iPad. Right at the end of April 2014, we have the first update to the Office for iPad apps to version 1.0.1. The main change is AirPrint support that we’ve covered separately and our popular ebook Office for iPad: […]
Office for iPad apps get an update including printing … of a sort anyway. Right at the end of April 2014, we have the first update to the Office for iPad apps. The main change is printing support … well Airprint support anyway. Airprint is Apple’s proprietary printing system which not all printers support. Only […]
We asked Microsoft eight simple questions and got one response. To accompany our story about OneDrive for Business changing documents and files without notice or trace we asked Microsoft for answers to some questions. Alas the reply came too late for the Office Watch newsletter but here it is, in full. Our questions were: Why […]
Without a clear reason, Microsoft has started blocking paid OneDrive accounts. MyCE.com is reporting a disturbing new trend from Microsoft … locking customers out of their OneDrive accounts without notice or clear reason. According to the report, customers may get a message like this when they login to OneDrive Your account is currently unavailable Your […]
Discounts available for buying Office 2013 We’ve said it for years, when it comes to buying Microsoft Office never, ever, pay retail. There’s always discounts available for the same software and license. Sadly and probably deliberately there’s few discounts available for buying Office 2013, as opposed to renting or ‘subscribing’ to Office 365. Office 2013: […]
As promised, there’s now a cheaper Office 365 option. Microsoft has now released Office 365 Personal, a lower cost rental option for Office software. The ‘Personal’ subscription/rental option costs US$6.99 per month (US$69.99 a year) plus any state taxes. For that you get: Use of the current Office software for Windows or Mac on ONE […]
How to change the date format in Excel Online The default date format in Excel has always been a mystery to newcomers and its stranger in Excel Online (the new name for Excel Web Apps). To change the default date format for display and date entry for Excel Online, go to your Microsoft account: Go […]
What’s new in Office Online for April 2014 Office Online – the new name for the Office Web Apps – has received an update. Here’s a quick look at some of the new features. All the updates should be available now or in the next few days as Microsoft global servers are updated. Go to […]
The Drop Dropbox campaign is poorly aimed. The Drop Dropbox campaign is a shameful waste of time and effort. It’s making a scapegoat of one lady while ignoring much bigger problems. Drop Dropbox came about after the announcement that Condoleezza Rice, former adviser to President George W. Bush and US Secretary of State, is to […]
We’re delighted to announce a brand new title from Office Watch. Office for iPad: The Complete Guide is now available. After the success of Office 2013: the real startup guide we decided to do something similar for the newest incarnation of Microsoft Office, released just over a week ago. Office for iPad has NO help […]
An Office 365 Home package now allows five tablet app installs – though you’d not know it. A change to Office 365 Home subscription allowances was made with the release of Office for iPad. Until recently, a Office 365 Home package was limited to 5 mobile devices. Each mobile app was counted against a 5 […]
The features in Excel for iPad. Here’s a look at the major features in Excel for iPad, looking over the five main tabs. The buttons will be familiar in most cases, though the underlying menus/galleries are different and limited compared to Excel for Windows or Mac. Shameless plug:Office for iPad: The Complete Guide is now available. […]
A close look at the new Formula Keyboard in Excel for iPad. One of the highlighted innovations in Excel for iPad is a dedicated Formula Keyboard which looks like this: It’s necessary because none of the supplied iPad virtual keyboards work well when you’re trying to enter Excel formula. Hunting and pecking around different symbol […]
Tips for beating the rush to get Office for iPad. If you’re having trouble getting Office for iPad on launch day, join the loooong line. Apple is probably having a record or near-record day and it’s hard to get the new apps … but there are tricks available. Don’t try searching in the iPad App […]
A preview of Office for iPad. The presentation is just over .. what do we know before looking at the Office for iPad apps ourselves? Office for iPad has Word, Excel and PowerPoint components (OneNote for iPad already exists). Shameless plug:Office for iPad: The Complete Guide is now available. Every tab, ribbon and menu in the […]
Also updated today … OneNote for iPad Amidst all the hype over Office for iPad there were some other announcements. OneNote for iPad was updated to version 2.2 promising “Beautifully redesigned for iOS 7” and “Photos of whiteboards and documents are now autocropped and enhanced”. See Also Office for iPad, September updates Office for […]
Non-business users can edit Office documents on their iPhone or Android phone for free. On the same day as Office for iPad was released, Office Mobile for iPhone and Android was also updated. The usual unstated bug fixes but the major news is that Office Mobile for iPhone and Office Mobile for Android were made available […]
We predict crowds at Microsoft Stores tomorrow. Microsoft Stores are offering a very limited number of people a years worth of Office 365. The first 50 people to arrive at a Microsoft Store on Friday 28th March 2014 with an iPad will get Office 365 (probably Home Premium) for a year. There’ll probably be queues […]
You can secure cloud documents with a password but Microsoft makes them hard to use. Password locking Office documents is one way to keep your OneDrive stored documents safe from prying eyes (e.g. hackers, Microsoft etc.). It’s a nice idea but Microsoft’s poor support for password protected documents makes that difficult in practice. Only Office […]
If Microsoft can read Outlook.com email, they can read your Office documents too. The news that Microsoft read the email of a Hotmail/Outlook.com user without his knowledge raises the question of access to OneDrive data Microsoft Office and Windows 8 encourage people to save documents and pictures to Microsoft’s OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) service. Some Office […]
When Microsoft feels the need, they read cloud emails. Microsoft has been caught reading private data stored on their cloud servers and it’s all quite legal. In 2012 screenshots of the, then unreleased, Windows 8 had been leaked and Microsoft wanted to know where the blogger had got them. So Microsoft opened up the bloggers […]
Beware of ‘experts’ to toe the Microsoft party line on Office 365 vs. Office 2013. We continue to be amazed at some of the comparisons by ‘experts’ between Office 365 annual rental prices and buying Office 2013 as a one-off payment. Microsoft has deliberately made it hard to do ‘side-by-side’ comparisons. That’s no excuse for […]
Can friends share the cost of an Office 365 subscription/rental? The Office 365 Home Premium has 5 copies Office (Windows or Mac) that can be shared among different people. Could friends pool their money and share the cost of a single Home Premium subscription? Officially no … unless the friends lived in the same household. […]
Where’s the value in Office 365 Personal? Microsoft has announced a new, lower price point for Office 365 subscriptions (rentals). Office 365 Personal will costs US$6.99 per month or US$69.99 a year (plus tax) at first. For that you get: Office for Windows or Office for Mac – one transferable licence. Tablet version of Office […]
SkyDrive saves more about your Office documents than it first appears. When you save a document to SkyDrive, Microsoft collects some more details than you’d expect but hasn’t bothered to tell its customers. We’ve already told you about Jason Hale and his discovery that the ‘Welcome Back’ details when re-opening a document are not saved in […]
The ‘hiding’ call toolbar, your privacy and bypassing countries that try to block Skype. Over the years we’ve shown a lot of people, mostly travelers, how to get more from Skype. As well as our Skype Hidden Extras article, here’s a few more tips from the Skype coalface. The call toolbar When you make a […]
There’s more to Skype than just free calls. Everyone knows that you can make free computer-to-computer calls via Skype, but there are plenty of other, hidden, Skype options. Some are free, others will save you money. There’s one free feature that Microsoft tries to trick you into paying for – and we’ll show you how […]
There’s one glaring omission from Skype that’s an embarrassment to Microsoft It’s been almost two years since Microsoft bought Skype, yet even the simple bits of integration with Microsoft Office haven’t appeared. The most basic mixing of Office and Skype is an Outlook social connector. This would let Skype contacts appear in the Outlook 2010/2013 […]
A fully updated book now available at the same low price. We’re delighted to say that we have a new, updated ebook Windows 8.1 for Microsoft Office users. The book has been fully revised for Windows 8.1 with these extras added: Updating to Windows 8.1 advice Setup for Office / desktop users Start Menu .. […]
Better login security for some Office 365 users. Microsoft has expanded two factor authentication to more Office 365 users. Called ‘multi-factor authentication’ is now available for Office 365 Midsize Business, Enterprise plans, Academic plans, Nonprofit plans, and standalone Office 365 plans, including Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. There’s no extra charge and the additional login […]
We hear from an Office 365 supporter. We’re received a good note from Office Watch reader Randy H … “ We need to keep in mind when discussing the ‘cost’ of Office 365 that the monthly subscription (rental) includes 5 complete, always current, sets of OfficePro. My Office 365 Enterprise subscription costs $24 per month. […]
How to share your Office licenses around to the family. Late last year, Office-Watch.com told you about then upcoming improvements to Office 365 subscriptions … now we can see how those changes really work. An Office 365 Home Premium subscription has always come with 5 licenses for Office desktop software (Office for Windows or Mac). […]
Choosing and mixing cloud storage options for file send and sync. Office-Watch.com received some great feedback after our features on sharing files with Dropbox or Skydrive. Some readers pointed out other cloud storage services like BOX which offers 10GB free and has real-time updates on downloads etc. Strangely, no-one mentioned Google Drive which offers 15GB […]
Moving from MS Office will be harder than politicians think. A Cabinet Minister in the UK government spoke openly this week about dropping Microsoft Office and switching to open source alternatives. Naturally, The Rt Hon Francis Maude MP was more discreet than that, in fact he said “It’s not about banning any one product …”. […]
What it really means for Office 2003 users plus a better countdown to the ‘end’ of Office 2003 and Windows XP Microsoft has a countdown to the end of support for Office 2003 and Windows XP in months, days and hours. We could not resist making our own … Microsoft is counting down to midnight […]
