SBS 2008 - REMOTE ACCESS TO FILES

Outlook Web Access can be used to view or open any file in a shared folder on the servers in an office run by Small Business Server 2008.

Small Business Server 2008 improves many things about remote access to an office network. The main screen for Remote Web Workplace makes it easy to use Outlook Web Access or connect to an office computer, with nothing extraneous to confuse anyone.

Outlook Web Access in Exchange 2007 is so much improved that some people will use it instead of installing Outlook to access their Exchange mailbox. I just discovered another feature which is so good that it will figure prominently when I talk about SBS from now on.

There is a new "Documents" button in the Exchange 2007 version of Outlook Web Access.

Once it is configured, anyone can click on "Open Location" and put in the name of a shared folder in UNC format - \\ServerName\SharedFolder. The window on the right shows the name of the subfolders and files. At any point a location can be added to Favorites by clicking a button at the top. The folder names are shown at the top in a breadcrumb display to make it easy to navigate.

Most office users will be looking for files created in Word, Excel, or Acrobat. Double-clicking on a .DOC, .XLS, or .PDF file launches it in those programs, if they're installed on the remote computer.

Right-clicking on the file name provides the option to view the file in Internet Explorer or send it by email.

Documents cannot be saved directly back to the server - this is only a method to retrieve files.

This is extraordinary! I'm looking forward to introducing my SBS offices to this feature.

TECHNICAL NOTES

This feature is not enabled by default in SBS 2008; it has to be set up by opening Exchange Management Console with administrator privileges and opening Server Configuration / Client Access. Right-click on OWA and click on Properties to see the options for Remote File Servers. I was following the instructions in Eriq Oliver Neale's wonderful new book Windows Small Business Server 2008 Unleashed but found one error. When you click the Allow button, the only allowed entry is the name of the server, not the network path to a shared folder. (And don't use the FQDN for the server unless that's necessary for some reason - the presence of a period in the server name will cause it to conclude that you've designated a FQDN and you'll have to add the domain suffix in the next section of the window.)

There are a huge number of ways to tweak the behavior of various file types to prevent opening something or require the web viewer for something else. The defaults are just fine for small offices. Once I figured out what to put in the Allow dialog, it started working instantly, with the exception of the web viewer for PDF files. That's on the list of things to fix someday.

Labels: network, Office, Outlook, remote, SBS

posted by bruceb at 1/05/2009 12:05:00 AM | permalink

CLOUD COMPUTING BASICS

There are lots of projects intended to move our computing lives online. Let me try to paint a picture of where our world is heading over the next 5-10 years. I'll use Microsoft projects as examples but keep in mind that other companies have similar projects and goals.

Start with hundreds of thousands of high-powered servers all over the world, run by big companies, providing storage space and computing power to do interesting things. Amazon and Google are already in that business, and one of Microsoft's big announcements at last week's conference was that it intends to commit the future of the company to providing services from its own global network. Assume that the companies are doing what it takes to convince you that they have the resources to keep things safe and working at full speed.

Take a step forward from where we are now (a small step, really) and imagine that when you click on File / Open in Microsoft Word and see a list of the files in your Documents folder, you're seeing a list that is the same regardless of where you're sitting or what computer you're using. Your documents are listed when you're at your desk, but the same list appears when you're at a friend's house or at an Internet cafe in Paris. You don't give that a second thought - you expect it to happen and it works.

Well, it doesn't work yet but you might be surprised at how many steps you can take right now toward that goal.

• You can store documents in Office Live Workspace; on your own computer you can open them from within Word after installing a little plugin, and from any other computer you can access them in a browser and open them in Word if it's installed on that computer.
• If you set up Live Mesh, you can have local copies of your documents on all the computers you use regularly, appearing in your Documents folder when you click File / Open in Word, plus you can access the same files online by logging onto the Live Mesh website.

Those services are still in their early stages of development and will become easier to use. I have some criticisms of the way some Office Live Workspace features are designed and those will be addressed, but I've also seen references to the likelihood that Live Mesh folders will be accessible in Office Live Workspace and you'll just have to trust me - that moves us a huge step closer to that picture I painted up there of universal, easy access to your files from anywhere.

The bigger picture goes far beyond the basic ability to store files online - there are lots of ways already available to store documents online. The future lies in whether you can create and edit your files from any device.

So let's add one more element. Microsoft announced that you'll be able to use online versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote to work on your files if you're sitting at a computer where those programs are not installed. There are many, many details to be worked out about price, features (these will start out as "light" versions of the programs), and integration with your online files, but the concept immediately makes sense. Here's a screen shot of Word running in Internet Explorer - click through for shots of other programs:

Imagine that the experience of using Microsoft Word is identical regardless of whether you're using the copy installed on your computer or the online version, and you can open the same files regardless of where you're sitting. Under the hood, let's say Microsoft has done the heavy lifting to ensure that security precautions are observed for businesses. Interested yet?

Let's stop there for today. Tomorrow we'll take that a step further and try to understand just how wildly ambitious the plans are that Microsoft outlined last week.

Labels: business, file_sharing, IE, Internet, Microsoft, mobile, Office, software

posted by bruceb at 11/03/2008 12:33:00 AM | permalink

OUTLOOK: MULTI-DAY CALENDAR VIEWS

The Outlook team at Microsoft plans to publish a series of tips in their blog about interesting ways they use Outlook. Today's item highlights a way to display any range of dates in the Outlook calendar, even unconnected dates.

Click a day in the date picker (the little calendar in the upper left or upper right), then hold CTRL down and click additional dates. Each one will be added to the calendar display. You can display the range from Wednesday to Tuesday, for example, instead of being limited by the Sunday-Saturday view in the normal "WEEK" display; or you can choose just Thursdays and see your next month's worth of Thursdays lined up next to each other.

Don't forget my tip about displaying Outlook in multiple windows and creating shortcuts to start Outlook directly in the contacts or calendar folders!

Labels: Office, Outlook

posted by bruceb at 10/28/2008 12:19:00 AM | permalink

KEEPING UP WITH UPDATES

Microsoft released security updates on Tuesday night, following its normal monthly schedule. Your computer should have restarted during the night.

We're all overwhelmed by updates but we're stuck with them. The holes fixed today are the ones that the bad guys will be hammering on tomorrow. You should be installing the updates for Windows and other Microsoft products when they're released. Some of them will not be installed automatically - it's up to you to take care of the ones that require extra clicks!

Take a minute to check your settings!

(1) If you're running Windows Live OneCare, the icon should be green. If it's not, it may be waiting for you to install updates manually. Open OneCare and follow the instructions and keep the icon green!

If OneCare is green, you're covered for everything else I mention here. Go be productive.

(2) If you have a little gold shield (Windows XP) or update icon (Vista) by the clock, it's waiting for you to download and/or install updates.

• The Vista update icon is supposed to look like the figure at the left. I wondered about that! I couldn't have told you that by looking at the little blob down by the clock.

(3) Click on Control Panel / Automatic Updates (Windows XP) or Control Panel / System and Maintenance / Windows Update (Vista), and make sure your computer is set to automatically install new updates.

(4) Visit the Microsoft Update web site (Windows XP) or Control Panel / System and Maintenance / Windows Update (Vista), and make sure your computer automatically installs updates for Windows and other Microsoft products. The updates for Microsoft Office are just as important as the ones for Windows.

Updates for other programs can also be important but keeping up with the security fixes for Windows is a fundamental requirement of using a computer today. Be safe out there!

Labels: Microsoft, Office, security, Vista, WinXP

posted by bruceb at 10/16/2008 12:05:00 AM | permalink

OFFICE LIVE WORKSPACE - NOT PERFECT YET

I've stopped using Office Live Workspace for now. It's a service with a lot of potential but a few areas that are rough around the edges. Although I encourage you to try OLW and the other new services, my sense is that most people won't be ready to change their traditional methods of saving and working on files until these services are seamless.

Office Live Workplace is Microsoft's free service for storing files online (primarily Office files - Word, Excel, Powerpoint - and Acrobat PDFs). There are two important reasons to use the service - the online files can be opened from any computer anywhere, and they can be shared easily. If you're collaborating on a document, everyone can work on a single copy of the file - no merging changes to files exchanged by email!On your primary computer, you can install a bit of software so the files can be opened directly from a toolbar or menu added to the Office programs. Here's more information about OLW.

I created a folder with fifty frequently-used Word files. When I browse to the folder online, each file can be previewed instantly or opened into Word with a click of a button. It's good stuff! I don't want to sound too discouraging.

But there's an annoyance. The files appear in a random order. It doesn't seem to be the order they were uploaded, or last modified, or anything else I can figure out, it's just a random shuffle. There are column headings for Name / Date modified / Size, so they can be sorted with a single click, but they're back in the same random order the next time I go back to the list.

That's more frustrating if you access the files directly from the Office programs. In Word 2007, a new option appears on the Quick Access menu in the upper left to "Open from Office Live." A flyout menu displays the folders stored online; clicking on a folder name opens a File Open window displaying the individual files. In that window, the files cannot be sorted - they appear in the same random order and the only way to locate one is to scroll down the list. It's just not practical for more than a handful of files.

There's a more significant problem, though. All too often I could not save a document back to OLW after I had edited it. If the Internet connection is broken while a document is open, OLW will throw up an error message about the file being "locked". The file has to be saved with a different name. It happened to me repeatedly, especially if my notebook went to sleep or into hibernation with an open document. I have multiple versions of the same document with slightly different names - exactly what OLW is supposed to avoid for evolving versions of documents. Here's an online forum where people are talking about that problem.

Those problems will likely be fixed. A more subtle problem is that files stored in OLW are not indexed and cannot be searched along with local files. (In fact, I don't see any way to search files in OLW at all.) I depend on Vista's search technology. I can imagine that it will be extended to the online files but I haven't seen any reference to that feature yet.

Live Mesh may absorb OLW, since it directly addresses some of those problems. I'll write some more about Live Mesh soon.

Labels: file_sharing, Microsoft, Office, search, web_services

posted by bruceb at 9/01/2008 12:18:00 PM | permalink

MICROSOFT OFFICE ULTIMATE DISCOUNT

If you're sending a student off to college with a new laptop, Microsoft has a pretty good deal. A student with an email address at an educational institution (typically the email addresses end in .EDU) can buy a copy of Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 for $59.95 through this web site.

This suite includes far more software than the Home & Student Edition in the stores for $100-140. This is the suite with all the Office programs, including Outlook, Powerpoint, Publisher, OneNote, Access, and more.  Most students will only use Word and Powerpoint, of course, but it's still a great price.

There's also an upgrade to Vista Ultimate for $64.95, much cheaper than the normal upgrade price. Most student laptops come with Vista Home edition, with all the multimedia programs; upgrading to Ultimate adds shadow copies for some extra protection, an improved backup program that a student would never use, and mildly amusing eye candy in the form of animated desktops. (Here's a comparison of the Vista versions.) The discounted price is nice but the upgrade is anything but essential.

Labels: Microsoft, Office, software, Vista

posted by bruceb at 8/24/2008 12:37:00 AM | permalink

OFFICE LIVE WORKSPACE UPDATE

Microsoft Office Live Workspace is one of the more interesting ways to store documents online and share them easily. Access is obtained through your Windows Live ID, the password that is becoming increasingly important as Microsoft pulls the various Windows Live services together. Here's some background on Office Live Workspace.

An update was released this week:

"The Office Live Update 1.2 installs (1) performance updates to make using Office Live Workspace with Microsoft Office programs faster, (2) the latest Office Live Add-in for Microsoft Office that enables you to access your workspaces directly from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and (3) the Multiple Document Upload Tool and (4) the Firefox add-in to allow users of the Firefox browser to use Office Live Workspace with Microsoft Office."

Once the OLW software is installed, the files stored online can be opened from a web browser, or directly from Office programs - OLW is added to the menu in Office 2007, or on a new toolbar in Office 2003/XP.

Although I'd encourage you to try the service if you're interested, I've found there are still a couple of things missing. One is a little thing - the file list does not remain sorted the way I left it. If I sort the files alphabetically, I want it sorted alphabetically when I return. (For some reason, the file sorting cannot be changed from its random order when I open the list from inside an Office program, which is impractical for more than a fairly small number of files.) And there's no support for keeping previous versions of items that are edited, which can be enormously valuable when you're collaborating with people.

Labels: file_sharing, Microsoft, Office, web_services

posted by bruceb at 8/14/2008 12:16:00 AM | permalink

MICROSOFT EQUIPT

On July 15, Microsoft will begin selling a product that many of you should consider for your next computer.

Microsoft Equipt includes Office 2007 Home and Student, Windows Live OneCare, and some Windows Live programs and services (Office Live Workspace for online storage of files, plus Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Mail). It will be sold as a seventy dollar per year subscription for up to three computers, and theoretically cannot be used on an office computer.

I wrote some extensive notes about this bundle when it entered beta testing. It's cheaper than the earlier rumors suggested. Some people object to the subscription pricing but Microsoft has picked a good price point; this is only a couple of hundred dollars worth of software at best, but seventy bucks makes it really cheap to get started and you wouldn't even arguably come out ahead for almost three years if you bought and installed everything separately.

It's worth noting that the subscription will include free upgrades if new versions of programs are released - and Office is scheduled for a new version in the next year or two. Theoretically that gives this bundle a price advantage.

But the more significant reason to buy this is because it's the right software for most home users and students setting up a new computer, delivered in a reasonably simple way. If your next computer had Vista and this bundle, you'd be able to do just about everything most people do with a computer!

There are two problems.

• "Equipt" is a terrible name. What is it with Microsoft and names? It's meaningless and silly sounding and fails to gain any leverage from the "Microsoft Office" brand name.
• At first it will only be sold at Circuit City.
• At first it will only be sold at Circuit City. I had to repeat that to be sure you got it. What? I'm supposed to tell people Microsoft has a great new package for their new home computer and they have to schlep to Circuit City to get it? What, nobody else would sell it? Circuit City is falling apart, for gods sake! Who in the world made that decision and why do they hate us?

Really, the marketing people at Microsoft need a long holiday.

Labels: Microsoft, Office, OneCare, software

posted by bruceb at 7/08/2008 02:21:00 AM | permalink

COMPUTER SHOPPING 2008

[Originally posted November 26, 2007]

Thinking about a new computer - home, home office, small business? Let me give you some generalizations that will help you get started. (As always, gamers will be looking for faster processors and hard drives, more memory, and - particularly important - choosing from an array of high-end video cards. Notebook computers also require consideration of size and weight, which will trump some of the considerations below.)

• PROCESSOR Intel's Core 2 Duo processors are significantly better than the other Intel and AMD processors. Within the Core 2 Duo line, at some point there's a step up to a 4Mb L2 cache, another bit of technical wizardry that's worth a hundred dollars or so. That being said, all of the processors on the market will serve you well - processor speed is no longer the defining point of a computer.
• MEMORY 2Gb of RAM is mandatory for a new computer - it's required for a satisfying experience, and it's sufficient for most people.
• VIDEO It is essential to look for a video card with 256Mb of RAM! There are many more differences between video cards than that but you'll get what you need if you just focus on that single number. If your new computer doesn't have a 256Mb video card, you'll be disappointed in ways large and small - perhaps you might just not be able to turn on Vista's eye candy, but at worst the computer's entire performance will be compromised.
• HARD DRIVE You'll get lots of storage space with any new computer, but the speed of the hard drive is a new and important consideration. The speed is measured in RPM; you want a speed of 7200RPM or above. If you see 5400RPM, avoid it - the whole system will be slow regardless of the other specs. (You'll run into this problem more often on notebooks.)
• OPERATING SYSTEM Vista Business is the best choice for most people; get Vista Home Premium if you're interested in one of its specific features, but be aware of what you're missing. Vista Ultimate is a safe choice because it includes all features.
• The general answer to your question about Vista is: Yes, it will ________. (Fill in the blank: work; run your programs; network with your other computers; work with your printer/scanner/camera; etc.)
• OPTICAL DRIVE Make sure you get a drive that can read DVDs - software is being distributed on DVDs now.
• SOFTWARE If you're ordering from Dell, you can get Microsoft Office preinstalled at an attractive price. Other manufacturers almost never include MS Office. Make sure your budget is ready for the $150 Student Edition of Office if the computer will be used at home, or $300 and up for the standard versions.
• SECURITY Your first job with a new computer is removing unnecessary software installed by the computer maker - and the most important products to remove will be any preinstalled software from Norton or McAfee. Windows Vista has a very capable firewall and adware/spyware protection, so you're safe while you decide what to install instead. I continue to recommend Windows Live OneCare for comprehensive protection.

Happy shopping!

Labels: computers, hardware, Office, security, Vista

posted by bruceb at 7/01/2008 12:19:00 AM | permalink

ACROBAT ONLINE

Adobe has launched an online suite of software and services, along with announcing the July release of Acrobat 9. It's all interesting but I have a sense of overload already, and we're still very early in the new age of online web services.

Acrobat.com is ready for you to begin using for free - an email address and a password opens up online file storage, convenient file sharing, an online word processor, web conferencing, and a PDF converter. I can only mention a few things in passing, but this article has a nice description of each of the features.

Adobe has designed a very appealing set of controls for its services, with lots of functions presented elegantly. The file sharing feature makes it easy to send an email with a large file attachment by uploading the file to Adobe's servers and sending only a link in the message. There's a generous amount of free space for file storage. The web conferencing stands out for ease of use.

In addition to many small companies offering each of the various parts, Microsoft and Google have already begun to roll out their own online suites. Google Docs and Microsoft Office Live Workspace and other Microsoft Live services each provide more or less the same functions: Google offers its typically quirky and sometimes overly simplistic interface; Microsoft counters with some appealing services that are all too often overlapping, confusing, and complex. Now Adobe enters the field with presumably a big promotional push.

Each of these suites will only reward a person or business who commits to one of them wholeheartedly. Who's ready to do that? There are a hundred services that will help you send an oversize email attachment. Web conferencing is easy to come by. The benefits of Adobe's services might emerge if you take advantage of their integration, which means committing to them and using them daily as a way to change your business flow. I don't feel any appetite among my very small business clients for a change like that and I'm not sure I'd be doing them a favor if I tried to create that momentum - not yet, anyway.

In just a few minutes, I ran into some limitations of the Acrobat.com services - not big problems, just typical startup issues.

• The initial login was problematic - the service didn't recognize my "Adobe ID" and I had to go through the password reset process.
• The online word processor, "Buzzword," uses a separate login name and password for some reason, and stores its documents separately from the other Adobe file storage service.
• The word processor is adequate for the basics but no more than that. Here's more info about Buzzword.
• The online file storage will not accept any media files - no online storage of music or movies. I can understand why Adobe handles difficult copyright issues that way, but it limits the usefulness of the service.
• There is an online PDF converter to create PDFs from Office documents and other formats, but the free converter can only be used five times - hardly worth mentioning. Adobe isn't going to give up its profits from selling Acrobat that easily!

Now with all that said, I encourage you to take a look at Acrobat.com! Set up your password and try things out! The design is lovely and the service has much promise. But don't commit to it half-heartedly or it will become just another forgotten password for a web site where a few forgotten files are stored.

As to Acrobat 9, there are no details yet about whether there will be any important new features for businesses. The presentation on Monday focused on the ability to embed Flash videos in PDF files. How . . . special. There will also be hooks to the online Acrobat.com service to facilitate collaborating on PDF files, which doesn't mean much if we're not otherwise using the Acrobat.com service. Waiting for details on that one.

Labels: Acrobat, business, Google, Microsoft, Office, web_services

posted by bruceb at 6/03/2008 12:21:00 AM | permalink

OFFICE 2007 COMPATIBILITY PACK

Microsoft Office 2007 features top-to-bottom rewrites of Word, Excel and Powerpoint, with ribbons replacing the familiar menus and toolbars. There is another change lurking under the hood that might affect you even if you don't buy a new computer and start using the Office 2007 programs.

All three programs save files in new formats by default - .DOCX, .XLSX, and .PPTX. If you're running Office 2003, a window will be displayed when you try to open a .DOCX or .XLSX email attachment for the first time, explaining that a free "compatibility pack" is required before you can open the file.

The "Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats" is a 27.5Mb download that installs quickly and does not require a restart of your computer. It can be installed anytime - there's no harm in putting it on now, even if it hasn't come up as an issue yet. There's more information from Microsoft about prerequisites and potential issues on this page.

When the Compatibility Pack is installed, you can open and save in the new Office 2007 file formats.

So what's it all about?

There were some problems with the old formats. They created overly large files; they were insecure; and they were prone to becoming corrupted. The new formats address all of those problems. But there's more. This is about money.

The old formats were proprietary and Microsoft guarded their secrets jealously, trying to keep competitors from making programs that could potentially compete with Office. In the last ten years, advocates of open formats began to make inroads in the world of public opinion - and more importantly, in large corporations and governments - with arguments about the disadvantages of proprietary formats and expensive office suites.

Someone once said that Microsoft's revenues are essentially divided between Fortune 500 companies, on the one hand, and everybody else, on the other hand.

When Microsoft develops a new program, they hand a CD to a Fortune 500 company in exchange for Brinks trucks full of gold bullion. The Fortune 500 company then does all the work of rolling out the program and supporting its users.

When Microsoft sells a program to us, we resent paying $80 for it and we want to call Microsoft for support all the time. Make no mistake - Microsoft would not lose much sleep if all of its customers left except the Fortune 500 companies.

Microsoft decided it had to change direction to protect Office's position in large corporations and governments in a changing world.

Almost ten years ago, Microsoft began to develop "Office Open XML" with the intent of creating an open international standard. In 2005 the project was turned over to an independent company for further development and dissemination into the open source and software developer communities. These are not "Microsoft" formats any more; they are fully documented standards that can be used by anyone.

In April, the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved Office Open XML as an international standard. Here's an article about the ISO ratification. Governments and large corporate customers are frequently under pressure to buy ISO-certified products; now they can continue buying Microsoft Office with no apologies. Other companies can make word processors and spreadsheets that save files in the identical formats but big companies are slow to change and will continue buying Microsoft Office for a long time to come - especially now that its foes can't attack it for being non-standard.

There are no consequences for those of us using Word at home or in small businesses - this battle was fought bitterly between Microsoft and IBM about issues that only matter to large organizations. There's no downside for us, though - use the new formats freely.

Labels: business, Microsoft, Office

posted by bruceb at 5/01/2008 01:09:00 AM | permalink

MICROSOFT & THE CLOUD

Microsoft is working on a package of software and online services that might be exactly right for students and home computer users.

Although Vista includes important features out of the box, it does not include Microsoft Office - Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. That's surprising to many people. (Dell will preinstall Office if you remember to check the box, but all the other manufacturers leave it off to keep the computer sale price down.) I talk to a lot of people about why they have to make an unexpected trip to Costco or Office Depot to buy a copy of Office.

The computer manufacturer may include security software but all too often it's a bloated suite from whatever vendor paid the most to be included, or it's only a trial version.

Similarly, most people have a poor experience with badly designed software for editing and sharing photos that comes preinstalled with their new computer or installed along with the driver for a new printer or camera.

These are not deep mysteries. Any technically adept person is able to jump in and clean things up! Uninstall the crap. Sign up for online services - lots of people have favorites of the hundreds available. Use Google Docs or OpenOffice for free or buy a copy of Office 2007 Home & Student Edition.

The package from Microsoft isn't aimed at those people.

Instead, Microsoft will be packaging up a collection that's good enough for people who want the choices to be made for them and presented in a neat, easy-to-use package. And Microsoft will be experimenting with selling the package as a cheap monthly subscription instead of an expensive box at Best Buy. (Microsoft sees subscriptions as an inevitable shift in the long run but it's had trouble figuring out how to jump in without cannibalizing its current license fees.)

The "software plus service" bundle is code-named "Albany" during testing. Let's fantasize and assume that Microsoft delivers a well-designed integrated experience. Here's the way it will go sometime this fall.

• If you don't have one, you'll get a free Windows Live ID.
• You'll agree to pay a monthly fee - not yet determined but probably $10-15/month.
• A single installer will download and install these programs on your new computer, and set up access to their online components:
  • Microsoft Office 2007 Home And Student - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote
  • Windows Live Office Workplace - online file storage and sharing for Office files, integrated with the Office programs, as easy as clicking a button; files can then be viewed and retrieved from any computer
  • Windows Live OneCare - easy-to-understand program for antivirus, spyware protection, firewall management, backups, printer sharing, and system maintenance
  • Windows Live Photo Gallery - the easiest and best-designed program for working with the photos on your computer and sharing them online
  • Windows Live Mail - full-featured and safe mail program, better than Outlook for home users, easy to integrate with Hotmail so mail can be viewed from anywhere
  • Windows Live Messenger

The programs would then all be updated automatically.

There's nothing new about the package except the integration and the subscription pricing. Most of those components are free; Office 2007 Home & Student is about $140 and Live OneCare is $49.99 or less, so this is under two hundred dollars of software.

But the integrated experience is everything! If I've learned anything over the last ten years, it's that many people don't want to think about their computers. They want to sit down and do stuff! If this package was installed on a nice cleaned-up computer, people would be able to do stuff with a minimum of fuss. I think it's a winner.

Here's an article about Microsoft's official acknowledgement that this package would enter beta testing soon, leading to a final release sometime this fall.

Labels: computers, mail, Microsoft, Office, OneCare, photos, security, software, Vista, web_services

posted by bruceb at 4/23/2008 01:28:00 AM | permalink

MICROSOFT OFFICE LIVE WORKSPACE

There are many visions of our online future. Google and many others envision a world of cloud computing, where our programs and our data are both hosted online. Google Docs provides a word processor and spreadsheet, and online storage of files, all accessible from any computer anywhere. At the moment these services are mostly presented in an Internet browser but the technology is already appearing to let online programs run in their own windows like any other program, giving us access to programs that look elegant and can be accessed from anywhere. Google's vision (and Microsoft's nightmare) is a world where those programs run on any operating system, so you can have the same experience regardless of whether you're running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux.

Not a bad vision! So far the implementation isn't very exciting but Adobe Photoshop Express is quite nice for simple photo editing and sharing, and Google has come a long way with Google Docs.

The universe of computer users includes many people and businesses who are reluctant to change their habits. The habit of running programs on our desktop computers will be hard to break, and Microsoft may do quite well with a vision that takes smaller steps - allowing us to keep our familiar programs but integrating online services to enhance them. Microsoft Office Live Workspace is one of the steps on the way to fulfilling Microsoft's vision of "software plus service."

Microsoft is betting that you're comfortable with Word, Excel and Powerpoint installed on your computer. Office Live Workspace extends the familiar Office programs so files can be easily saved online, where they can be viewed by and shared with co-workers or third parties, or retrieved from a different computer to open in the Office programs on that computer. The online files can be accessed from a web browser but they can also be opened with a click on a toolbar button in the Office programs, just like you're used to doing when you open your Documents folder.

Office Live Workspace uses your Windows Live ID and it's currently free. Microsoft is mulling over the ways to make money - possibly advertising (although there are no ads now), possibly subscription packages (I'll describe one tomorrow Wednesday), and possibly "premium" packages for increased file storage space or other extra features.

This overlaps the Windows Live Skydrive service, which also offers free online storage and file sharing. Office Live Workspace is focused on Word, Excel & Powerpoint files - they can be previewed on the web site and opened directly from the web site into your Office program for editing, with no fumbling with uploads and downloads. There are rudimentary tools for collaboration - if two people have access to a file and one is editing it, the other will be told that the file has been "checked out."

This has the potential to be extremely useful but I don't suggest diving in without reading more about what to expect. Here's a few links to help you get oriented: a comparison with Google Docs; an overview of the new service; comments from a well-informed blogger; Microsoft's announcement at the official rollout. This is very exciting stuff! Small businesses may well want to start using this right away but there are issues of file security anytime files leave your local computers; this will require care to make sure documents are protected appropriately.

Labels: file_sharing, Google, Internet, Microsoft, Office, software, web_services

posted by bruceb at 4/21/2008 01:22:00 AM | permalink

OUTLOOK SHORTCUTS

Did you know you can have multiple Outlook windows open? Try right-clicking on "Calendar" or "Contacts," then clicking on Open in new window.

This will be very exciting for some of you. But wait! There's more!

By default, Outlook opens into your Inbox. You can change the default folder by clicking in Outlook on Tools / Options / Other / Advanced Options.

But you can also create shortcuts for your desktop or Quick Launch bar that open directly into your calendar, contacts folder, or task list. Each one will open a new Outlook window automatically.

Try this out!

• Right-click on your desktop and click on New / Shortcut.
• The location of the item is the path to the Outlook program, followed by a command line switch that selects the folder to open. Note that the quotation marks have to be included!

OUTLOOK 2003

• "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe " /select Outlook:Inbox
• "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe " /select Outlook:Calendar
• "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe " /select Outlook:Contacts
• "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe " /select Outlook:Tasks

OUTLOOK 2007

• "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe " /select Outlook:Inbox
• "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe " /select Outlook:Calendar
• "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe " /select Outlook:Contacts
• "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe " /select Outlook:Tasks

 

• On the next screen, type a descriptive name - e.g., "Outlook Calendar."
• Right-click on the shortcut and click on Properties. Click the Change Icon button and pick an icon that matches the folder.

Bingo! A convenient way to open multiple windows directly where you want to go.

Note: If Microsoft Office is installed on a different drive or in a non-standard folder, your shortcut will have to be modified with the correct path. It's possible to open any Outlook folder this way, but it gets slightly trickier to create shortcuts to public folders or folders with spaces in their names.

Labels: Office, Outlook

posted by bruceb at 4/18/2008 12:40:00 AM | permalink

FONT MYSTERIES

Sharp-eyed Microsoft Office users might have noticed that the default fonts are changed in Office 2007. The old familiar names are still there - Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, and Courier New - but the defaults are newcomers Cambria, Calibri, and more.

Microsoft had originally proposed standardized fonts for the Internet in 1995 and built Arial, Times New Roman, and several more deeply into Windows XP and Microsoft Office. They became ubiquitous across the web and virtually every computer user has them installed on their computers. For more than ten years most web sites have been designed with just a handful of fonts, usually Arial, Verdana, or Times New Roman.

With the release of Vista, Microsoft updated those core fonts with a family of new fonts closely resembling the old styles but with improved legibility for printing and onscreen viewing. Here's a chart that compares Cambria with Times New Roman, Calibri with Arial, and so on.

There are people who care about these things. On the whole, they're impressed by the work done by Microsoft's typography team. There are sophisticated studies of legibility where the new fonts have done well.

It's not completely obvious that Cambria and Calibri will be as dominant as Arial and Times New Roman, but there's no reason to resist them. Don't go back to Times New Roman in Word 2007 out of nostalgia!

Labels: Internet, Microsoft, Office, Vista

posted by bruceb at 4/03/2008 12:05:00 AM | permalink

RANDOM OUTLOOK 2007 NOTES

When I set up a new computer these days, I spend almost no time describing new features in Windows Vista - people are generally able to start using it right away with a minimum of fuss. Outlook 2007 is so similar to Outlook 2003 that I don't even mention that it's a new version. The programs that get the most attention are Microsoft Word 2007 and Excel 2007, which got a complete overhaul that leaves people disoriented at first. (Most of them become big fans of the new design after a couple of weeks.)

Outlook 2007 is stable and fast but it has a few idiosyncrasies and no shortage of the kind of odd problems that promise to keep me employed for many years.

When Outlook 2007 is started for the first time, it presents a dialog box asking if you'd like to combine and synchronize the lists of RSS feeds in Outlook and Internet Explorer. Say what? For most people, this dialog box might as well be written in Sanskrit. Virtually everyone should choose "No" and move on. Choosing "Yes" without consciously following up to configure Outlook's support for RSS feeds can lead to slow performance, oversized mailboxes, crashes, sweating, drowsiness, and headaches.

(Although Outlook 2007 is not a very good RSS reader, it's worth knowing about RSS feeds, a useful way to keep up with blogs and other frequently updated web sites! Here's some basic information.)

Today I set up a new computer, installed all security updates and Vista Service Pack 1, then started Outlook for the first time. It refused to close, ignoring clicks on File / Exit and the upper right corner. It froze completely when I clicked on Tools / Trust Center - not just once, but repeatedly. After repeating the same steps five or six times, hoping that magic fairies would fix the problem if I just believed real hard, I finally convinced it to display a message that a dialog box was open. No box was anywhere in sight, but each time Outlook had started I had seen the dialog box appear and disappear in a flash that's intended to collect the user name and initials. It was acting exactly like a program with a hidden dialog box.

A little Googling led to a bug introduced by a recent security update that prevents the name/initials window from displaying correctly if Outlook is started for the first time after it's installed. Although it's possible to uninstall the KB946983 update, all it took was opening another Office program and filling out the same window. Outlook then opened and behaved normally.

This made me grouchy.

After restarting a computer, many people see Outlook's message that it must "check the data file for consistency because it was not closed down properly." Outlook 2007 does its check in the background but the computer slows down and Outlook is not very usable until the check is complete. I take it personally, since I'm very fastidious about closing programs before I shut down or restart.

It happens when a program keeps some portion of Outlook running even after the main window closes - a search program, a security program, or some other addin. This blogger found it happened less if he did not close Outlook before restarting Windows - somehow that gave Windows a better opportunity to close the entire program gracefully. Heck, it might work - I'm going to try it.

Some people found that Google Desktop was the culprit. I've been uninstalling Google Desktop pretty freely and so far no one has missed it. Most people don't even know it's installed. Dell has been shipping it on new systems for quite a while and it sometimes turns up riding along when other programs are installed.

There's a long list of suggestions on Slipstick Systems that might help troubleshoot the problem. It's another reason to go prune the list of addins that run in Outlook, removing any third party addins that are clearly unnecessary.

One more thing. Did you know you can have multiple Outlook windows open? Try right-clicking on "Calendar" or "Contacts," then clicking on "Open in new window." Typically I'll have Outlook running in three or four separate windows.

Labels: Microsoft, Office, Outlook, software

posted by bruceb at 4/02/2008 12:35:00 AM | permalink

ONENOTE FOR LAWYERS

Here's a short article from the ABA's Law Practice magazine noting the many ways that Microsoft OneNote 2007 can be used by lawyers for everything from trial notebooks to business transaction notes. There are law-specific templates available for OneNote (as well as templates for the other Microsoft Office programs) on Microsoft's Office Templates page.

I've written about OneNote before. It was just picked as the number one favorite Windows program by readers of a popular blog. ("The word love kept reappearing in the recommendations for this hard-to-describe program.") There are video demos, as well as a brand new 40-minute introduction to the program - a free online training course that will give you a tour of the program, basic instructions, and some ideas about how to get started. If you're the kind of person who might use a program for note-taking, you really owe it to yourself to try it!

Labels: law, Office, software

posted by bruceb at 3/25/2008 03:51:00 AM | permalink

SEARCHING FOR OFFICE 2007 FILES

If you are using Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Desktop Search 3.1, then you should install a small update to the search program. The "2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack" will allow Windows Desktop Search to index the new file formats in Office 2007 - .DOCX, .XLSX, .PPTX and the rest.

You're using Office 2007 if the programs have the new ribbon toolbar across the top.

Windows Vista includes Windows Desktop Search 3.1 - you should install the update.

If you have Windows XP, then you're running Windows Desktop Search 3.1 if you have this toolbar down next to the icons in the lower right corner of the screen.

Download the filter pack from this page. Most of you will download and install "FilterPack86.exe".

There's a tantalizing reference on the Microsoft page about the filter pack. There's a list of programs that work with the filter pack, including "Windows Desktop Search 3.1, Windows Search 4." A year ago there was some speculation about Windows Search 4 - even a screenshot - but nothing since then, until this passing reference. Hmmm . . .

Labels: Office, search, Vista, WinXP

posted by bruceb at 2/12/2008 12:18:00 AM | permalink

MICROSOFT ONENOTE 2007 REVISITED

I've written before about Microsoft OneNote 2007 but it bears repeating: this is the best program you've never heard of.

OneNote collects your notes and lets you find them later. It keeps anything you want to put into it - scraps of information, web links, photos, videos, files, whatever. You can keep things organized or create a freeform jumble and search for things later (everything is immediately searchable). You can share notebooks easily. The more you use it, the more useful it becomes.

You can download a free trial! Use it for a month. Some of you will find that you're opening it in the morning along with Outlook and leaving it open all day.

Don't take my word for it. Here's a collection of links collected by a member of the OneNote team from blog entries and media coverage of OneNote in the last month. The people who use it tend to become evangelists. The world is full of cruddy software but OneNote is one of the programs that just works!

• OneNote is awesome - sharing documents with yourself and others
• Seeing the light about OneNote - Been in Paris at a Management Excellence course.  All of our group work was on OneNote.  Ick!  I really HATE OneNote.  I don't use a tablet PC so I just didn't "get" it about OneNote- how good it was...  But, in the spirit of the event, I started using the pre-populated workbook for the course.  Eureka!  I'm a convert.  Even the guide to OneNote now makes sense.
• So I've been talking to educators in my little frozen corner of the world and they've been telling me about educational hotness that they are using.  MS Onenote came up.
• I've noticed that people seem to either be fanatics about using OneNote, or they've never tried it.
• I know a few people who'd kill for onenote for os x
• Man, what a cool program this is. I discovered it when a customer of mine asked me about it. I did some research and realized that it was a program I?ve been wanting for a long time.
• Using OneNote is such a pleasure; I tell people about it all the time. It is so versatile and can contain anything I need in one spot.  Thanks for a great product. If you ever want an extra tester, please let me know.
• I love OneNote and I store all kinds of things in it...I decided to move all my OneNote notebooks to a 4 gig USB drive that's attached to my keys... all the notebooks will sync between each PC and the USB drive.
• I downloaded <OneNote>  to help my husband figure it out when he got it with MS office home edition for his new laptop. After about 15 minutes, I realized it was going to change my work habits profoundly.
• I added OneNote 2007 recently and it's really been improved -- lots of new features and integration with the other Office 2007 apps and IE to easily move information over to OneNote. OneNote's new indexing and search within images is utterly fantastic.
• WELL I AM IMPRESSED - MICROSOFT ONENOTE: Well I have been working in Microsoft's OneNote quite a bit today -- I am definitely and quickly becoming a convert. I am very impressed with it so far, OneNote is very sophisticated and usable!
• Fed up with the backs of envelopes? Try OneNote instead

Labels: Microsoft, Office, search, software

posted by bruceb at 2/07/2008 12:48:00 AM | permalink

MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007 SP1

By now you've installed the updates and patches released last Tuesday on Microsoft's regularly-scheduled "Patch Tuesday." Some of you with new computers might have also found Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 1, an unexpected addition to the list of optional updates. If you're not in a hurry, you'll still deal with it eventually - Office 2007 SP1 will be installed as an automatic update in the next few months.

The service pack arrived with very little fanfare; most industry types didn't expect it until next year. Microsoft presumably released it early to make a tiny dent in its reputation for being slow to bring products to market or get updates out the door. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is in its final round of testing and it looks as if it will be released on the timetable Microsoft has been predicting for some time now.

Office 2007 SP1 makes a frightening first impression - when I first added it to the list of updates to be installed, it predicted a download of more than 600Mb. Fortunately that was wrong - there are lots of variations of the service pack but most of you will download approximately 200Mb, which is what was displayed on my system when the download actually started. That's still a huge download!

Service packs are big collections of bug fixes. Microsoft's current philosophy is that service packs do not include new features or changes to the programs, so installing the Office 2007 service pack won't change anything very noticeable. Microsoft says there are good reasons to download and install Service Pack 1. According to Microsoft:

• There are roughly 2500 fixes in SP1. This an average size for a service pack, but many of the issues fixed are important.
• Almost 20% of those fixes are direct result of customer requests.
• Over 500 of those fixes focused on security.

This is diluted a bit because many of the fixes are for programs you don't use. Remember, Microsoft Office is now a huge suite of programs including many that are typically only used in large corporations with backend servers to support them and IT staff to implement and support them. Most of my small business clients don't use many of the programs getting important fixes in this service pack: Communicator 2007, Groove 2007, Infopath 2007, Project 2007, Visio 2007, and others. The fixes for our workhorses - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook - are mostly bug fixes for very specific circumstances. The Office 2007 suite was very stable in its initial release, so it's possible that you've never run into a problem addressed by the service pack.

To be honest, much of the service pack is devoted to making the Office programs work smoothly for Windows Server 2008, due for release next year. Windows Server 2008 will be making a very big splash indeed, arguably more important for Microsoft's long-term plans than Windows Vista or Office. Even small businesses will be evaluating Server 2008 - it will be the foundation of the next version of Small Business Server.

Incremental improvements in a very large package. Sigh. Go ahead and install it when you have some free time.

Labels: Microsoft, Office, Outlook, software

posted by bruceb at 12/17/2007 12:50:00 AM | permalink

COMPUTER SHOPPING 2007

Thinking about a new computer - home, home office, small business? Let me give you some generalizations that will help you get started. (As always, gamers will be looking for faster processors and hard drives, more memory, and - particularly important - choosing from an array of high-end video cards. Notebook computers also require consideration of size and weight, which will trump some of the considerations below.)

• PROCESSOR  Intel's Core 2 Duo processors are significantly better than the other Intel and AMD processors. Within the Core 2 Duo line, at some point there's a step up to a 4Mb L2 cache, another bit of technical wizardry that's worth a hundred dollars or so. That being said, all of the processors on the market will serve you well - processor speed is no longer the defining point of a computer.
• MEMORY  2Gb of RAM is mandatory for a new computer - it's required for a satisfying experience, and it's sufficient for most people.
• VIDEO  It is essential to look for a video card with 256Mb of RAM! There are many more differences between video cards than that but you'll get what you need if you just focus on that single number. If your new computer doesn't have a 256Mb video card, you'll be disappointed in ways large and small - perhaps you might just not be able to turn on Vista's eye candy, but at worst the computer's entire performance will be compromised.
• HARD DRIVE  You'll get lots of storage space with any new computer, but the speed of the hard drive is a new and important consideration. The speed is measured in RPM; you want a speed of 7200RPM or above. If you see 5400RPM, avoid it - the whole system will be slow regardless of the other specs. (You'll run into this problem more often on notebooks.)
• OPERATING SYSTEM  Vista Business is the best choice for most people; get Vista Home Premium if you're interested in one of its specific features, but be aware of what you're missing. Vista Ultimate is a safe choice because it includes all features.
• The general answer to your question about Vista is: Yes, it will ________. (Fill in the blank: work; run your programs; network with your other computers; work with your printer/scanner/camera; etc.)
• I'm buying exactly the same hardware to run Windows XP, if you decide to be a wimp conservative.
• OPTICAL DRIVE  Make sure you get a drive that can read DVDs - software is being distributed on DVDs now.
• SOFTWARE  If you're ordering from Dell, you can get Microsoft Office preinstalled at an attractive price. Other manufacturers almost never include MS Office. Make sure your budget is ready for the $150 Student Edition of Office if the computer will be used at home, or $300 and up for the standard versions.
• SECURITY  Your first job with a new computer is removing unnecessary software installed by the computer maker - and the most important products to remove will be any preinstalled software from Norton or McAfee. Windows Vista has a very capable firewall and adware/spyware protection, so you're safe while you decide what to install instead. I continue to recommend Windows Live OneCare for comprehensive protection.

Happy shopping!

Labels: computers, hardware, Office, security, Vista

posted by bruceb at 11/26/2007 12:51:00 AM | permalink

OUTLOOK 2007 CALENDAR PRINTING ASSISTANT
There's a remarkable world of applications designed to work with Microsoft Office. In fact, there's probably more programs included under the "Office" banner than you realized - the official name is "2007 Office System," with programs you've never heard of and deep connections to eight different specialized servers from Microsoft alone.

There are surprising add-ins for the basic programs as well. Random example: a client mentioned that Microsoft Outlook 2007 has a bug printing monthly calendars - weekend events spanning Saturday and Sunday don't print correctly. I couldn't find any workarounds and was about to suggest waiting for the next service pack, when I stumbled on the Outlook 2007 Calendar Printing Assistant. It's a free download that runs as a separate program and adds enormous flexibility to Outlook calendars, with templates for a variety of effects that aren't possible directly from Outlook. Among other things, it prints monthly calendars correctly.

You might want to spend some time looking through the Microsoft Office web site - it's a pretty extensive collection of downloads, clip art, and templates, and you might find something that makes your life easier.

Labels: Microsoft, Office, Outlook

posted by bruceb at 10/12/2007 12:05:00 AM | permalink

MS OFFICE 2003 SERVICE PACK 3
Microsoft has released Service Pack 3 for Office 2003. It will be included in the Automatic Update system at some point in the next few weeks, but I don't expect it to be installed automatically - I haven't seen it confirmed but normally a service pack will require some affirmative OK click on a license agreement.

Microsoft service packs cover a lot of ground - all the security updates and patches since the last service pack, plus bug fixes and occasionally some new features or a more thorough overhaul of the program code. If you're curious, this page has links to exhaustive lists of the minutiae covered by this service pack. Microsoft's track record with service packs for the last few years has been pretty good; I'd suggest you install this with confidence.

There are some expected side effects on this page, but they're not going to affect very many people; I don't see anything that I expect my clients to run into. There are some additional issues and Knowledge Base articles linked here, but again nothing that should cause you to put this off.

No rush, but go ahead and install this when prompted!

Labels: Office

posted by bruceb at 9/21/2007 12:05:00 AM | permalink

MICROSOFT OFFICE "ULTIMATE STEAL"
Here's an odd promotion from Microsoft: for the next few months, college students can buy the most complete version of Office 2007 for $59. The Office Ultimate 2007 suite includes Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, Access, Publisher, OneNote, Groove, and InfoPath, with a normal retail price of $679.

This is even better than the Office 2007 Home and Student Edition that has Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote, selling for about $140. The Home Edition is far and away the best-selling version of Office at retail, accounting for about 80% of retail sales. (But remember, most people get Office pre-installed on new computers - that's where the real volume is.)

The license for the Home Edition says it can't be used in an office and should only be purchased by students or parents, but there's no real mechanism to enforce that. The "Ultimate Steal" promotion has stricter requirements. Only enrolled college students taking more than half a credit can purchase the license, and only if the student has an e-mail address from the college ending in .edu. Microsoft has the right to hire people to demand documentation - and if you don't have the documentation to prove that you're a current student, you're on the hook for the rest of the $679.

If you really are a college student, this is a tremendous deal on great software. Don't go near it if you don't meet the requirements!

Labels: Microsoft, Office, software

posted by bruceb at 9/15/2007 12:05:00 AM | permalink

THE ART OF OFFICE
It's fun to browse for a few minutes over at The Art Of Office - a collection of files contributed by artists and businesspeople, all created with Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. The files are sorted into "most useful" and "most artistic" - some of them might demonstrate an advanced Office feature, others are just pretty. Files can be downloaded so you can study how different results were accomplished.

The site is run by Mac users, but Office users running PCs are invited too - the files will open and the techniques are more or less the same.

Labels: Office

posted by bruceb at 9/14/2007 12:05:00 AM | permalink

MICROSOFT ONENOTE 2007
Microsoft OneNote 2007 is the best program you've never heard of.

Let me give you a little history, then tell you about OneNote 2007.

Microsoft Outlook has a rudimentary "notes" feature for jotting little bits of information on scraps that visually resemble post-it notes. Outlook's notes are capable of being sorted and searched but there's something about them that just doesn't feel right. I've never met anyone who used Outlook's notes.

Microsoft OneNote 2003 was not a secret - over ten million copies were sold. OneNote was originally marketed as a program for recording handwritten notes entered on a Tablet PC; it had the potential to do more but it wasn't included in any Microsoft Office suite and never got any subsequent marketing push.

OneNote 2007 is a significant upgrade of the prior version; it can be purchased for less than a hundred dollars and is included in the Student edition of the Microsoft Office 2007 suite. It has the potential to become an invaluable tool for many people; I'm putting it on my short list of programs that are worth spending money on.

OneNote 2007 is deceptively simple and it will evolve into a different tool for each person. It's a challenge to summarize it.

Broadly, it's a program for taking freeform notes, with an interface that I found immediately intuitive. If you're organized, you can sort notes easily into visually appealing notebooks, sections, and pages. If you're disorganized, you can throw information into a pile and find things later.

You can type notes into it (or handwrite them, if you have a tablet PC). There's no "Save" button - all information is immediately saved. You can paste in text, or embed whole documents. You can paste in images, send Web pages to OneNote, or capture all or any part of the screen. You can embed audio and video.

You can track tasks and dates and assignments. You can build to-do lists and then export events to your Outlook calendar. Send e-mails to team members from within OneNote. Sync status flags to Outlook. Use the OneNote Mobile application (if you've got a Windows Mobile smartphone or Pocket PC) to display your to-dos and collect notes to sync back to your PC.

Multiple users can share a notebook, and work in it simultaneously, with the results being saved and synced to all the copies. You can even do this in real time, in a conference room, for example, with multiple users editing a page to build notes and lists " and even use some new drawing tools. (OneNote has been significantly re-architected to support autosave and range locking within a file.) Disconnected users can edit pages, and their changes are automatically synced to other copies of the notebook when they reconnect to the network.

One of the central uses for many people will be gathering information to use in a finished project created in Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. OneNote offers many flexible ways to get information out of it and into the other programs.

That sounds overwhelming, but I found it extraordinarily easy to start using it. You don't have to take my word for it; go to Microsoft's OneNote page and click on Take an online test drive. In about three minutes you'll have a functioning copy of every Microsoft Office 2007 program running in your browser. (Requires a Windows Live ID, installation of an ActiveX control, and filling out a form.) Open OneCare and see if you can think of ways it might be useful.

If you're curious enough to take a closer look, you can download a trial version of the full program and use it for 30 days. If you decide to buy it, you can buy a boxed copy but you'll only be required to enter the license key to keep using the program.

I'm making it part of my everyday experience of using a computer.

If you want more information, you can get a nice description of OneNote's features in this review, and some additional highlights in this overview.

Check it out!

Labels: Microsoft, Office, Outlook, software

posted by bruceb at 6/22/2007 12:05:00 AM |